Co-op & proximity chat
Up to three players, online, with proximity chat. That second detail is not a convenience feature — it is a mechanic, and treating it as one is the difference between a co-ordinated crew and three people panicking in separate aisles.
Last verified 28 July 2026 · game version: launch build (22 July 2026)
Steam players cannot play with Xbox or PC Game Pass players. Xbox console and PC Game Pass share one pool via Play Anywhere; Steam is isolated. See crossplay — this catches groups out constantly.
Proximity chat is positional data
Voices get quieter with distance. That means every sound your teammates make is telling you where they are, and the game expects you to shout across the store. A scream that is suddenly loud is a teammate who is suddenly close, and that is information you get for free.
This is why running Discord over the top hurts you. It flattens distance to zero, removes the cue the design depends on, and makes it much harder to tell where someone is when things go wrong. Use the in-game chat.
Three roles
- Counter. Works customers and the ID scanner. Does not leave for noises.
- Floor. Watches behaviour, restocks, spots anomalies the scanner cannot see. The one who notices someone stepping around the counter.
- Response. Weapon equipped, handles hunts, owns time-critical objects.
The failure mode is all three converging on whatever made the last noise. A Shrieking Doll screams specifically to pull attention — three people answering that call is three people not doing their jobs.
On a Marionette night, one player owns the music box for the whole encounter and calls the melody count aloud. Three people half-watching a box that has to be wound is how groups end up facing the Marionette with no counterplay — which is why only 35.1% have ever killed one.
Solo is a real option
There is a full single-player mode, and several achievements — including the ending-related ones — do not require a group. Solo trades co-ordination for control: nobody else kills a customer you were still assessing.