"Generally speaking, Midnight Murder Club doesn’t quite feel as accessible as a new multiplayer game that’s trying to garner an audience should be."

Let’s get the basics out of the way first. Midnight Murder Club is a competitive shooter that throws groups of up to 12 players together into a dark mansion. Armed with a revolver and a flashlight, players then have to figure out where their opponents are as they slowly skulk through the randomly generated rooms of Wormwood Manor. The twist offered up here is that darkness tends to be your best friend; using the flashlight might give you some much-needed visibility at times, but it also acts as a beacon to other nearby players. Because of this, you have to rely largely on sounds, and very judicious use of your flashlight to find your way around.

These core mechanics act as the foundation for a few different game modes, from the bog-standard free-for-all and team deathmatch modes that revolve around getting as many kills as possible, to Wildcard, which seems like it might be the big flagship game mode for Midnight Murder Club. In Wildcard, all players are given a choice between a number of different cards, each of which can have varied effects that are in play for the entirety of the match. These effects can range from everyone starting out with more powerful weapons, to shrinking a player every time they get shot. Cards can even go as far as changing up the very nature of the game mode iinto a team-based affair or adding light trails to all players, with getting more kills getting longer and brighter trails.

"Generally speaking, Midnight Murder Club doesn’t quite feel as accessible as a new multiplayer game that’s trying to garner an audience should be."

Shooting feels tight and accurate, and the movement and aiming both feel quite responsive. Issues, however, start popping up when you spend a bit longer with the title and notice some of the UI elements. The biggest negative in this regard is the fact that keeping your flashlight on also provides you with a minimap. While it might ensure that Midnight Murder Club is more accessible to new players, it also tends to act as a crutch, since it vastly de-emphasises one of the core tenets: learning how to raise your situational awareness in the twisting corridors of Wormwood Manor.

Generally speaking, Midnight Murder Club doesn’t quite feel as accessible as a new multiplayer game that’s trying to garner an audience should be. While it is incredibly dedicated to its core gameplay gimmicks – the fact that you can’t see anything unless you also make yourself visible to your enemies – these same mechanics mean that there isn’t really a way to ease yourself into the game and learn its mechanics. There’s no real tutorial mode, and while this might change over the course of the title’s life with post-launch updates, currently, the only real way you can learn how to play is by either joining several matches and, literally and metaphorically, fumbling around in the dark.

There are bot matches that provide less competitive stress, but only Wildcard and the PvE-focused Graveyard Shift modes are available. The former can be a decent enough way to learn the game, but the existence of the titular Wildcards can muddy the waters when it comes to learning the core mechanics of the game, and the latter doesn’t really teach you much at all since it revolves around you and a buddy fighting off Revenants. The mode revolves around two players teaming up to look for golden relics all over the mansion while also fending off waves of enemies, and while it’s fun for a few minutes, it starts feeling repetitive quite quickly. The other game modes – Free-for-All, Team Deathmatch, Thief in the Night and Headhunters – are multiplayer-only, and this brings us to the biggest elephant in the room with Midnight Murder Club.

"The small population means that any player that wants to give Midnight Murder Club a shot will have a lot of downtime"

There just aren’t enough players. In my attempts, I was met with several matchmaking queues that ended up going into several minutes, and while things were pretty fun when I finally got into a match, this wouldn’t last. The small population – a quick glance at SteamDB indicates that the title has been at a peak of over 200 concurrent players – means that any player that wants to give Midnight Murder Club a shot will have a lot of downtime, and there’s no guarantee that it will improve anytime soon. Ultimately, this means that the only real way to enjoy Midnight Murder Club right now is if you have at least five other friends to play with.

The nature of darkness and lighting being an important gameplay factor also means that Midnight Murder Club has to nail the visuals and audio, and in that respect, the shooter largely succeeds. It goes for a fun visual style that melds a masquerade party with the vibes of 1950s noir in its fashion, character designs, and environment. How the game handles light can also end up looking quite impressive, especially when some of the more insane modifiers from Wildcards come into play, like a massive disco ball reflecting multi-coloured light all over the place, or a falling chandelier lighting a doorway on fire.

The lack of light also means that footsteps and other audio cues – like the sound of doors being opened and closed – tend to be the best way to figure out where your opponents are. Midnight Murder Club doesn’t really offer much in the way of a soundtrack, which also means that you can focus more on the gameplay side of things without having to worry about enemy footsteps being muddled by the presence of background music. Aside from that, things like distant gunshots and the creaking of doors and wooden staircases also sound quite good.

