The Exit 8 | |
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Developer(s) | Kotake Create [a] |
Publisher(s) | Kotake Create Playism (Non-PC versions) MyDearest Inc. (VR version) |
Engine | Unreal Engine 5 [1] |
Platform(s) | |
Release | The Exit 8 29 November 2023
The Exit 8 VR 11 July 2024
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Genre(s) | Adventure game, Walking sim |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Exit 8 [b] , sometimes shortened to Exit 8, is a 2023 adventure game developed and published by Kotake Create (stylised in all caps). Billed as a walking simulator, the game revolves around the player walking through a Japanese metro station passageway, trying to spot inaccuracies to reach the exit of the station. The game was initially released on Steam on 29 November 2023 and was subsequently ported to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2024, and on Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025 under the publisher Playism. A virtual reality version co-developed and published by MyDearest Inc., dubbed The Exit 8 VR, released on 11 July 2024 for the Meta Quest 2, Pro and 3 and later made available on Steam and the Quest 3S.
The Exit 8 took nine months to develop and was designed to be made in a short amount of time and on a low budget. The game was inspired by the "surreal" atmosphere of underground passageways as well as the horror game series I'm on Observation Duty, which inspired the game's anomaly mechanic. The setting was modelled after several Japanese metro stations, including the Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station in Koto, Tokyo.
The Exit 8 received positive reviews, with many critics praising the game for its psychological horror and realistic environment, although critiqued the game for its short length and lack of replayability. The game was nominated for many awards, winning many awarded by the Japanese gaming industry. Additionally, the game has received over 2 million downloads. In the wake of the game's release, various games released that took heavy inspiration from Exit 8 and were subsequently dubbed "Exit 8-likes". A sequel to the game called Platform 8 was released on 31 May 2024. A live-action film adaptation of the game was released on 29 August 2025.
The Exit 8 is a first-person three-dimensional (3D) walking simulator type game with elements of puzzle and psychological horror. Inspired by the concept of liminal spaces such as the Backrooms, the game is set in a passageway of the Japanese metro. [2] Every time the player exits the passageway, the passageway seems to repeat seemingly forever with even a passer-by appearing to be caught in the loop. [3] The core gameplay of The Exit 8 is similar to games like spot the difference, where the player must look out for and identify anomalies in the room's layout. [4] If there are no anomalies, the player should proceed down the corridor; whereas if there is an anomaly, the player should turn around and walk the way they came. [5] The player needs to be correct eight times in a row to reach the end of the station. [6] Should the player be incorrect with the assessment of a given room layout, their progress will reset back to Exit 0.
Anomalies in the game can range from subtle differences such as different messages on signs, repeating poster designs, proportion differences with the passer-by or power outages. [7] Certain anomalies can actually reset the player's progress should they not turn back quick enough such as a flood of red water or a man camouflaged as the wall tiles that will chase after the player if they get too close. [8] Some anomalies are exclusive to different versions of the game such as the VR version. [9] Upon the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 version, a new anomaly was added to pay homage to the film adaptation; [10] the anomaly was also added to the PC and Nintendo Switch versions the same day via an update. [11]
The Exit 8 was developed by Japanese indie developer Kotake Create, also known as Kotakenotokeke, who developed the game in Unreal Engine 5. The game was conceived when Kotake sought to create a simple game, as he had spent years of developing other games that were never released, [14] as well as from a desire to make games set in underground passageways. [15] In an interview with Japanese website Game Makers, Kotake stated that the game took over nine months to develop, split between six months of planning and prototyping and three months of final development. [4] [16] During the testing for the game, Kotake was a part of an incubation program for indie developers named iGi (indie Game incubator), in which he asked other developers to playtest a prototype for the game during a program-run showcase event. [15] Kotake Create stated that he liked the surreal atmosphere of confined spaces such as underground passageways, [15] which inspired him to create a game based on loops. [14] In the initial concept for the game, the player would have been able to board a subway train. However, due to development restraints, the concept was dropped to just the corridor setting; the train aspects were later reused as the setting for The Exit 8's sequel. [15]
