‘Poppy Playtime’ Video Game Creators on Chapter 5’s Massive Launch, Film Adaptation and Plotting Chapter 6: ‘What Comes Next Has to Really Hit Hard’
Survival horror game “Poppy Playtime” launched its fifth installment Feb. 18, breaking records set by the video game franchise’s previous debuts with 110,000 units sold in the first three hours, 175,000 on Day 1 overall and 275,000 by the end of its first week of availability.
From indie developer Mob Entertainment, “Poppy Playtime: Chapter 5” also topped the rankings of global sales on Steam during its launch and was the No. 1 game on Twitch that day. With the game currently sitting at a “very positive” 80% review on Steam, fans are already clamoring for details about what comes next for “Poppy Playtime” — especially given the fact many players thought “Chapter 5” would be the conclusion of the story that first debuted in 2021.
“It was very clear in the marketing that our big bad villain that we’ve been building up toward for multiple years, we’re finally getting to that,” Mob Entertainment CEO and co-founder Zach Belanger told Variety. The side stories are coming to an end, and we’re getting to the main shebang. So I think that alone can’t be overstated for why there was more interest in this. Also a lot of people assumed that the fifth one was the last one. And there was some interest there as well, just because they thought it would be. And there’s been a lot of debate for the last year about whether or not it would be.”
Through its first five chapters, “Poppy Playtime” has followed the story of a former employee exploring an abandoned toy factory. Following the latest launch, Belanger, who co-created the title alongside his brother Seth Belanger, and the Mob Entertainment team can settle the “Chapter 5” debate definitively now: It’s not the end of “Poppy Playtime” — but there’s not much more they can say about a potential “Chapter 6.”
“We’re about one month post-launch at this point, and our team is kind of taking a breather and allowing ourselves to reflect on the impact of this launch and what it means for us and for the fans,” Mob Entertainment senior director of creative for film and games George Krstic said. “Like Zach said before, we know there’s a hunger for more ‘Poppy,’ but we couldn’t have guessed the launch would be this massive. We thank the fans and the players for that.”
“There’s a lot of unspoken trust that comes from our fans to keep the fandom and canon alive between chapters, dissecting the details of ‘Chapter 5’ and the past chapters,” Krstic continued. “That tells us they trust us to deliver something that meets or even exceeds their expectations. Otherwise they wouldn’t stay this invested in the story. That is what makes the difference. That is the part that’s ultimately out of our hands as the developers. We can nurture it, but it’s the players who keep the flame burning out there. The feedback and reception to ‘Chapter 5’ has been incredible, and we’re also deeply reflective. What comes next has to really hit hard. It has to be an evolution. We want our players to know that there’s still plenty of Poppy to come as long as they’re willing to stay along for the ride.”
In just the five years since “Poppy Playtime” first launched, Mob Entertainment has grown from the two-man team of the Belanger brothers to a staff of 50 to 60 employees. It has also expanded into a company that produces merch, has multiple partnerships in the works, and even a film adaptation set up with Legendary Pictures.
“I don’t know if I’m at liberty to say much about it, but I would say that we’re in the third act of the original series. Let’s just leave it that,” Belanger said of how much of the overall “Poppy Playtime” video game franchise’s story has been completed, and if it will be told in full in the upcoming movie.
One thing Belanger and Krstic say they remain very conscious of is the wide age range of “Poppy Playtime” players. It’s a cult title that has managed — divisively, to some — to resonate with everyone, from preschool gamers who like the childlike aesthetic to adults who are hardcore horror fans. And Mob doesn’t want to lose either fan base as the franchise does look to grow and “get more horrific and darker” as time goes by and more “Poppy” projects are released.
“We do very much consider ‘Poppy’ to be an evergreen IP, if managed correctly,” Belanger said. “If it was aged down, for example, I don’t know that it would be being managed correctly. We look at it as, the three year olds are only getting older, just like the rest of us. So that’s not to say that we don’t want to stay in that PG-13 or high-teen area. But that being said, from a thematic perspective and kind of in general, we want to get more horrific and darker in a lot of ways over time, as opposed to going the other way.”