"As is the case with many underbaked releases, things could potentially improve for Midnight Murder Club with post-launch updates."

This feels like even more of a shame considering the fact that Midnight Murder Club has a really fun premise for a shooter that we haven’t really seen much of before. Instead of opting for yet another straightforward competitive shooter, or even going with a more social deduction route by following games like Among Us, Midnight Murder Club instead takes a different approach that’s more methodical and tense. Unfortunately, the same premise also ends up feeling too inaccessible for many new players, and the fact that it isn’t a free-to-play game also adds yet another barrier in an already overpopulated genre.

Add on the fact that the PvE Graveyard Shift mode doesn’t really offer much in the way of depth and ends up feeling largely repetitive despite the Mansion itself being randomly generated, and this just doesn’t seem like it might be worth your time in its current incarnation.

As is the case with many underbaked releases, things could potentially improve for Midnight Murder Club with post-launch updates. However, even with new content, mechanics, and whatnot, it needs to venture beyond its current appeal to tap into a larger player base. And with the current state of the player base, it’s hard to tell whether the game’s fortunes will change.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The trailer, while not showing off anything new, does give a good idea of what the light-based multiplayer shooter’s gameplay is like. Players have to navigate their way through unlit levels, with their only sources of light being a flashlight and their gun’s muzzle flash. Using these has the downside of also revealing your position to your opponents, who might be hiding in the shadows.

The core gameplay of Midnight Murder Club involves six players trapped in a level and trying to take each other out before they can get spotted by another player. To aid with this, shots also leave a noticeable tracer shot that can be used to figure out an opponent’s vantage point.

Along with light itself, Midnight Murder Club also makes use of proximity voice chat, which gives players another avenue to sniff out the positions of their hidden opponents. Along with voice chat itself, players will also have to use other sounds – like muffled footsteps – to ascertain the positions of their opponents.

While players will start with simple weapons, the game’s mansion setting also has plenty of other tools and weapons that can be used, including night vision pills, a bulletproof vest, bear traps, and even extra weapons like Molotov cocktails.

The shooter has a few different game modes, including Free for All, Thief in the Night, Team Deathmatch, Headhunters, and Wildcards. The latter, unveiled back in February, involves players picking cards that have different effects, which can ultimately end up causing big impacts in the overall match.

To make finding matches easier, Midnight Murder Club also offers those who buy it a Guest Pass, which can be shared with another player to get them free access to the game without having to buy a separate copy.

Coinciding with the announcement of the release date is the arrival of the update 1.2 for Midnight Murder Club, which brings with it a host of new Wildcards for players to toy around with. The update also brought the ability to play Wildcard matches with bots. For more details about the update, check out the full patch notes below.

Midnight Murder Club Update 1.2 Patch Notes:

Features:

New Wildcards

• Falling Chandelier – attach a chandelier to the ceiling that will fall on your enemies when they walk underneath it
• Flaming Skull – transform into a flaming, flying skull and hunt your enemies from the skies!
• Growing Glow Trail –We’ve updated Glowing Glow Trails so now they get longer with every kill
• Party Room – there ain’t no party like a Midnight Murder Party because the Midnight Murder Party don’t stop! Until everyone is dead. Then… Then it stops…
• Knives Only – by popular request, you gotta slash your enemies to bits
• Sound Blast: Jazz Club – every time you fire your gun it sounds like a high school band rehearsing
• Pinged to Death! – on a player’s death, a pinger goes off revealing the locations of everyone in the mansion
• Shrink Shot – get shot, get shrunk, get revenge
• Gift from the Grave – when you die, you’ll get a little present that will give you a chance to catch up and seek revenge
• All in the Chamber – all your bullets fire at once. More bullets = More good!

Players can now play a Wildcards match with bots

• Voice Scrambler: if you’re matched with someone who is being a bit of a jerk, you can now scramble their voice, so you can’t tell what they’re saying, but you can still tell where they are

Bots:

• Bots will now be better teammates
• Bots are now available in Wildcard matches

Balancing:

• Mansion Compass – helps you navigate when your flashlight is on
• Death Pin Drops – players will now see a ping that shows them the location of where they last died in the mansion, helping them find their way back

Other

• UI / UX flow updates to improve rematch capabilities and optimize grouping up with friends

Known Issues

• Players using a controller on PC will not be able to navigate to the right-side menu after pressing “Play Game.” The current workaround if players need to access that menu is to use mouse and keyboard.