Another influence for the looping mechanic during development was the 2021 adventure game Twelve Minutes , which featured a mechanic where the events of the game would loop after twelve minutes. One of the main inspirations for The Exit 8 came from I'm on Observation Duty, a horror game based on surveillance cameras and finding anomalies, which made him realize that spot the difference could integrate well with horror themes. [14] Additionally the mechanic of security camera footage reminded him of a looping video, another influence for the looping mechanic. [16] When asked about how the game was developed with simplicity in mind, Kotake mentioned that it was likely a build-up of his feelings and experiences from his 7-8 years as an indie developer, although stating he was conscious of games he likes such as Inside , noting its lack of tutorial. [15] In light of being asked why he chose the number 8 for the game's title, Kotake responded in a tweet that he chose the number casually and just felt that number was just right, though he also stated that he associated 8 with the concept of infinity which linked to the idea of loops. [17]
When making the anomalies for the game, Kotake Create stated he wanted to keep the anomalies at "borderline horror" and "unsettling", citing anomaly inspiration stemming from works such as P.T. and The Shining . [16] During development of the game, early concepts on how to deal with the anomalies included taking pictures of the anomalies using a camera or shooting the anomalies with a gun, which Kotake believed didn't match the game's setting. Additionally, due to wanting to keep the development of the game short and low budget, he opted instead to incorporate the "proceed or turn back" mechanic. [4]
Following questions made by BuzzFeed Japan and Game Makers, Kotake Create mentioned that the hallway the game is set in was modelled after a real location although declined to name the station in question to avoid causing the station trouble. [16] Speaking further, he mentioned that an art installation in Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station directly inspired one of the anomalies in the game. [18] The art installation in-question are diagonal ceiling lights randomly scattered across the ceiling of a hallway which is meant to "resemble the hustle and bustle going on above the ground". [19] [20] In August 2025, Kotake revealed the game was originally modelled after a station in Osaka, of which the station's passageway was one he previously travelled through daily to get to school. [21]
The game was first announced on 3 November 2023 with a trailer posted on the developer's twitter account, with the release planned for later that month in both Japanese and English. [1] The Exit 8 would release worldwide on Steam on 29 November 2023. [22] A few days after release, Kotake Create would release a patch for the game to fix an exploit that allowed the player to glitch to the end of the game in under one minute. [23] During the Japanese broadcast of a Nintendo Indie World presentation on 17 April 2024, the game was subsequently released on the same day worldwide for the Nintendo Switch. [24] [25] This version of the game was published by Japanese publishing company Playism. [26] Playism would later announce and release versions of the game for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on 8 August 2024. [27] [28] In August 2024, a physical bundle containing both The Exit 8 and its sequel, Platform 8, was announced to be releasing on 28 November 2024. [29] In January 2025, Playism announced and released the game for Xbox Series X/S. [30] [31] On 28 March 2025, Playism announced the versions of the game for Android and iOS devices, [32] with iOS releasing same day and Android later releasing on 31 March. [33] [34] A version for Nintendo Switch 2 was released on 29 August 2025. [35] This version, dubbed "The Exit 8 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ", could also be upgraded from the original Switch version via an upgrade pack. This version featured improved resolution and frame rate, as well as a new anomaly in commemoration of the release of the film adaptation. The anomaly was also added to the PC and Switch version on the same day, with plans for it to be added to other platforms at a later day. [11]
