Substructure 17 Grows Deeper as White Knuckle Gains a New Region and More on September 29th

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Substructure 17 Grows Deeper as White Knuckle Gains a New Region and More on September 29th

You can run; you can climb, but can you escape The Abyss?

Los Angeles, USA - September 15, 2025 — Three-person, New Mexico-based dev team, Dark Machine Games, alongside indie horror publisher, DreadXP, have revealed the release date of the first major content update for their incredibly well-received speed climbing horror roguelite, White Knuckle. The Abyss Update, launching on September 29th, adds an entirely new region along with a variety of other new content.

After navigating Silos, Pipeworks, and Habitation, players will enter The Abyss, featuring three distinct levels that harbor a number of new denizens, some friendly and many others deadly, including The Face, a new form of The Mass to pursue the Climber. New to the update are Artifact Items— extremely powerful objects that replace gaining a new Perk in The Abyss, each of which can change the way you play. To offer a shorter, albeit more dangerous route to the top, unlockable shortcuts will be added for Silos and Pipeworks. Other additions include new levels in Silos and Pipeworks, new Perks, new secrets, and more.



In White Knuckle, you are a lone climber, and your only goal is to escape the decaying depths of Substructure 17 with your life. To conquer the vertical labyrinth, you must carefully manage hand stamina, limited inventory space, and scarce supplies, all while avoiding or outrunning the dangerous entities that call the compound home. As you scale the crumbling structure, you’ll gain perks that can increase stats like stamina regeneration, jump distance, and speed. Using tools like pitons, rebar, and rope will aid your ascent, but be mindful of your greed, as too many items will weigh you down, making it much harder to climb, and one wrong move will send you plummeting to become one with The Mass.
The Abyss Update New Features:

The Abyss: An all-new region with 3 contained levels.
Five extremely powerful Artifact Items, which replace receiving a new Perk in the Abyss, each capable of changing how you play.
Shortcut Regions for Silos and Pipeworks: After unlocking, skip sections of the game and climb through far shorter, more dangerous areas, at a cost.
New Denizens
Region Expansion in Silos and Pipeworks
New Perks
New Secrets
And More!

White Knuckle is available on Steam now, and The Abyss, the first major content update as part of Early Access, will be launching on September 29th to coincide with the Steam Autumn Sale at a 15% discount. A demo, still rated at 98% overwhelmingly positive with almost 2,000 reviews, is available for prospective climbers to test their skills and try to acclimate to the harrowing life in Substructure 17.

For more information:

Wishlist on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3195 ... e_Knuckle/
Visit the official White Knuckle website: https://whiteknuckle.net/
Follow DreadXP on X: https://twitter.com/DreadXPGames
Follow DreadXP on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreadxpgames
Join the White Knuckle Discord: https://discord.gg/f2CqdmUSap
Join the DreadXP Discord: https://discord.gg/JTPfXdSFXq

About Dark Machine Games

Dark Machine Games is a three-person development studio based in New Mexico. The trio has been involved in game development for years, but formed a studio in 2024 with the intent of developing unique, strange, and otherwise enigmatic experiences and titles.

After various prototypes and experiments, the team landed on White Knuckle to be their first official game as a studio. They look forward to continuing to bring surreal content to players.

About DreadXP

DreadXP is a leading independent horror games publisher. DreadXP’s goal is to seek out and publish great titles, and uplift members of the indie dev community. DreadXP releases include award-winning games such as The Mortuary Assistant, Sucker for Love: First Date, My Friendly Neighborhood, Dread Delusion, and the Dread X Collections, an anthology series of mini-horror games. DreadXP’s upcoming titles include The Lacerator, Amanda the Adventurer 3, PIGFACE, The Secret of Weepstone, Entropy, and Paranormal Activity. DreadXP is a sister company of the horror media website Dread Central, as well as the independent horror film production company, DREAD.

To learn more about DreadXP, please visit www.dreadxp.com.