The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Released Sep 2014

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a first-person story-driven mystery. Purchase this game to get both the original and the Unreal Engine 4 remaster called The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux.

88% positive · 8,968 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence

Where to buy

Steam $19.99 Green Man Gaming Steam key $19.99
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Evaluation

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter launched on September 25, 2014 as a complete, self-contained story-driven mystery game. Following launch, The Astronauts shipped several patches adding features and fixes through late 2014, and then released a full Unreal Engine 4 remaster — The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux — on September 12, 2015, provided free to all existing owners. A small bug-fix patch for the Redux version followed on September 15, 2015, which represents the last developer communication on record. The store description now reflects this complete package, noting that purchasing the game grants access to both the original and the Redux remaster. There are no unreleased DLC entries, no announced future content, no roadmap, and no developer posts of any kind after September 15, 2015. The game launched as a finished narrative experience and has received no content updates in over a decade. It is a complete product.
Evidence
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux — a free Unreal Engine 4 remaster — was released to all current and future owners of the original game.
news post · Sep 12, 2015 source content shipped
high
Store description states that purchasing the game grants both the original and the Redux remaster — framing the product as a complete, bundled package.
store metadata source content shipped
high

Content

1 of 1 released · no outstanding content

Media

Details

Developer
Publisher
The Astronauts
Achievements
14
Platform
Windows
Controller
full support
Steam Deck
Verified
Players
Single-player

About this game

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE: By purchasing the game, you actually get two games now: 1) The original The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, 2) The Unreal Engine 4 remaster called The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux. Please see The Astronauts website for details.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a first-person story-driven mystery game that focuses entirely on exploration and discovery. It contains no combat or explosions of any kind. If our game leaves any scars, we hope you won’t be able to see them.

You play the game as Paul Prospero, an occult-minded detective who receives a disturbing letter from Ethan Carter. Realizing the boy is in grave danger, Paul arrives at Ethan’s home of Red Creek Valley, where things turn out to be even worse than he imagined. Ethan has vanished in the wake of a brutal murder, which Paul quickly discerns might not be the only local murder worth looking into.

Inspired by the weird fiction (and other tales of the macabre) from the early twentieth century, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter aims to significantly evolve immersive storytelling in games. While it features a private detective and quite a few mental challenges, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is not an especially puzzle-ridden game. Our focus is on atmosphere, mood, and the essential humanity of our characters.

Still, the discoveries won’t happen on their own, or without your help. Using both Paul’s supernatural skill of being able to communicate with the dead, and your own powers of observation, you will discover the mystery behind a trail of corpses, the roots of a dark ancient force lurking in Red Creek Valley, and the fate of a missing boy.

Key Features

  • Explore and interact with the beautiful yet ominous world of Red Creek Valley, which was created with the use of revolutionary photogrammetry technology that allows for nearly photorealistic environments.

  • Communicate with the dead and see how they died in order to gather clues that help you piece together the truth behind Ethan’s disappearance -- and the fate of his family.

  • Experience, in non-linear fashion, a story that combines the pleasures of pulp, private eye, and horror fiction, all of it inspired by writers such as Raymond Chandler, Algernon Blackwood, Stefan Grabinski, and H. P. Lovecraft.

  • Conduct the investigation on your own terms and at your own pace. Although there are a few scary bits in the game, players will have no need for sedatives. Our game is less about terror and more about clammy unease.

Last evaluated Jun 28, 2026
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