In early June 2024, Japanese virtual reality developer and publisher MyDearest Inc. announced a VR version of the game, called The Exit 8 VR, for the Meta Quest line of headsets. Following the announcement, a demo for the game was on display at the Miyashita Park shopping complex for the "Yojohan Miyashita Park by Meta Quest 3" VR/MR demo event that lasted from 7 June to 7 July that year. [36] The game released on 11 July 2024 for the Meta Quest 2, Pro and 3. [37] [38] To commemorate the launch of the VR version, a world inspired by the game was launched for the online virtual world platform VRChat . [39] Released in late-September 2024, the world acted as a demo for the main game and allowed players to obtain avatars based on an anomalies. [40] A second world, released the following month, allowed players to take photos in the world, such as with the NPC passer-by. [41] In September 2024, MyDearest released this version onto Steam with support for SteamVR. [42] The game was later made compatible for the Meta Quest 3S. [43]
Following the success of the game, Kotake Create became a freelance developer after quitting his job as 3D artist at an undisclosed video game developer. [16] In an interview with Japanese website Game*Spark following the release of The Exit 8, Kotake mentioned the possibility of creating a sequel to the game, stating that he would rather make a new game instead of updating the original with new anomalies. [44] [14] In a subsequent interview with Game Makers, Kotake Create mentioned that he was considering soliciting real-world advertisements as opposed to the fictional advertisements seen in Exit 8 to "reduce the operating costs". [16] This would later be added upon in late-February 2024, where the developer sent an announcement on their Twitter account that he would be accepting submissions for these guest advertisements to appear in a sequel to The Exit 8. [45] In the following month, Kotake launched a Steam page for the sequel under the name Platform 8, with a release window of between "the end of April or beginning of May". [46] Unlike its predecessor, Platform 8 is set on a train that never ends, where the player must spot anomalies to escape the train. The game released on Steam worldwide on 31 May 2024. [47] [48] A Nintendo Switch port was announced in August 2024 for 28 November later the same year. [29]
Following the release of Platform 8, Kotake Create stated that he did not want to make any more sequels in this series, feeling that he was satisfied with the games and wanted to continue working on Strange Shadows, the horror adventure game which Kotake paused development on to instead develop The Exit 8, planned for 2025. [49]
Aggregator | Score |
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OpenCritic | 67/100 56% recommend [c] [50] |
Publication | Score |
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Nintendo Life | NS2: 7/10 [10] |
Siliconera | NS: 7/10 [51] VR: 8/10 [52] |
The Escapist | VR: Recommended [53] |
According to review aggregator website OpenCritic, The Exit 8 received an average score of 67/100 based on 9 reviews, and 56% of critics recommended the game. [50]
Many critics praised The Exit 8 for its use of psychological horror in both the game's setting and how it could affect the player. Jordan Helm from Hardcore Gamer commented on how the game utilises discomfort to create uncertainty and distrust in what the player maybe witnessing. Describing this as the game's "greatest stride", Helm wrote about how the game manages to make binary decision-making stressful due to one wrong decision would cause a reset of the player's entire progress, which would cause paranoia and distrust to seep into the player's judgement. [6] Writing for TechRadar , Hamish Hector detailed how whilst the game's jumpscares were cheap and avoidable, he found the looping mechanic made it "impossible to not grow paranoid". [54] Nintendo Life 's Ollie Reynolds expressed that the game was a cool experience with some moments that made him feel uneasy, described the feeling of "not knowing what's around the corner" was what made the game engaging to players. However, he added that the feeling was also led to frustration due to having to restart if you missed a subtle anomaly, enforcing the idea that the player needs to be patient when observing the corridor. [10]
Conversely, Siliconera 's Jenni Lada recounted how the game made her feel comfortable and that the hallway made them feel secure and immersed. Lada commented that because the game made her feel too comfortable it managed to catch her out and make a mistake, adding it can help with replayability saying she found the game "oddly relaxing to take a walk and pick out the 'mistakes'". [51] Similarly, Hamish Hector found that whilst the game was short, he noted the game as being very replayable, recounting that every time he put the game down he was determined to play it again a few hours later. [54] In his review, Rock Paper Shotgun 's Ed Thorn details how the game did an "excellent job" by imitating Japanese comedy and game show humour, adding that some of the anomalies leaned towards the more whacky and fantastical side. He reflected that the game "wouldn't be amiss in a Yakuza". [55]
