German author and game developer Erdem Yagan brings alien technology, digital dependency and psychological horror together in APOCALYPTICAL: UNDEAD BLOOD, an indie zombie shooter coming soon to PC via Steam.
Nearly 100 years after zombies began captivating mass audiences, APOCALYPTICAL: UNDEAD BLOOD explores a disturbing new form of lost autonomy. Humanity’s downfall begins with an irresistible offer: extraordinary technology, constant connection and rewards for participating.
The aliens arrive peacefully. They introduce Cosmic Coins, an extraterrestrial currency capable of storing memories, images, messages and personal information. People embrace the system. Every interaction rewards them and teaches the network more about them.
At the heart of this world lies Digital Induced Psychosis, or D.I.P. Within the game’s fictional mythology, disturbances in attention, perception and behavior conceal something physical: an alien spider-like parasitoid growing inside its host.
The acronym takes on a second, sinister meaning: Digital Induced Parasitoid.
Alien radiation, connected devices and Cosmic Coins initiate a process that turns digital dependency into body horror. Eventually, the human body becomes a shell for something else. The parasite changes what feels desirable, reassuring and worth pursuing. Its hosts experience choices as their own while their behavior is being shaped.
Players become Jordan Bennett, an outsider convinced that humanity’s celebrated first contact conceals a larger agenda. Haunted by memories of an alleged childhood abduction, he refuses smartphones and relies on a hacked medical pager and his Voodoo Pager Network.
Jordan is building MAGPIE, a homemade UFO that promises escape and answers. To complete it, he needs the extraterrestrial material contained in Cosmic Coins.
His pursuit creates the game’s central contradiction. Jordan distrusts the network, yet his search draws him deeper into its economy. Others chase entertainment and approval; he chases evidence and freedom. Both have a reason to keep collecting.
This tension distinguishes UNDEAD BLOOD from conventional zombie shooters. Combat becomes part of a story about surveillance, consumption and the boundary between independence and compulsion. Even the satisfaction of collecting another valuable object feeds into the game’s unsettling premise.
The journey crosses Satellite City, the Black Sun Carnival beneath an artificial eclipse, alien cults and bureaucratic checkpoints at the edge of the world. Dark humor accompanies psychological horror: even an apocalypse can become a marketplace, an attraction or an administrative procedure.
Behind the project is Erdem Yagan, born and raised in Munich. His background spans music, digital media, communications and design. He trained at Unicade Music and worked as a repertoire manager at Global Records before developing his own interconnected stories and worlds.
With APOCALYPTICAL, Erdem combines literature, games and visual storytelling. His books explore dystopian science fiction, psychological horror, reality and control. UNDEAD BLOOD belongs to this broader universe, alongside METRONOMIA and INFERNUM 7.
The game asks: What if a system does not need to force you because it has already made you want to take the next step?
APOCALYPTICAL: UNDEAD BLOOD is coming soon to PC via Steam.
Explore APOCALYPTICAL: https://www.apocalyptical.de/
Discover Erdem Yagan’s books: https://www.amazon.de/stores/author/B0FBM49D67/about
