Japanese Liminal Horror Game The Exit 8 Hits Steam In November

A Japanese horror game is gaining traction online for its comparisons to the popular co-op horror exploration game Escape the Backrooms. Developed and published by independent studio Kotake Create, The Exit 8 is scheduled to hit PC via Steam sometime this November with a release date to be confirmed; however, as of writing, there are no plans to launch on console yet.

The premise of the game, according to its Steam listing, finds players trapped within a Japanese subway station where they’re tasked with having to find a way to escape its endless corridors. Akin to P.T., players will continuously run through corridors while finding clues to end the loop and escape the subway station.

The Exit 8 is one of two games that Kotake Create will release within the next few months, with Strange Shadow already confirmed to be released sometime in 2025. However, The Exit 8 will be the first game the studio will be launching, and they’ve announced the game’s Steam listing on social media.

The game was developed using the Unreal Engine 5, which is described as “a short walking simulator inspired by Japanese underground passageways, liminal spaces, and backrooms.” As such, like with backroom genre games, players are to look for lapses or gaps within reality, and should they spot anomalies, they must backtrack or move forward if there aren’t any.

Furthermore, the developer has provided the game’s PC requirements ahead of the game’s release to compare whether the game will run at its minimum or recommended specs. Lastly, the developer has stated that the game will take about 15 to 30 minutes to play, likely from the beginning until they’ve successfully escaped the subway station.

The Exit 8 is slated to release on PC via Steam in November 2023, for which the game is available to add to their Wishlist. Players will be notified once the game launches, for which a release date has yet to be confirmed by Kotake Create.