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This hatch I found baffles me. As I witnessed the last survivor being, yet again, the victim of the dreaded hook I stumbled upon it as I slowly backed away. I finally found my keyhole. With my last strength I opened it, entered its tunnels and somehow found my way to the campfire. Now I sit here contemplating its purpose. Is hope more important for the Entity than I thought? Is this hatch just a treat you give a dog to as encouragement? For now I take what I can get. | 
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| ~ Benedict Baker's Journal |
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On one rare occasion, I encountered an alternative way to escape. It suddenly dawned on me that I was the only remaining Survivor |
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| ~ A Note signed 'V.' (potentially Vigo) |
The Hatch, also known as a "Black Lock", is one of the two potential ways for Template:IconLink to escape a Trial in Template:IconLink.
Accessibility
The Black Lock will automatically open when there's only one living Survivor left on the Map. If there are more Survivors remaining in the Trial, special spawn conditions apply to the Hatch and it requires a Key in order to be opened prematurely.
Opening
It can be opened manually with a Template:IconLink once turned visible (and interact-able). It will then remain open for 30 seconds and may be used by any other remaining Survivor in that time-frame to escape the trial. The Survivor that opens the Hatch using a Key will jump automatically.
Key
The Template:IconLink and the Template:IconLink both have the ability to open the Hatch when there are still multiple Survivors in the trial, given that it already spawned.
Unless the Key is equipped with the Template:IconLink Add-on, the Key and its Add-ons will be consumed upon opening the Hatch.
The Key is also required to unlock the Where Did They Go?!? Achievement.
Closing
During the 2.0.0 PTB, the Hatch could be closed by the Killer if they reached it before the Survivor. This mechanic received two iterations on the Public Test Build, the first required that another Generator must be repaired in order to re-open the Hatch, the second iteration powered all remaining Generators upon closing the Hatch, thus having the Survivor open an Template:IconLink instead. The Hatch-closing mechanic was not implemented in Patch 2.0.0 as the Developers and parts of the Community were not satisfied with how the changes played out in the Public Test Build. It also opened up other Problems which lead to the Developers deciding to revisit the entire end-game situation instead of just the Hatch in some future update.
Later this feature made its way into the game, along with the Endgame Collapse.
Presently, closing the hatch powers the Exit Gates and initiates the Endgame Collapse.
Spawn Location
The Hatch will spawn in a randomly selected location on the Map at the very start of the trial and remain invisible and non-interact-able to both the Survivors and the Killer.
This allows for it to be tracked with a Template:IconLink or a regular Template:IconLink equipped with the Template:IconLink Add-on, even though it is still invisible to the Players.
The Hatch will reveal its location once open by emitting a peculiar sound:
Visibility
The Hatch will become visible ("spawn") whenever the number of fully repaired Template:IconLink exceeds the number of living Survivors by 1:
- 4 Survivors remaining: 5 repaired Generators / Template:IconLink are powered
- 3 Survivors remaining: 4 repaired Generators / 1 Generator left
- 2 Survivors remaining: 3 repaired Generators / 2 Generators left
- 1 Survivor remaining: Spawns and opens regardless of how many generators remain.
Achievements
There are currently three Achievements related to the Hatch.
Template:Achievement TableTemplate:Achievement TableTemplate:Achievement Table| Icon | Name | Description |
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Change Log
Patch 2.7.0
- The Hatch now always spawns and opens when there is only one last Survivor remaining in the Trial (used to only spawn and open if there were at least 2 repaired Generators).
- The Killer may close an open Hatch, which will initiate the Endgame Collapse and require a Key for it to be re-opened by the Survivor.
- Killers can no longer perform a Hatch Interrupt.
Trivia
- The name "Black Lock" stems from an earlier concept version back when the Hatch mechanic was not conceived yet and instead there would have been several "Black Locks" distributed across the Map, that could be unlocked with the Skeleton Key.
- Up to Patch 2.7.0, much like with Template:IconLink, the Killer could interrupt a Survivor in the process of jumping into the Hatch. If timed correctly, the Survivor would be grabbed out of the Hatch and hoisted onto the Killer's shoulder, regardless of the Survivor's current Health State.
- During one of their weekly Streams, Developers Dave and Ash revealed the Hatch having a deep connection with a particular Character. Said Character has been mentioned at least at some point in the Game.
- Vigo is a potential candidate, given his ability to create things and "bend The Fog's irrefragable rules."
- The Hatch automatically closes upon the death/escape of the final survivor, for no apparent reason.
- If a Survivor opens the hatch while there are still generators remaining and the Killer closes the hatch, the Endgame Collapse will initiate and the Exit Gates will be powered, regardless of how many Generators remain.
Audio Sequence
The following audio file shows the entire sequence of the Hatch's behaviour in-game:
Gallery
A closed Hatch
An opened Hatch