Joining Free for All, Thief in the Night, Team Deathmatch and Headhunters is the new Wildcards mode. The mode revolves around breaking established rules of the game to cause more chaos. Players get to pick cards in the Wildcards mode, each of which can have different effects on the game, from all players getting super speed to player deaths causing explosive flames.

Midnight Murder Club is also getting a Guest Pass Edition, which allows friends of players who already own the game to join in on the fun without having to buy a separate copy. Each person that buys a copy of Midnight Murder Club gets five Guest Pass Editions that they can give to their friends. The Guest Pass Edition features all current game modes and zero time limits.

Midnight Murder Club is a six-player shooter set in a pitch-black mansion. Players don’t have much in the way of light sources, and will have to figure out the positions of their opponents using unconventional means, like keeping an eye out for their muzzle flashes. Players will also have flashlights that have the unfortunate side-effect of giving their own positions away as well.

The PS5 release of Midnight Murder Club was originally announced all the way back in December 2024. The studio will also be taking feedback from its players as development on the game continues.

“As a member of the Midnight Murder Club, your opinion on the direction the club should go matters,” wrote Feurstein in the announcement. “We’re determined to evolve this game with the community as we continue developing through Early Access. We want your opinions and ideas, which will help shape our roadmap (which we’ll be sharing before launch!).”

Midnight Murder Club will be priced at $19.99.

Alongside the upcoming PS5 release, the studio has also announced that a demo for Midnight Murder Club is available on PC and PS5, complete with cross-platform multiplayer.

The six-player shooter is set in a pitch-black mansion where players will have little in the way of light aside from their own flashlight and their weapon’s muzzle flash. Players will have to make careful use of their flashlight, however, since that will also give away their position to opponents who might be on the hunt.

The PS5 release of Midnight Murder Club will also include features of the DualSense controllers, and the studio has stated that it is working with Sony to bring these features to the game.

Midnight Murder Club is slated to hit PC and PS5 in Early Access in 2025.

Why? In a nutshell, Velan Studios doesn’t have the manpower or resources to update and improve the game in the ways it wants to while also maintaining consistent support for it. The studio is, as such, deciding to take the knowledge it has gathered from over the course of the game’s development and its post-launch period and apply it to its next project- which may or may not be a new Knockout City game.

“Creating such a different game with no points of comparison and running live services for the first time in many of our careers has also made the past couple years particularly challenging,” the developer writes. “Despite over 12 million players and billions of KOs around the globe, there are several aspects of the game in need of major disruption to better attract and retain enough players to be sustainable. Since we are a small, indie studio, it’s simply impossible for us to make those kinds of systemic changes in the live game while continuing to support it. So it became clear to us that we needed to take a step back and pave the way for Velan to do what we do best by innovating.

“Now we can take everything we learned, everything that succeeded and everything that needs improvement, and get to work on exploring new possible experiences for Knockout City and other games and products we are very excited about. We’re currently in the process of doing a comprehensive retrospective on every aspect of the game, all the community feedback and analytics data, and even our development processes. Our hope is that sometime in the not-too-distant future, all this information can be used to start work on what comes next in the Knockout City universe. While we can’t promise that Knockout City will be back, what we can promise is that you’ll continue to see new and innovative games from Velan Studios that will surprise and delight players around the world.”

Before the game goes offline though, it’s set to receive plenty of updates for those who want to stick around and keep playing until the end. On February 28, the game’s ninth and final season will kick off, bringing six back-to-back events, new cosmetics, playlists, a new map, and more. On the same day, the game will also disable microtransactions.

“To make up for this, we’ve packed every event in Season 9 with rewards for XP, Style Chips, and thousands of Holobux,” Velan Studios writes. “Every event also features a massive sale shop with huge discounts, and almost every cosmetic we’ve ever sold will make its way into one of these sale shops. The rewards for League Play, Daily Login Bonuses, and the Brawl Pass have also been drastically increased, and the price of the Premium Brawl Pass will be reduced to just 50 Holobux (which you can easily earn in the Free Pass).”

