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The Poppy Playtime Studio Insists Its Toy-Factory Survival Game Isn’t Going Anywhere, Even With Its Crew Gutted
Barely two weeks after the Smiling Critters spinoff landed in Steam Early Access, Mob Entertainment has let go of the bulk of the developers who built it. IGN picked up the story on Wednesday after a former lead game designer on the project shared on LinkedIn that nearly everyone on the team, including themselves, had been cut.
Escape From Playtime drops two to eight players into an abandoned toy factory as plush Smiling Critters, scrounging for tools and parts for a mysterious voice while the franchise’s monstrous mascots stalk the dark corridors. It arrived on PC via Steam Early Access on October 21 as a multiplayer offshoot of the hit Poppy Playtime horror series.
The timing has players worried about whether the game will survive its Early Access run. Responding on the game’s official Discord, Mob community manager Tyler Scott Sanchez acknowledged the studio had parted ways with talented people who helped create the game, but stressed that “development on the game continues.” He said the roadmap has already been reshuffled around player feedback, with matchmaking fixes, a revised rollout order for the larger enemies, and a more varied version of the current map among the planned changes.
Sanchez admitted the studio doesn’t have every answer yet and promised to keep the community updated as work moves forward. Mob has not said how many people were affected.
Developer: Mob Entertainment
Publisher: Mob Entertainment
Platforms: PC (Steam Early Access)
Release Date: Out now in Early Access (October 21, 2026)
Source: Reporting and confirmation via IGN.
