Velan Studios, the team behind Knockout City, has officially launched its latest creation, Midnight Murder Club, out of early access today. Published by PlayStation, the game reimagines the childhood game of hide-and-seek as a tense, violent, and chaotic multiplayer shooter set inside a pitch-black mansion where players rely on audio cues to survive.
Game director Eric Feurstein explained in a PlayStation Blog post that the goal was to blend spooky tension with moments of pure party-game chaos.
Originally debuting in early access on March 13, 2025, the title saw limited traction on Steam, peaking at just 178 concurrent players. With today’s 1.0 release, Velan Studios hopes to change that by adding the new Graveyard Shift single-player PvE mode and introducing Wildcards-special mechanics designed to inject even more unpredictability into matches.
One standout feature is the Guest Pass, allowing friends to join your matches for free as long as one person owns the game. This makes it easier to build a full squad without everyone buying it upfront.
Feurstein revealed that the concept started as a small prototype he built in his bedroom in 2015 and shared with friends. A decade later, it evolved into a polished, full-scale release shaped by player feedback from early access. While the story of its growth is inspiring, the game’s survival will ultimately depend on whether it can attract and keep enough players-something Velan’s previous major release struggled with.