Content warning: VILE: Exhumed is the work of solo developer Cara Cadaver as a very personal game and addresses highly sensitive themes of stalking and violence against women. Discretion is advised.
Vile: Exhumed is a deeply personal horror game launching today on Steam from a solo developer at Final Girl Games and publisher DreadXP.
Created by Cara Cadaver, the game is billed as a disturbing and deeply personal horror story that invites reflection. It is a “confronting exploration” of misogyny, parasocial obsession, and trauma. It’s not a game for the faint of heart, but it does not have a rating from the Entertainment Safety Ratings Board. (It’s likely it would carry a mature 17+ rating).
[Updated: The game ran into an unexpected delay per the message here].
If you’re willing to dig into its digital decay, a chilling and emotionally raw experience awaits, one which challenges you to reckon with the horrors we enable–and the ones we bury, the publisher said.
Originally developed as a prototype in 2024, the publisher said VILE: Exhumed garnered attention for its unflinching depiction of digital obsession and the violence that festers in the shadows and in front of our eyes.
In this new full release, players will explore the remnants of a stranger’s mind through the decaying interface of an old computer, piecing together the disturbing narrative hidden within corrupted files, old, abandoned forums, and emails. Every discovery brings you closer to the truth, and deeper into the rot of the mind.
Solo developer Cara Cadaver has channeled a fiercely personal perspective into VILE: Exhumed, creating a story that feels intimate, upsetting, and deeply human. This is horror stripped of metaphor and of the fantasy or supernatural, laid bare in binary and blood, the publisher said.
The game invites you to confront uncomfortable truths about entitlement, identity, and digital voyeurism, Cadaver hopes you’ll find not just fear, but careful reflection.
Features:
- Creep through the darkest pits of an old computer
- Uncover a rat’s nest of photos, messages, emails, and other digital residue
- Unearth the aftermath of one man’s obsession with adult film actress Candy Corpse
- Deeply disturbing, gruesome, narrative-driven horror.
There is a “Censor Content” toggle available in the game that makes visuals more “Youtube- and-Twitch-Friendly”, but the publisher highly encourages playing the game with this disabled for the intended experience.
VILE: Exhumed launches on Steam on July 22, 2025, for $1.99 USD, €1.99 EUR, and £1.69 GBP, with a 10% launch discount. It is published by DreadXP under the XP Ultra program, a publishing initiative created to support innovative horror experiences.
Final Girl Games is the solo developer Cara Cadaver, who is based in Canada. Cadaver started developing games in 2022. Previous releases from Final Girl Games include Attachment Not Found, and the original version of VILE on Itch.Io.
DreadXP is an independent horror games publisher. DreadXP’s goal is to seek out and publish great titles and uplift members of the indie dev community. DreadXP releases include award-winning games such as The Mortuary Assistant, Sucker for Love: First Date, My Friendly Neighborhood, Dread Delusion, and the Dread X Collections, an anthology series of mini-horror games.
DreadXP’s upcoming titles include Heartworm, The Lacerator, Amanda the Adventurer 3, Pigface, and Paranormal Activity. DreadXP is a sister company of the horror media website Dread Central, as well as the independent horror film production company, Dread.