One drawback critics had with the game was its short length. In Lada's review, she mentioned that if you were good and lucky with the game it would only take the player around "15-30 minutes" to complete, adding further that "once you’ve played it enough times, you’ll have done it all and have no reason to return". [51] Ollie Reynolds didn't believe he would return to the game after the first playthrough and admitted that he didn't find the overall game scary, hypothesising that if the game was more similar to P.T. and leant more into the horror aspects, the game would be deemed "a modern classic". Additionally, Reynolds added that he thought that gyro aiming would have made playing the game more intuitive. [10] Similarly, Jordan Helm remarked that he hoped that Kotake Create would use the game as a foundation for a more ambitious and bolder project in the future. However, Helm added that Kotake created a "fifteen-minute experience with more warranted involvement and intriguing design" than other games with a longer play time. [6]
Similar to the original version, The Exit 8 VR was generally well received by critics, with many claiming the use of virtual reality helped enhance the gameplay and environment. In her review for UploadVR , Alicia Haddick described how she felt that this version heightened the overall sense of unease when playing, calling the game a "natural fit" for the Quest headset. Pulling from her memories of visiting Nogizaka Station in Tokyo, Haddick felt returning to a familiar location that was "distinctly off" was improved by the immersion of virtual reality, stating that the tension of playing was heightened when wearing the headset. [13] Famitsu writer Abu Yamazaki found playing the game to be immersive and creepy, feeling that their fear was doubled when experiencing the game in VR; Yamazaki denotes the red water anomaly and the fast walking NPC passer-by anomaly as particularly scary on their playthrough. Adding onto this, Yamazaki noted that anomalies that occurred above and below the player easier to spot compared to the ones on the player's sides, as well as stating that the game's increased lighting helped make anomalies easier to notice. [56]
Jenni Lada from Siliconera mentioned how the simplistic nature and execution of the game benefitted from VR, feeling that the headset helped enhance the game's sound design and audio cues, making them easier to spot. She also felt the VR aided in anomaly hunting and made certain anomalies more unsettling and fun to experience due to being able observe them up-close, writing that "it’s immersive in a way that was impossible on the Switch". [52] Sharing similar sentiments with Lada, The Escapist 's Shaun Cichacki stated that the game's visuals looked "phenomenal" and made the experience a lot more impactful, even noting that the environment that he was exploring felt more akin to real life than "just playing another video game." Writing further, Cichacki praised the game's sound design and commented that "the monotonous humming of the electricity" broke the "sterile and somewhat serene" environment, feeling that the noise and player's footsteps being some of the only noises in the game to be "executed well" and made anomalies easier to detect. [53] Hisui Mizuki from Real Sound wrote how whilst they thought the visuals were on par with the original version, the atmosphere of the VR version was comparable to real life, adding that due to the sounds of the lights and footsteps being heard in 3D made the sense of loneliness when playing stronger. [57] Continuing on, Hisui wrote how she felt that due to having a narrower field of view with the VR headset, it made anomalies more difficult and a lot more scarier than the original version, which made the game more enjoyable. [9]
Upon the release of the game, it was announced that the game had sold 30,000 copies within the first day. [58] By April 17, Kotake Create announced that the Steam release of the game sold 500,000 copies. [59] Two days after the release of the game on Nintendo Switch The Exit 8 became the top most downloaded Switch game that week in Japan, beating out games such as Bunny Garden and Suika Game . [60] According to a press release in August 2024, it was announced the game had reached over 1 million downloads, with the suggestion that the Switch version helped significantly push the game to that milestone. [28] In 2024, the game became the 2nd most downloaded game on the Nintendo Switch eShop in Japan only being beaten by Suika Game. [61] By January 2025, Playism announced that the game has achieved over 1.4 million downloads worldwide across all versions. [30] In March 2025, the game had received over 1.5 million downloads worldwide. [62] As of August 2025, The Exit 8 has sold over 2 million copies. [35]
