Escape from Playtime, the co-op survival horror spin-off of the Poppy Playtime series, launches into Steam early access on October 21. The game announced playtest sign-ups at the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, with registration open at EscapeFromPlaytime.com.
The spin-off was announced at Gamescom last month and bills itself as a one-to-four-player co-op survival horror with an extraction structure. It casts players as Smiling Critters, the toy animals of the Poppy Playtime setting, trapped inside the abandoned Playtime Co. factory and working to escape it.
An extraction loop with a voice giving orders
Players take instructions from a mysterious voice in the factory, which sends them out for building materials and other resources to construct what it describes as "a promised home for toys who prove their loyalty and usefulness". Runs are built around puzzle-solving, traversal, scavenging, hiding and sneaking past the Playtime Co. rejects that roam the building.
Noise is the central risk. The game uses proximity chat, so a group that gets too loud will draw those creatures, which hunt the players down and destroy them. Because the Smiling Critters are small, the factory's environments are scaled for full-size people rather than for the characters navigating them, and the decisions that shape a run come down to when to split up, when to hide, when to run and when to go back for a resource left behind.
A franchise expanding past games
Poppy Playtime, an episodic horror series, has been extending beyond its games. Developer Mob Entertainment signed a deal with Legendary Pictures in 2024 to develop a film based on the games, and a line of action figures is being produced by McFarlane Toys.
The playtest is the first chance to play the spin-off ahead of launch, and sign-ups are open now through the game's website. Escape from Playtime is also available to wishlist on Steam ahead of the October 21 early access launch.