Season 9 will end on May 23, which will also mark the beginning of a final two-week farewell event, featuring triple XP, new rewards, and the return of the Superpowers: Power Grab playlist. Finally, on June 6, the game’s servers will go offline, rendering it unplayable. That said, Velan Studios will also be releasing releasing a standalone player-hosted version of the game, for those who want to keep playing on private servers even after the game has shut down.

Knockout City is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The new mode will be playable in a new playlist, titled the Foot Clan Clash Playlist. It involves two pairs of brawlers having to battle it out, competing against each other in taking out the most Foot Soldiers in the time limit. Players can also take on Black Belt Contracts to earn rewards themed around Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, including a Foot Soldier outfit.

The game mode involves four different kinds of Foot Soldiers, each with their own unique traits and behaviour.

Alongside the event, Knockout City is also getting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Villains bundle, which includes cosmetics, such as an outfit to make your character look like Bebop and Rocksteady.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles event for Knockout City kicks off on January 10, and will be live until January 24.

Along with new side attractions in the Hideout (including a mini-game of Soccer), any visiting Crew member can now see your Crew Banner. The Brawl Shop also has new tracks for the Jukebox including Get Outta Dodge ft. Sonny Rey. A new Crew vehicle type is also coming that gives a sleek futuristic look.

This is all in addition to a new Brawl Pass which is packed with new cosmetics. Earn XP, complete Contracts and so on or purchase the Premium Pass for Holobux to net even more rewards and Contracts. If you’re really dedicated to the grind, then the new Chrome Street Rank will be available after Diamond Level 100 which contains Chrome rarity cosmetics.

Check out the roadmap below for a full breakdown of content available during Season 6.

Along with a new event in Spring that has exclusive unlockables, features like Basketbrawl, Chain Reaction and more will be coming back. Once Season 5 is done, Year 2 of the multiplayer title kicks off. Season 6 will arrive in Spring and see the title going free-to-play. A new Loyalty Bundle will be provided to all players who purchased the game before Season 6 and includes exclusive cosmetics, XP boosts and 2000 Holobux.

Velan Studios will also be self-publishing the title going forward. It thanked the Electronic Arts and the EA Originals label, and said that “bringing publishing in-house will allow us to fully realize our vision for the long-term future of this game. There’s so much to look forward to, because this is just the beginning.”

Due to all of these big changes, Season 5 will have less bundles and cosmetics and no new Brawl Pass, map or ball. Season 6 will feature all of these things (including a new “Special Ball”) so stay tuned. Knockout City is currently available for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

There’s a new map called Alien Smash Site, which, according to the developer, is the game’s biggest map to date. You can use the UFOs spread across the map to traverse quickly from one point to the other. Of course, there are a ton of cosmetic additions themed around space and aliens as well, and a brand new Battle Pass that would allow players to work through these unlocks when the Season starts on December 7th.

Knockout City was also a part of PS Plus’ games for November, making it a perfect time to try out this game. Those on Xbox can also try out the game through EA Play, which is included in the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.

As the name implies, split-screen allows for two karts to be connected to a single Switch with two feeds displayed on the screen at once. Relay Race is a new co-op mode where players take turns driving and must compete against Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings. Other new content includes the Luigi Cup for Grand Prix, which unlocks two new Environments and three new Gate Types in Course Creation.

Also, if the player fulfills certain conditions in the new Cup, they can unlock the Poltergust G-00 and Spooky Horn for their kart. Check out the full patch notes below for more details.

Ver. 2.0.0

Additional Features

• Luigi Cup was added to Grand Prix. Fulfill certain conditions in Luigi Cup to acquire two new Environments and three new Gate Types to use in Course Creation.
• The POLTERGUST G-00 and SPOOKY HORN have been added to Kart Customization in game. Acquire them by fulfilling certain conditions in Luigi Cup.
• Relay Race was added to Multiplayer. This is a cooperative mode where up to four players take turns driving one kart, playing as Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, and Mario / Luigi (depending on the kart used) against Bowser Jr., and the Koopalings. Enough controllers to match the number of players is required to play Relay Race.
• Split Screen was added to Multiplayer. Connect two karts to one Nintendo Switch console, to play together at the same time. The video feed from the karts will be divided onto the screen, allowing two feeds to be displayed at once.
• Playing Split Screen requires two karts, and two Joy-Con, or Pro controllers.

General Fixes

• Adjustments made to enhance the play experience of the game.