The Exit 8 has also won multiple awards in the Japanese gaming industry. It won the Breakthrough Award at the Japan Game Awards 2024, where the selection committee praised the game's "ingenious" idea. [63] At the 2024 CEDEC Awards, it won an Excellence Award in Game Design due to the game's "simple and easy-to-understand design" as well as its creativity in incorporating familiar scenery. [64] [65] At the "Kyoto Digital Amusement Awards, a ceremony held by the Kyoto Prefecture to recognise young Kyoto-based creators, Kotake Create won the Governer's Award (Grand Prize) for his work on The Exit 8. [66] "During the " Dengeki Indie Game Awards 2024", The Exit 8 was voted as the 10th best indie game of 2024. [67] At the 27th Independent Games Festival, The Exit 8 was announced as a finalist for the Nuovo Award, [68] [69] losing out to Consume Me . [70] The Exit 8 was also nominated for the Grand Prize and the Internet Buzzword of the Year Award for the "41st 2024 New Words and Buzzwords Awards" and the "Internet Buzzword Award" respectively, [71] [72] finishing tenth for the latter award. [73]
Since The Exit 8's release, journalists began to analyse the game's success and what made it popular. In an interview with Shueisha Online , Kanakki, narrator for horror radio show "Magabanashi [ ja ] (猿夢)", believed that part of what made the game successful was its blending of the non-horrific/gore supernatural elements in an ordinary urban environment, detailing that the game had dream-like qualities such as the looping mechanic that "really add to the eeriness." [74] Kanakki further emphasised that the dream-like qualities also linked to the concept of liminal spaces, labelling underground passageways as "transitional spaces" that may allow person to imagine they are in another world. Kanakki suggested liminal spaces were another aspect he believed the game's success derived from, stemming from their rise in popularity from stories on message boards such as "Monkey Dream [ ja ] (禍話)" and "The Backrooms". He explained how liminal spaces create a sense of nostalgia and claustrophobia, which Kanakki linked as a common theme to 1990s video games; he described how it would endues a fear of uncanniness, which he believes the game takes advantage of to allow players to "experience the presence of fear". [75]
In an article by TheGamer , Eric Switzer noted how due to the game's short gameplay loop it allowed the game to thrive on social media platforms such as TikTok, which caused the game to gain popularity and success. [76] Similarly, according to Shueisha Online, playthrough videos of the game on YouTube have amassed a total of over 100 million views as of February 2025. [74] Real Sound's Chihiro Yuki similarly believed that the game's success stemmed from realistic graphics and easy to understand gameplay in a small environment made it "highly compatible with live commentary and streaming culture", leading to its popularity. Later in the article, Yuki stated that he believed that The Exit 8 getting a film adaptation was an extension of its commercial and cultural success earned by its ideas and concepts, adding that if the film was successful it could lead a trend in indie games being adapted into other mediums, mentioning Gnosia and Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo [d] as other examples; Yuki expressed that it "will be a pioneer in the "indie game film adaptation" movement." [77]
Following the release of The Exit 8, an influx of indie games inspired by the premise of the game became available online. Dubbed "Exit 8-like" by both news outlets and the developer themselves, [78] these game feature similar or even identical gameplay to Exit 8 but often set in a different environment and often trying to capture the liminal space aesthetic with examples such a shopping centre, hospital or subway trains. [79] One such game, called "0th Floor -The cursed elevator to Floor 0 -", has the game set in an elevator and has the players looking for anomalies on different floors of a building, all of which has a different setting. [80] Some of these Exit 8-likes leaned more into the more horror aspect of the gameplay, such as adding paranormal entities such as monsters and ghosts. [81] A different take on this concept is "holo8", [e] an Exit 8-like set in the offices of vtuber agency Hololive Production and featured over 70 current and former members such as Houshou Marine and Minato Aqua. [83] One of the more unique Exit 8-likes is "Track No. 9", a two-dimensional pixelated art-style adventure game where the player searches for 34 anomalies on a subway platform. [84]
