Software:Fear the Spotlight

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Short description: 2024 video game
Fear the Spotlight
Developer(s)Cozy Game Pals
Publisher(s)Blumhouse Games
Director(s)Bryan Singh
Crista Castro
Programmer(s)Bryan Singh
Artist(s)Crista Castro
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
ReleaseOctober 22, 2024
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Fear the Spotlight is a 2024 survival horror stealth game developed by Cozy Game Pals and published by Blumhouse Games. The game follows high school students Vivian and Amy, who become involved with supernatural events at Sunnyside High.

The game was developed by husband-and-wife team Bryan Singh and Crista Castro, who began the project in 2022 and released an initial version on Steam in 2023.[1] Shortly afterwards, the game was discovered by Blumhouse Games, who reached out to Castro and Singh and offered them support to expand the game and publish it for consoles, which they accepted.

Fear the Spotlight was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 22 October 2024 with a positive reception.[2]

Plot

High school students Vivian and Amy sneak into the deserted Sunnyside High, where they use a ouija board to conduct a seance in hopes of communicating with spirits of students who perished in a fire at the school in 1991. The seance is interrupted and Amy disappears, prompting Vivian to search for her. She is pursued through the halls by a monstrous being with a spotlight for a head. Vivian begins to uncover the truth of what happened in the fire, which took place shortly before a planned student performance of the play The Phantom of the Opera.

Gameplay

The game follows high school students Vivian Singh (Khaya Fraites) and Amy Tanaka (Maganda Marie) as they sneak their way through their school at night after hours to perform a séance only to let a ancient supernatural entity take the form of a stage spotlight. As a stealth approach, players must control Vivian or Amy to avoid the spotlight or get killed by the entity.

Development

Developer Cozy Game Pals is based in Los Angeles, California.[3] Fear the Spotlight was first announced in April 2022, with a playable demo released the same day. Shortly after release on Steam, Zach Wood and Louise Blain of Blumhouse Games discovered the game after seeing it on Twitter and were impressed by its potential.[4] Blumhouse reached out to the developers, offering to publish the game for consoles, localize it into other languages, and give them an additional year to expand the game, which they accepted.[5] Following this, Blumhouse announced during their line-up from the Summer Game Fest on June 7, 2024, that their first game to publish is an atmospheric horror adventure, Fear the Spotlight, developed by Cozy Game Pals, founded by husband and wife Bryan Singh and Crista Castro.[6]

The game takes inspiration from classic 1990s teen horror stories and cinematic classics such as Phantom of the Opera and The Conjuring, or classic old horror games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame[7] but as a twisted homage/love letter to the "fun horror" the developers made.[8][6][4]

Release

A steam demo was released on September 2024, one mouth before the game's release.[9] In October 2025, in celebration of the game's first anniversary, a physical release for PlayStation 5 was announced in partnership with iam8bit, and set for release in March 2026.[10] Additionally, the Windows version of the game was made available to claim for free for a limited time on the Epic Games Store.[11]

Graphic novel

In October 2025, it was announced that Blumhouse Games’ first horror game is getting a graphic novel adaptation from Asgard Books as a one-year anniversary titled Fear the Spotlight: Fight Through the Fear, with Sonic Prime writer Patricia Villetto and Life Is Strange artist Claudia Leonardi retelling the game and expanding new elements within the story.[12] The book is set to be release later in 2026.[13][12][10]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
MetacriticPC: 74/100[14]
PS5: 83/100[15]
XSXS: 78/100[16]
NS: 75/100[17]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGM9.5/10[19]
Eurogamer3/5[20]
GameSpot7/10[21]
GamesRadar+4/5[22]
Nintendo Life9/10[23]
Nintendo World Report8[24]
Push Square7/10[25]

Fear the Spotlight received "generally favorable reviews" based on 18 critic reviews according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[26] 87% of critics recommended Fear the Spotlight on OpenCritic.[18]

