In December of 2022, Mob Entertainment released PROJECT: PLAYTIME to the masses with the promise of it being a game to tide people over between chapters of the main series, Poppy Playtime. Just under a year later, this game would fall completely still with a complete whimper, riddled with bugs, poor decisions and, most importantly of all, countless broken promises.

The final update overhauled the game and removed content, almost all for the worse, and was left in an unfinished state with promises of patches and fixes to come, as well as re-introducing missing content and adding new content entirely. Aside from merely one hotfix the day after it released, there was nothing. This is how the game has been since October 26th, 2023.

The team created with the sole intent of working on the game had been gutted between Phase 2 and Phase 3, leaving a skeleton crew to work on it while those taken away were tasked with working on Chapter 3. Then, shortly after the rocky release and poor reception of Phase 3, easily accredited to the lack of a team working on it or the baffling decisions and changes made to the game with the release of the third Phase, the last of the team was taken away as well, leaving the game dormant. Private Lobbies and Parties, both features promised to be re-introduced (or introduced for the first time, in the sake of Parties,) before Phase 3 had even released, continue to be missing in the game. Countless beloved features were removed for the sake of making the game more like its competitor, Dead by Daylight, whereas many players who had played both enjoyed PROJECT: PLAYTIME for its uniqueness and creativity on the asymmetrical formula-- taking clear inspirations, however taking on its own identity in countless ways that stood it out in the genre and made a lasting impact on fans of both the existing franchise and the genre of game as a whole.

A substantial chunk of the Poppy Playtime community had been created by the introduction of a multiplayer game. There is little more a player enjoys than spending time with their friends, playing a game together and perhaps even making new friends entirely in the boundless depths of the internet and available games where one may meet new people. Many fans of the franchise would not be here were it not for it introducing a game like this; something to play with your friends that is both unique and engaging. Even mascot horror fans not necessarily familiar with the franchise had been drawn to it; Poppy Playtime had beaten the goliath Five Nights at Freddy's to the punch at creating a truly multiplayer experience with an addictive gameplay loop and countless layers of customization for players to express themselves. Players and developers alike enjoyed playing and creating- sometimes even together- and it created a sense of love and understanding between players and the developers at Mob Entertainment more than there had ever been before.

Even today, hundreds of players still return to PROJECT: PLAYTIME in the hopes that one of their favorite games receive a much-needed update, over a year since the last one. The game had also received a large spike in players when Chapter 3: Deep Sleep had released; and is bound to see the same effect once Chapter 4 releases. Players are waiting for the next drop-- or at least, some much-needed TLC for the game so that it may shine as brightly as it once did, lest it fall into obscurity as the years pass and Chapters leave it in the dust.

At the bare minimum, players would be overjoyed for the game to at least have Private Lobbies and Parties introduced as promised so that they may play together. The hope, however, is for a new Phase to breathe new life into the game, patch the countless bugs introduced prior, and give a large portion of the fandom something it has been asking for for over a year now-- more of their favorite game.