Fear the Spotlight: Everything We Know

Have you ever done a seance? If you haven’t, you can do one in Fear the Spotlight. It has a nice touch, too, taking you back to the PlayStation 1 era with low poly graphics. From the trailer, Cozy Game Plus and Blumhouse Games seem to be cooking a genuinely tense, atmospheric game. And the final game will launch just in time for Halloween, too. If you’re on the fence about whether to get the game, here is everything we know about Fear the Spotlight so far to help you decide.

What is Fear the Spotlight?

Fear the Spotlight is an upcoming atmospheric third-person horror adventure game. Within its playthrough, you’ll unfold a dark mystery. Playing as Vivian and Amy, you’ll explore the haunted walls of your school, performing a seance and watching things go awry. Besides mystery-solving, you’ll also solve interactive puzzles. However, in every move you make, you must always stay out of the spotlight.

Story

Fear the Spotlight is set in Sunnyside High, where a dark event took place. The event gives Amy and Vivian the perfect reason to perform a seance. However, during the ritual, Amy disappears, leaving Vivian behind. While Vivian searches for Amy, another threat lurks in the haunted walls of the school: a monster with a particularly bright spotlight chases after her. 

No matter what happens, Vivian must not look into the spotlight. All the while, she must find her friend and solve the dark mystery of a decade-old tragedy. The developing team, Cozy Game Pals, describes the game as a “creepy love letter to the classic 90s horror experiences.” The description couldn’t be further from accurate as the visuals are low poly graphics. Still, the plot is intriguing and could potentially have a rich arc to unravel. 

Gameplay

If you’re not particularly fond of survival horrors, Fear the Spotlight could be the perfect starting point for you. That’s thanks, in part, to the accessible gameplay. Besides unraveling an intriguing story, you’ll solve interactive puzzles. Throughout your playthrough, you’ll become enshrouded in an eerie, tense atmosphere. Check out the key features you can expect in the final game:

• Mystery-solving: During a seance at Sunnyside High, a school with a dark past, Amy disappears, leaving her friend behind to survive the nightmare roaming the corridors. No matter what happens, Amy must avoid the gaze of the spotlight, even as she frantically searches for her friend and finds the dark truth behind what happened a decade ago at the school.
• Survival horror: Fear the Spotlight is very much a survival horror that will involve elements like sneaking around to avoid being seen. An unknown monster hunts you down. Meanwhile, you have to keep moving forward, exploring the dark corridors of the school.
• You’ll solve interactive puzzles akin to cult classics in the genre. But contemporary gamers will find evolving horror gameplay, too.
• Exploration will be key as you roam about the haunted walls of an empty Sunnyside High. With a flashlight, screwdriver, wrench, and more tools, you’ll strive to uncover the dark mysteries of the game.
• Retro charm: Visually, you’ll play PS1-era low poly graphics. The game pays homage to classic 90s teen horror with retro charm, tense auditory design, and an overall nostalgic setting.
• Expanded story: In addition to the main story, you’ll experience an “extensive, additional storyline,” too.

Development

Developer Cozy Game Pals and publisher Blumhouse Games are working on launching Fear the Spotlight pretty soon. They launched a Demo version on April 19, 2022, and released the first version of the game on September 15, 2023, which gamers have responded to with mostly positive reviews. 

“Beautifully crafted,” “spine-tingling tension,” and “creepy but easily accessible” are among the top Steam reviews for the Demo. In fact, the reviews sum up to 98% positive feedback, suggesting the final game may be a blast. 

So, while Fear the Spotlight may be Cozy Game Pals’ first major title, and the studio is only a team of two, the upcoming game seems to be in good hands. The new game will focus on story and atmosphere, both of which already look promising.

Trailer

Check out the Fear the Spotlight release date trailer launched at the State of Play 2024 event in the video embedded above. There’s also a reveal trailer released at the Summer Game Fest 2024 event a few months back. First to stand out is the impeccable voice acting, which is certainly unexpected in a low-polyvisuals game. You can tell a lot of effort went into crafting the auditory and voice acting framework for the game. 

But the visuals, too, have a sneaky way of tugging at your heartstrings. They bring back the retro charm during the golden era of horror games. Anyway, the description outright says the game is a “creepy love letter to classic 90s horror experiences.” So, it’s only fitting that veterans swim in nostalgia. At the same time, though, the atmosphere is pretty eerie and tense. Both auditory, visual, and storytelling elements work together to tingle the spine. 

As we count down the days to launch, hopefully, the game will receive more polish. Both trailers showcase new additions. So, the final game could potentially be much more refined.

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions

Fear the Spotlight will launch on October 22, 2024, just in time for Halloween. It’ll be a re-release on PC platforms. However, consoles will be receiving the game for the first time. More precisely, the upcoming game is slotted to launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam on October 22. For now, no editions seem to be available for pre-order. If you have a Steam account, you can always add it to your wishlist to get notified when it drops. If not, you can follow the official social handle here to stay on top of new updates.

So, what’s your take? Will you be grabbing a copy of Fear the Spotlight when it drops? Let us know over on our socials here.