One of the smallest horror titles to come out of the small screen has become one of the biggest surprise hits of the summer.
Shift at Midnight, a solo development by Australian developer Bun Muen and published by Kwalee, has officially opened for Xbox Series X/S on July 22, in addition to being released on PC via Steam and itch.io. It is also on Xbox Game Pass, day one across console, PC and Cloud Gaming.
On the surface it ias a pretty straight-forward concept: 1-3 players take turns working the night shift at a distant gas station, where they work the normal business management game, stock shelves, receive deliveries, clean up, and provide customers. The catch is some of those customers are not human. They are doppelgangers and it is up to the player to determine which ones before it is too late.
Players can ask any customer questions, scan their ID, verify information on the store computer and monitor any suspicious activity to catch them. If you miss a doppelganger, he will pass by elsewhere in the shift and appear again as a hostile. The game takes a complete turn, and players must barricade doors, lay traps, and hide until they are out of danger.
It was not on launch day that the game gained its popularity. Earlier this year, Shift at Midnight free demo captured the Steam attention of some big names in the game, such as CaseOh & Markiplier, who likened the game to the classic Five Nights at Freddy, and even more surprising, Papers. This demo has been played by over 8,000 players and has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam.
That “buzz” has been directly converted to launch performance. The entire game has now been rated 90%+ by more than 1,000 users on Steam, and some of the coverage suggests it may be moving into Overwhelmingly Positive, as more users add their reviews.
Things were not so smooth to reach the launch. The game was originally intended to be released on PC only via Steam, and was delayed numerous times and eventually released in June. The game was initially going to launch exclusively on PlayStation Plus, but is now also coming to Xbox consoles and Game Pass, far beyond its original scope under two weeks before launch.
Some crossplay support (but limited). The games are available for Steam players, and only Xbox players can play with each other, including those who play on the Xbox PC. If you plan on playing together with friends on other platforms, it is a restriction you should be aware of for a long time.
This complete release also introduces a 13-night Story Mode, communication in co-op mode with proximity chat and a playable Endless Mode in beta. Players can also take solo games if they want to do this instead of working with a group.
Shift at Midnight will go on sale on Steam with a 10 percent discount until July 29, and its price tag is $9.99 / £9.99 / €9.99. It is also been packaged up alongside other co-op horror games like Escape the Backrooms, Phasmophobia and YAPYAP to tie-in with the release, and it is part of a themed Steam sale.
The transition from a viral demo to a Very Positive, multi-platform launch is unusual for an indie that developed itself, but the fact that Shift at Midnight has made such a leap means it has high chances of becoming one of the biggest indie horror breakout games of the year.
