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Night School Studio’s social spook ‘em up Oxenfree has shipped over one million units and has been downloaded over three million times, as revealed by its co-director Sean Krankel (via IGN).
Oxenfree tells the tale of five high school students visiting the fictional Edwards Island for a beach party. As the sun sets, Alex and her new step-brother Jonas investigate a strange light emanating from a cave and once they find the source, tune Alex’s handheld radio to its frequency. An interdimensional rift is ripped open and voices speak to them in staccato snippets from radio broadcasts. They tell the teenagers that they want… to go home. The team must resist the ghosts’ maligned manipulation and solve their riddles, while exploring the secrets of the town to discover what is anchoring these spectres to the island.
It was rated highly upon release, receiving praise for its realistic dialogue, compelling characters and soft, Disney-like visuals. Speaking to IGN, co-director Krankel credited the Xbox Game Pass for a portion of the game’s success. Oxenfree has been downloaded three million times through the subscription service, which, when added to one million units sold, makes for impressive numbers.
I might’ve been buzzin off that IGN beer but what I meant to say was over 1 million sold, 3 million plus installs via Game Pass and some other giveaways. Which we are still beyond excited about!
— Saw ‘n’ Strangle (@seankrankel) October 9, 2019
Night School Studio’s next venture is Afterparty, in which college graduates Milo and Lola have unexpectedly died and rock up in hell. They hear tell of a little loophole in their sentences to spend eternity in the bad place: outdrink the Prince of Hell himself and they’re free to go. Like Oxenfree, naturalistic, meandering dialogue is back, but pick your poison carefully. Different drinks offer different dialogue options.
It seems like the perfect game to play this Halloween, and perhaps Night School Studio thought so too. Afterparty will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on the Epic Games store on October 29.
