Some players use the cinematic horror game The Quarry as an informal answer to wanting more Until Dawn-style horror. It is a spiritual successor from Supermassive Games, with an ensemble cast, cinematic presentation, branching decisions, and characters who can survive or die. It is not the released title of the numbered sequel. Until Dawn 2 is a separate game developed by Firesprite, scheduled for January 28, 2027 on PS5.
The useful distinction is between resemblance and identity. Calling The Quarry a spiritual successor describes the experience it offers. Calling it the current Until Dawn 2 would confuse two different games, casts, settings, and feature sets. Individual comparisons also do not establish what most players think or which game every Until Dawn fan will prefer.
Separate the three games first
The original Until Dawn was developed by Supermassive Games and released in 2015. The Quarry followed from the same studio in 2022 as a separate horror story. The announced Until Dawn 2 is the actual numbered sequel, with Firesprite taking the lead and AdHoc Studio collaborating on its story.
| Game | Developer | Central setting or premise | Relationship to Until Dawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| Until Dawn | Supermassive Games | A group faces a deadly night on Blackwood Mountain | The original game |
| The Quarry | Supermassive Games | Summer-camp counselors face a night of horror | A separate spiritual successor |
| Until Dawn 2 | Firesprite, with story collaboration from AdHoc Studio | Dead True ghost hunters travel to a tropical island | The announced numbered sequel |
The original game's later remake is another source of confusion. A newer version of Until Dawn does not become Until Dawn 2 merely because it is the second version you encounter. Likewise, The Quarry's release after Until Dawn does not make its story a continuation of Blackwood Mountain.
The Quarry is the separate summer-camp horror game being compared here.
Understand why the comparison makes sense
The Quarry retains the broad attraction that brought many players to Until Dawn: you guide a recognizable ensemble through something resembling an interactive horror film. Relationships, rapid reactions, and decisions influence who remains alive. You are not simply watching a fixed sequence of character deaths.
The shared developer strengthens that resemblance. Supermassive's work on both games makes The Quarry a reasonable comparison for someone who wants another story built around the tension of choosing for a vulnerable cast. The phrase spiritual successor captures that connection without requiring shared continuity.
There is also a shared tradition of teen horror. Familiar social roles, interpersonal friction, flirting, fear, and the pressure of a single dangerous night help establish the cast before the threat escalates. A player looking for that kind of dramatic setup can understand why the games are often discussed together.
However, recognizing a similar structure is different from promising the same reaction. A player may enjoy the decision-making but dislike a particular cast, or prefer one game's pacing while appreciating the other's presentation. Similar mechanics do not make the dialogue, mysteries, or emotional stakes interchangeable.
Compare the settings without revealing the mysteries
Until Dawn's original setting is a snowy mountain environment. The Quarry places its nine controllable characters at the end of a summer-camp season. The announced Until Dawn 2 follows a paranormal entertainment crew to Akishima Island and its abandoned tropical resort.
Those environments create different starting situations. The camp premise places The Quarry's cast inside a particular seasonal social group. The island premise places Dead True inside a working production team that has just landed a television opportunity. Their reasons for staying together, taking risks, and responding to pressure therefore begin from different contexts.
The settings also provide a simple way to avoid mixing guides. A camp-counselor route belongs to The Quarry. The original game's Washington lodge and Blackwood Mountain clues belong to Until Dawn. An Owen or Mina decision tied to the Dead True show belongs to the numbered sequel's revealed scenes.
You do not need a full explanation of either game's monsters to understand these differences. Treating every horror mystery as the same reveal would spoil the experience and make the comparison less useful for deciding what to play.
Compare the playable ensembles
The Quarry offers nine characters to control. Until Dawn 2's announced playable crew has eight named members: Owen, Mina, Nate, Reagan, Izzy, Luke, Josie, and Cameron. Those are not renamed versions of The Quarry's counselors.
The character count affects the structure of the ensemble, but it is not a quality score. More playable characters do not automatically mean a longer or better story, and a smaller group does not prove deeper relationships. Those judgments depend on how the finished game develops its scenes and consequences.
In Until Dawn 2, the crew's job is a distinctive source of tension. Dead True stages paranormal entertainment, then confronts a situation that cannot be controlled as a production trick. Owen's star status, Mina's co-host position, Izzy's arrival as an intern, and the network's demands provide a framework for the announced choices.
The Quarry's counselor premise should be assessed on its own terms. Importing a sequel character's name or professional role into a camp guide would not clarify the resemblance; it would simply describe the wrong game.
Distinguish their approaches to playing with other people
The Quarry was introduced with local and online social play options. Local co-op lets participants choose counselors to control, while online play lets others watch and vote on decisions. Those are specific features of The Quarry, rather than automatic features of every game in the same style.
Until Dawn 2 is explicitly listed as single-player only. People can still sit together, debate a decision, and pass a controller informally, but that is different from a programmed co-op mode or an online voting system.
This distinction matters if playing as a group is your main reason for considering The Quarry as a substitute. A familiar branching story format does not guarantee the same way of sharing it. Compare the actual mode you intend to use rather than assuming the numbered sequel inherits another title's social features.
The same caution applies to accessibility. The Quarry's announcement discussed individually adjustable gameplay components, including quick-time events and aiming interactions. Those settings describe that game. They should not be copied into a Until Dawn 2 settings guide without confirmation for the sequel's own implementation.
Keep platform availability attached to the right title
The Quarry was announced for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series, and PC through Steam. The current Until Dawn 2 announcement identifies PS5 exclusivity. They are therefore not interchangeable purchase options for every player.
A Steam discussion comparing the two games does not establish a Steam version of the sequel. An Xbox copy of The Quarry does not imply an Xbox Until Dawn 2 edition. If your hardware is the deciding factor, check the exact product title and platform before relying on a recommendation based on similarity.
The original Until Dawn remake's PC availability is a separate fact again. It can give a PC player access to the first game's story, but it does not turn The Quarry into a numbered sequel or establish a future platform release for Firesprite's game.
Treat the prototype-origin claim as unresolved history
The idea that The Quarry began as an Until Dawn sequel has circulated in discussions of the game's development. That is a different claim from saying the released game is officially Until Dawn 2. Even a project that changes during development must be identified by its final announced title and story.
The accounts about that alleged origin do not provide a single confirmed explanation of the decisions between the companies. They should not be turned into established motives, a definitive account of a business dispute, or proof that a particular studio acted dishonestly.
For a player choosing a game, that unresolved history is not necessary to settle. The released The Quarry is a separate title, while the new Until Dawn 2 has its own developer, cast, and announced premise. Those clear identities are enough to avoid a mistaken purchase or an incorrect expectation of story continuity.
Read opinions as preferences rather than consensus
Players who compare the games do not all reach the same conclusion. Some value the familiar decision-driven structure and see The Quarry as a satisfying follow-up. Others prefer the original Until Dawn's pacing, characters, or horror. A small group of comments cannot establish an audience-wide verdict.
It is more useful to identify the specific reason behind a recommendation. Someone praising The Quarry for social play is addressing a different priority from someone praising Until Dawn for its cast. A statement that one game is the real sequel may simply be shorthand for a personal preference, not a claim about the official title.
The strongest decision starts with the experience you want. If you want another completed Supermassive ensemble-horror story, The Quarry is a relevant spiritual-successor comparison. If you want Dead True, Akishima Island, and the newly announced continuation of the Until Dawn franchise, that is Firesprite's Until Dawn 2. The nickname should not substitute for those concrete differences.