Project Playtime
Project: Playtime is a free-to-play co-op horror experience set in the Playtime Co. toy factory. It was teased by Mob Entertainment on Twitter on October 31, 2022.[1] The game is also a prequel to Poppy Playtime.
The early access was initially meant to release on December 6, 2022, and the full game was set to be completed around the first half of 2023, with continuous updates in the future adding more maps, skins, monsters, and a full overarching story.
Plot
After the factory closed on August 8th, 1995, Playtime Co. hires Resource Extraction Specialists to break into Playtime Co.'s attractions and find toy parts in order to build a relic from the past. However, as a result from Playtime Co.'s experiments, hostile monsters lurk in the dark; attempting to eliminate any figure standing in the facility.
Development
On October 31, 2022, a reveal image of Project: Playtime was released alongside a FTP server code to tease upcoming areas within the game. Multiple areas and Boxy Boo were teased until November 24, 2022, when a Cinematic trailer, the Steam page, and a Gameplay trailer were all released to show what to expect in Project: Playtime. Alongside all of this, it was confirmed that the early access release date for this game would be December 12, 2022 instead of December 6, 2022.
Starting from November 28, a countdown until Project: Playtime's release would constantly be posted on Twitter, revealing more areas we have previously seen within the Gameplay Trailer. Once December 5th came, instead of saying "1 Day", it said, "Tomorrow".
The game was previously estimated to be released at 7:30 CST on December 6th, although it was confirmed that there were additional server back-end issues that the programmers had to fix before release. An entire 12 hours went by without a word until Micah Preciado and Isaac Christopherson stated that they weren't able to fix the bug that specific day. As of December 8th, we didn't have any news regarding a possible release date.
On December 10th, it was announced that Project: Playtime would be released on December 12, 2022.
Development of Phase 2 - Incineration
On the 25th of May, the devs announced ProjectPlaytimePhase2, which was released on the 31st of May. The new "season" came with the new map called Destroy-a-Toy (formerly known as Recycle Mill) and with new mechanics and other stuff.
On the 27th of May, the Mob Entertainment channel released the map reveal of Destroy-a-Toy. They also announced the name of the new "season" (ProjectPlaytimePhase2), Incineration. They also released a video called “Destroying Huggy Wuggy” in the honor of the new map.
On the 28th of May, Mob Entertainment released another video called "Kissy Missy Cake", where they destroyed Kissy Missy and made her into a cake. This move was yet again done in honor of Destroy-a-Toy.
Development of Phase 3 - Forsaken
On October 12th, 2023, the devs announced Phase 3 - Forsaken on Twitter.[2] They later stated the "season" would be released on October 25th.
Gameplay
Project: Playtime is a spin-off, multi-player online game that allows seven different players to join a lobby together to play a game. Six players will play as, as Leith Pierre explains it, "Resource Extraction Specialists" that must collect six different toy parts scattered around the factory. All of these pieces are locked behind pillars that the specialists must solve puzzles to unlock. Once unlocked, the pieces are taken to a chute. Once six have been obtained, the players must then pull down the chute at the assembly line to get the toy onto the train. Finally, the specialists go back to the train.
While this is happening, the final seventh player can choose to be one of the three notable antagonists seen within the Poppy Playtime franchise: Huggy Wuggy, Mommy Long Legs, and the brand new monster, Boxy Boo. The monster is tasked with defeating all six players no matter the costs, having unique and special abilities to assist them.
Reception
The game has had mixed reception from the audience, as positive reviews state that the game is a "fun version of Dead by Daylight", which a game of the same nature as Project: Playtime, and most negative reviews shed light and complain about the countless bugs stated on the first week of launch for Project: Playtime. Although being fixed, game breaking bugs result in tutorials not being completable, clipping through objects and floors, and countless other bugs. The game was also criticized for being monetized despite it being in Early Access.
Trivia
- Project: Playtime was initially tested deep within the files of Chapter 2: Fly in a Web, with multiple related assets appearing as 3D Models and UI.
- Individually colored Player models, UI for Monster's abilities, leftover assets for the Monster Menu, and GrabPack gestures were all found within this early build.
- When Project: Playtime was revealed alongside the FTP database on Twitter, fans initially presumed the FTP server was an IP address.
- The location itself was a cemetery, and fans presumed they had to travel to that area in real life to find a teaser for Project: Playtime or Poppy Playtime's third chapter.
- Developer Micah Preciado had to make a statement regarding this within the Poppy Playtime Discord Server.[3]
- On the Developer Q&A livestreamed on the Mob Entertainment YouTube channel, it was revealed that the possibility of new gamemodes is highly likely as they are prototyping it now.[4]
- On the Developer Q&A podcast viewed on the Mob Entertainment YouTube Channel, developer Ben Pavlovits revealed that the current UI featured within Project: Playtime will shortly be overhauled.[5]
- It is confirmed that a character featured in Chapter 3: Deep Sleep, presumably the Unnamed Purple Monster, will eventually be added to Project: Playtime.[6]
| Project: Playtime Content Navigation | |
|---|---|
| Survivors • Leith Pierre • Micath Pierciado • Huggy Wuggy • Mommy Long Legs • Boxy Boo • Bunzo Bunny • PJ Pug-a-Pillar • Wuggies | |
| Pre-Game Lobby • Theater • Playtime Factory • Feeding Pit • Screening Room • Destroy-a-Toy • Misfit Pit | |
| Puzzle Pillars • Port-A-Lounge • Crash Doors • Grapple Handles • Dash Handles • Sabotages • Perks • Toy Parts • Toy Machine Deposits | |
| Huggy Wuggy • Mommy Long Legs • Boxy Boo • Outfits • Hats • Faces • Shirts • Pants • Shoes • Skins • GrabPack • Hands • Emotes | |
| Loading Screen • Sound Packs | |
| Toybox • Shoppy • Toy Tickets • Playcoins • Update Patch Log • Unused Content • Soundtrack • Easter Eggs | |
References
- ↑ https://twitter.com/mobgamesstudios/status/1587082117858693122
- ↑ https://twitter.com/mobgamesstudios/status/1712483862184329451
- ↑ https://discordapp.com/channels/916031007482851338/939308548716908574/1036691567869689906
- ↑ "The first thing we do is we... Well, we're right now prototyping new ideas. So, uh, to give a little taste of that we are rapidly prototyping new game modes!" -Dana Willoughby (Timestamp 8:55)
- ↑ "Yes, that's an easy question, yes. Again, there's a lot of things we wanted to have polish-wise for the UI, and yeah. There's a lot of stuff in the works with that right now. The UI team is working on a lot of overhauls all across the board." -Ben Pavlovits (Timestamp 37:47)
- ↑ [1] "I actually think the Chapter 3 toy is gonna be pretty fun to play in Project Playtime once it's added in the future" -Micah Preciado