Oxenfree, the debut title from indie developer Night School Studio, was released today, accompanied by a brand new trailer.
Oxenfree presents a coming-of-age story with a spooky edge. A group of high-school teens go exploring on an abandoned military island after their overnight beach party doesn’t go according to plan. The group of friends, including main heroine Alex and her new step-brother Jonas, must cope with the sinister ordeals that the night throws at them as the island’s unsettling past comes back to life.
A story-driven, supernatural adventure game, Oxenfree is inspired by classic films of the 80s, such as Poltergeist and Stand By Me. Night School Studio is made up of alumni from Telltale Games and Disney, so it makes sense that the game’s focus is on building plot, character, and atmosphere.
In a statement released this week, Sean Krankel, the CEO of Night School Studio, spoke of how excited the team are to get their first finished game out into the open.
I cannot thank and praise the Night School Studio team enough for all their hard work and dedication to bring OXENFREE to life! It’s been a labor of love, a little bit of pain, and a lot of fun. With the team’s commitment and the support of our partners at Microsoft, Skybound Entertainment and iam8bit, I truly feel like we’ve had the best of the best in our corner seeing this project through to its full potential. There are no words to describe how excited I am for fans to finally have a chance to play and experience the story of Alex and her friends and all craziness that ensues on Edwards Island!
Yesterday, a special collector’s edition from iam8bit was announced, which comes with an assortment of goodies, including a beer cooler for your very own college beach parties/ghost hunting trips. Night School Studio will also be teaming up with Skybound Entertainment in a co-branding franchise agreement that will aim to bring Oxenfree to other media, so you can expect to see more of this IP in the near future.
Oxenfree is available now for Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Mac OS X.
