.png){kind=logo}
Outlasting the Outlandish - How Kotzwurst is pioneering the world of extreme horror gaming
With over 43.3 million viewer hours on Twitch generated in the horror genre in the last year, Kotzwurst stands amongst the creators bringing terrifying titles to an evolving community. Bryony-Hope sat down with Kotzwurst to learn more about his passion for extreme horror challenges, and how he has pioneered a niche within the genre.
Six years ago Kotzwurst sat down and took the dive into doing his first Twitch stream, unaware of the impact he was going to make in the horror scene. Now with over 10k followers across his platforms and over two million views, the 26-year-old German streamer is making waves, particularly in the Outlast community. However, his journey into gaming started over a decade ago, and formed the beginning of his drive for a challenge.
“The first game that I really had a whole lot of passion for was The Forest back in 2014, which I still consider my favourite game of all time. It was only really in 2016 when I started to get into the horror space, and dipped a little bit into multiplayer games as well. I also got into some other more challenging titles like Dark Souls or XCOM, and they kind of tickled something in my brain to want to do more challenging stuff.
Back then I also played a lot of Dead By Daylight, and I was also already sprinkling in the whole challenge aspect because I was never really playing the meta. So even though I wasn't specifically challenging myself back then, I already had it in my DNA.”
After getting a taste for a challenge, Kotz began expanding his gaming repertoire and exploring how he could test his skills in a variety of games.
“I started to look at other games and always wondered how I could push some weird systems to the limits. I was playing titles like Dark Souls and other games that were considered hard, and I just started to find enjoyment in trying to stream the hardest difficulties. For example I still remember streaming Resident Evil Village on the absurd ‘Village of Shadow’ difficulty but without any help items, which is ridiculously hard. I just find it really enjoyable to work my way through the process.
"It sounds like I'm an addict saying this, but it is pretty much chasing a bit of a high. I really started to think that maybe people find this level of masochistic gaming enjoyable.”
Whilst there was an existing community of people challenging themselves in horror games, there has always been a gap in the market for absurdly difficult challenges that the average player would not even dream of attempting.
This niche is where Kotz found an opening, and marked the beginning of what he is known for today - pushing himself to the extremes.
“It's also a bit of a pioneer feeling as well. Like I could have gone an entirely separate route with challenge runs, like Dark Souls ‘no hit runs’ or speed runs, but there's also this aspect which I really enjoy where I'm doing something that's absurdly hard and at the same time I'm also kind of the first one to do it.
“Take the Outlast Trials challenge runs back in the day - there was no one else who was dumb enough to play through all the trials with a fresh level one account or play without using the sprint or jump key. There was no one that was insane enough to do that so it was a great feeling to be the first.”
One of the most notable Outlast challenges that Kotz took upon himself was to reach trial 100 in the escalation game mode (prior to the saving feature in more recent seasons), attempting this back in 2024 and then again with fellow creator Bibzuda in 2025 with a ‘no-loadout’ twist. These multiple-hour long attempts saw randomly assigned variators in increasing difficulty as the trials went on, making for captivating content that the community could rally behind.
After dedicating a few thousand hours to the Outlast Trials, and building a community based on the content he was producing, Kotz was selected to become part of the ‘Murkoff Whistleblower Programme’ by Red Barrels.
What was a surreal invitation became a token of acknowledgement, highlighting the impact Kotz has had on the franchise through his content.
“I remember when Outlast Trials released out of early access and we did the early access stream where Red Barrels started following the Twitch channel, it was like ‘oh this is kind of weird’. Then in season one they were in the chat for the first time and I was really nervous, but it was a really funny chat where I just realized that the developers are really enjoying what I put out.
"I will forever be grateful to be accepted for the Whistleblower programme - having the opportunity to talk directly to the developers and also being privileged enough to see and play new updates early is just an awesome thing.”
As well as having a passion for Outlast, Kotz also holds Reflect Studios’ ‘Welcome to the Game’ franchise close to his heart, due to their reputation of being extremely difficult.
His passion for the franchise over the years was even recognised by Reflect Studios, with Kotz being added as an NPC in Welcome to the Game III, who you compete against and even have the opportunity to torment.
“I feel Welcome to the Game is kind of the series that started everything for me in horror back in 2016. I was really hyperfixated on the games and also the difficulty curve because the developer does not hold back on the difficulty at all, so I just got a certain enjoyment out of the gameplay loop.”
Currently he is preparing to attempt a Reflect Studios gauntlet, playing through each title on the hardest difficulty but if he dies, he has to start back from the beginning - something that is seen as an impossible challenge. However despite the difficulty of the challenge at hand, Kotz is taking everything in his stride.
“At the end of the day, the reason I want to do a gauntlet is because I'm obsessed with the franchise and I think I have what it takes to do it. I have dedication to try and attempt a challenge like this, and wouldn't it be cool if I actually beat it and felt the insane accomplishment of doing something as absurd as this?”
Finding enjoyment throughout these extreme challenges seems impossible, but surprisingly Kotz is able to find a balance to ensure he does not burn out for the sake of content.
“I feel it does boil down to making it so you are still in control of the challenge itself, but also it has to do a lot with just being obsessed and very dedicated to the game. Like I would never do a Reflect Studios gauntlet challenge if I wasn't so deeply invested in the games. It's one of the biggest factors, and I’m making sure I'm not just following a check mark list for content.
"I jokingly sometimes say that Sekiro is my comfort game, mostly just because when you boil it down, it’s just a rhythm game. Sometimes just doing a casual playthrough of it and spitting on everyone because you put so many hours in it and the enemies don’t change, is comforting but in a really fun way.”
The world of extreme horror gaming is still evolving, and creators like Kotzwurst are not slowing down any time soon. With endless possibilities for challenges and new titles emerging, the only way is up.
“I have a really really stupid challenge idea for the Outlast Trials, as well as some ideas for really absurd things I want to do.
I don't think absurd challenges will go anywhere, and I wonder if there's ever going to be something like Outlast Trials which I can alternate with or find a new passion through.”
Comments