From indie developer Mob Entertainment, “Poppy Playtime: Chapter 5” also topped the rankings of global sales on Steam during its launch and was the No. 1 game on Twitch that day. With the game currently sitting at a “very positive” 80% review on Steam, fans are already clamoring for details about what comes next for “Poppy Playtime” — especially given the fact many players thought “Chapter 5” would be the conclusion of the story that first debuted in 2021.
“It was very clear in the marketing that our big bad villain that we’ve been building up toward for multiple years, we’re finally getting to that,” Mob Entertainment CEO and co-founder Zach Belanger told Variety. The side stories are coming to an end, and we’re getting to the main shebang. So I think that alone can’t be overstated for why there was more interest in this. Also a lot of people assumed that the fifth one was the last one. And there was some interest there as well, just because they thought it would be. And there’s been a lot of debate for the last year about whether or not it would be.”
Through its first five chapters, “Poppy Playtime” has followed the story of a former employee exploring an abandoned toy factory. Following the latest launch, Belanger, who co-created the title alongside his brother Seth Belanger, and the Mob Entertainment team can settle the “Chapter 5” debate definitively now: It’s not the end of “Poppy Playtime” — but there’s not much more they can say about a potential “Chapter 6.”
“We’re about one month post-launch at this point, and our team is kind of taking a breather and allowing ourselves to reflect on the impact of this launch and what it means for us and for the fans,” Mob Entertainment senior director of creative for film and games George Krstic said. “Like Zach said before, we know there’s a hunger for more ‘Poppy,’ but we couldn’t have guessed the launch would be this massive. We thank the fans and the players for that.”
“There’s a lot of unspoken trust that comes from our fans to keep the fandom and canon alive between chapters, dissecting the details of ‘Chapter 5’ and the past chapters,” Krstic continued. “That tells us they trust us to deliver something that meets or even exceeds their expectations. Otherwise they wouldn’t stay this invested in the story. That is what makes the difference. That is the part that’s ultimately out of our hands as the developers. We can nurture it, but it’s the players who keep the flame burning out there. The feedback and reception to ‘Chapter 5’ has been incredible, and we’re also deeply reflective. What comes next has to really hit hard. It has to be an evolution. We want our players to know that there’s still plenty of Poppy to come as long as they’re willing to stay along for the ride.”
In just the five years since “Poppy Playtime” first launched, Mob Entertainment has grown from the two-man team of the Belanger brothers to a staff of 50 to 60 employees. It has also expanded into a company that produces merch, has multiple partnerships in the works, and even a film adaptation set up with Legendary Pictures.
“I don’t know if I’m at liberty to say much about it, but I would say that we’re in the third act of the original series. Let’s just leave it that,” Belanger said of how much of the overall “Poppy Playtime” video game franchise’s story has been completed, and if it will be told in full in the upcoming movie.
One thing Belanger and Krstic say they remain very conscious of is the wide age range of “Poppy Playtime” players. It’s a cult title that has managed — divisively, to some — to resonate with everyone, from preschool gamers who like the childlike aesthetic to adults who are hardcore horror fans. And Mob doesn’t want to lose either fan base as the franchise does look to grow and “get more horrific and darker” as time goes by and more “Poppy” projects are released.
“We do very much consider ‘Poppy’ to be an evergreen IP, if managed correctly,” Belanger said. “If it was aged down, for example, I don’t know that it would be being managed correctly. We look at it as, the three year olds are only getting older, just like the rest of us. So that’s not to say that we don’t want to stay in that PG-13 or high-teen area. But that being said, from a thematic perspective and kind of in general, we want to get more horrific and darker in a lot of ways over time, as opposed to going the other way.”