Poppy Playtime Spinoff Escape from Playtime Hits Steam Early Access on October 21

Escape from Playtime, the co-op survival horror spinoff of Mob Entertainment's Poppy Playtime series, launches into Steam Early Access on October 21. The game was announced at Gamescom last month.

In this multiplayer extraction game, players take on the roles of Smiling Critters — the toy characters from the main series — trapped inside the abandoned Playtime Co. factory. You work together following instructions from a mysterious voice, solving puzzles, sneaking, and hiding from the factory's roaming Playtime Co. rejects. The standout mechanic is proximity chat: make too much noise and the enemies will track you down. The goal is to build what the voice calls "a promised home for toys who prove their loyalty and usefulness."

Poppy Playtime has been steadily growing beyond its episodic horror roots. Mob Entertainment signed a deal with Legendary Pictures in 2024 to develop a feature film, putting it on a similar trajectory to Five Nights at Freddy's, which made the jump from indie horror game to theatrical release. There's already a McFarlane Toys action figure line in the mix too. Escape from Playtime fits into that broader push — extraction co-op horror is a crowded but popular space right now, and the Smiling Critters have their own dedicated fanbase from the game's Chapter 3.

Escape from Playtime is available to wishlist on Steam now ahead of the October 21 Early Access launch. No pricing has been announced yet.