Species: Unknown

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Board a dead spaceship for a contract, and find out what is hunting you.

Platforms: PC
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (94% of 11,465 reviews)
Players: 1 to 4 (online)
Made by: WanadevStudio
Released: 2025

What frightens You and up to three other mercenaries board an abandoned spaceship to carry out a contract, and something aboard is hunting you. The creature is picked from a roster of intelligent monsters, each with its own way of hunting, so you have to read the clues and your motion tracker in dark corridors to work out what it is before it finds you.
Content: violence, gore, monsters, uses your microphone (proximity voice chat).

Species: Unknown is a first-person co-op horror game for one to four players from WanadevStudio, in Early Access on Steam. As mercenaries on an abandoned spaceship you take on contracts, from recovering a black box to capturing the creature, while one of several intelligent monsters stalks you. You gather clues to identify it, use tools like a motion tracker, and spend your pay on better gear.

About Species: Unknown

Species: Unknown is a first-person survival horror game by the French studio WanadevStudio, released into Early Access on Steam on 23 October 2025. The studio's stated goal is about two years of Early Access before version 1.0.

You play a mercenary sent aboard an abandoned spaceship to carry out high-risk contracts: extract a black box, capture or eliminate an unknown creature, or destroy the ship to stop it escaping. You can go alone or in a squad of up to four on private or public servers, and every mission plays differently depending on the objective, the map, your team and which creature is aboard.

The creature is chosen procedurally from a growing roster, each with its own behaviour, hunting pattern, strengths and weaknesses. Part of each contract is investigating the ship to find clues that tell you what you are facing. You carry tools that help for a moment: a motion tracker to detect movement, a shield that blocks attacks, healing syringes and a mini-map for pitch-black corridors. Guns help, but some threats are too tough or cannot be hurt at all.

Proximity chat and radio add to the tension, because distance and walls decide who hears you. Completed contracts pay credits for upgrades, new tools, cosmetics and lore for your own creature museum. It suits groups who like Lethal Company or Phasmophobia style co-op runs but want sci-fi corridors, a monster to identify and more weapons.

How to play Species: Unknown

Buy Species: Unknown on Steam for Windows (Early Access).
Host or join a squad of up to four, or play solo.
Choose a contract and board the abandoned ship.
Investigate the ship for clues to identify which creature is hunting you, using the motion tracker and mini-map.
Complete the objective, get out alive and spend your credits on upgrades and tools.

Screenshots

A red-lit corridor seen over a pistol and a motion tracker, with a shadowy figure standing far down the hall

A green and red lab corridor lined with specimen tanks, seen past a handheld mini-map and a flamethrower

Three armoured mercenaries look at a contract board listing missions and their rewards

A squad of armoured players moves through a dark airlock into the ship

Tips

Identify the creature early: each one has different strengths and weaknesses.
Keep the motion tracker out in dark corridors; it warns you of movement before you see it.
Remember proximity chat: walls and distance cut you off from teammates, so use the radio.
Do not rely on guns alone; some creatures are too resistant to kill.