In response to the large amount of "copycats", Kotake Create expressed that they do not condone the use of thumbnails or titles on gameplay videos of Exit 8-like games that could be seen as connections to the original game. [85] Further elaborating on his stance, Kotake mentioned that he would get messages from people about games "ripping off" The Exit 8, clarifying he wasn't angered by them as his game was also influenced by others. Kotake further stated that the reason he condoned the genre was due to the inability to stop people from making games using the same formula and that "ideas aren't copyrighted", adding that he was happy his creation "pioneered" a genre. [15] Additionally the developer shared links to some Exit 8-likes that they were looking forward to and stated that "as a developer, I think it is absolutely ok to make a new game that “puts a new spin on existing games,” as long as it isn’t exactly the same setting or gameplay system etc". [78] One of the most notable examples of this was The Exit 9, which was released on the PlayStation Store in January 2024. Due to the game's strong likeness to The Exit 8, it caused online fans of the game to ask Kotake Create about the copycat to which they denied any involvement with The Exit 9. Verity Townsend from Automaton West speculated that the developers of the copycat were taking advantage of the fact that the original game was not released on consoles. [86] Following the release of the PlayStation versions of The Exit 8, the copycat was rebranded to Exit 9 Metro. [87] As of February 2025, the store page for the game has been delisted on the PS Store. [88] During an interview, Kotake listed the games False Dreams, Victor’s Test Night and Dead End as Exit 8-likes that left an impression on him. [15]
Automaton West reported that following the release of the game, fans online had grown affectionate to the NPC passer-by seen in the game and had created works in his image such as fan art or recreating the character in games like Phantasy Star Online 2 or Soulcalibur VI . [3] Described as a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and dressed in work clothes and a briefcase, the passer-by only walks down the hallway and can occasionally be one of the game's many anomalies, [8] but never actually interacts with the player. Speculating as to why some fans felt so passionate towards the character, the article's author, Hideaki Fujiwara, believed that due to the NPC being the only other real person in the game, [f] fans see the passer-by as a "source of security and familiarity for the player" which the feelings would then continue to build. Seeing as the player has to scrutinise every aspect of the game in order to spot anomalies, they add that it would cause players to notice certain qualities of the passer-by, describing the man as having a "sleeper build". Alternatively, Fujiwara also posited the idea the feelings may derive from the "mere-exposure effect", which caused players to like the character just from walking past them over and over. When questioned about the character, Kotake Create mentioned that he too had become attached to the man during development and liked reading comments about the man from players in reviews, [3] adding that the man became the largest 3D model in the game at around 140,000 polygons. [16] The character returned in the game's sequel, Platform 8. [47] To celebrate The Exit 8 reaching 1 million downloads, a line of merchandise featuring the passer-by would be sold in Ikebukuro Parco department stores for a limited time between 23 August and 30 September 2024. [28]
In mid-April 2024, Japanese pharmaceutical company Earth Corporation [ ja ] (アース製薬) launched a web commercial parodying the game to advertise their mouthwash product, Mondamin. [89] [90] Due to a mistake on the company's Twitter account, Kotake Create responded to users stating that the commercial was not done in collaboration and instead merely granted permission for the company to parody the game. [91] [92] In late-March 2025, The Exit 8 content was featured in an update for the game Maid Cafe on Electric Street as part of a collaboration. [93]
A live-action film based on the Exit 8 video game was announced by Toho on December 27, 2024, [94] with Genki Kawamura set to write, produce and direct the film. [95] [96] The film, which stars Kazunari Ninomiya and Yamato Kōchi as the "lost man" and "walking man" respectively, was released on 29 August 2025. [97] [98] The film earned over ¥950 million at the box office in its first three days of release, becoming the highest grossing live-action film in Japan released in 2025. [99] To celebrate the release of the film, a limited amount of film-inspired box art covers for the physical releases PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch were distributed across retailers in Japan. [35] A novel adaptation of the film was also released ahead of the film's launch, with actor Yuki Kaji providing the narration in the audiobook version. [100]