TheGamer gave the game a positive review on its compelling storytelling and remarkable presentation but lacks the options that makes the challenge trivial for experienced players and stealth sections too obnoxious to handle.[27] Bloody Disgusting also gave a great review as Blumhouse’s perfect gateway to the horror game genre from their game division and a 4 out of 5 rating on its heartfelt story with clever tactile puzzles and spooky sequences that never gets too scary, but not as a bad thing.[28] PlayStation Universe gave the game a 9 out of 10 on the incredible atmosphere and the creepy PS1-era style to a great story.[29] Shaun Cichacki of Vice called the game's visual design "incredibly charming and beautiful" and praised the interactivity of the puzzles.[30]

References

  1. ↑ Maas, Jennifer (28 October 2024). "'Fear the Spotlight' Developers on Making Blumhouse Games' Debut Title, Idea for 'The Black Phone' Video Game". https://variety.com/2024/gaming/news/fear-the-spotlight-video-game-blumhouse-1236192658/. 
  2. ↑ "Fear the Spotlight launches Oct 22 on PS5, PS4". 24 September 2024. https://blog.playstation.com/2024/09/24/fear-the-spotlight-launches-oct-22-on-ps5-ps4/. 
  3. ↑ Maas, Jennifer (July 2, 2024). "Blumhouse Games Execs Lay Out Plans to Scare You — But in a Cozy Way, If Horror Isn’t Your Thing" (in en-US). https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blumhouse-games-execs-lay-plans-184147537.html. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jackson, Destiny (29 October 2024). "'Fear the Spotlight' Team Cozy Game Pals On Creating “Fun Horror” For Everyone". https://deadline.com/2024/10/fear-the-spotlight-cozy-game-pals-interview-blumhouse-1236161178/. 
  5. ↑ Conditt, Jessica (25 October 2024). "How Fear the Spotlight became Blumhouse's first video game". https://www.engadget.com/gaming/how-fear-the-spotlight-became-blumhouses-first-video-game-140044877.html. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jackson, Destiny (2024-06-07). "Blumhouse Games Conjures Upcoming Indie Horror Games Slate At Summer Game Fest" (in en-US). https://deadline.com/2024/06/blumhouse-games-summer-games-fest-1235961966/. 
  7. ↑ "E4 Remake: Fear the Spotlight influences from Resident Evil & Fatal Frame". 27 June 2024. http://www.shacknews.com/article/140424/fear-the-spotlight-e4-interview. 
  8. ↑ Cichacki, Shaun (6 January 2025). "Blumhouse Games and the 'Fear the Spotlight' Team Chat About Scaring Players, Their Inspirations, and What To Expect in 2025". https://www.vice.com/en/article/blumhouse-games-and-the-fear-the-spotlight-team-chat-about-scaring-players-their-inspirations-and-what-to-expect-in-2025/. 
  9. ↑ Wilson, Mike. "Steam Demo Now Available for 'Fear the Spotlight'". https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3832975/steam-demo-now-available-for-fear-the-spotlight/. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Wilson, Mike (23 October 2025). "PlayStation 5 Physical Edition, Graphic Novel Announced for Blumhouse Games' 'Fear The Spotlight'". https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3910641/playstation-5-physical-edition-graphic-novel-announced-for-blumhouse-games-fear-the-spotlight/. 
  11. ↑ Bea, Robin (24 October 2025). "Fear the Spotlight Is The Perfect Halloween Horror Game Even If You Don't Like Being Scared". https://www.inverse.com/gaming/fear-the-spotlight-horror-free-epic-games-pc-rec. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Whittock, Jesse (22 October 2025). "Blumhouse Games & Asgard Books Developing 'Fear The Spotlight' As Graphic Novel". https://deadline.com/2025/10/fear-the-spotlight-blumhouse-games-graphic-novel-1236594048/. 
  13. ↑ Oddo, Marco Vito (22 October 2025). "Blumhouse's Acclaimed 2024 Horror Game Returns For New Story (& It Needs Your Help)". https://comicbook.com/comics/news/blumhouses-acclaimed-2024-horror-game-returns-for-new-story-it-needs-your-help/. 
  14. ↑ "Fear the Spotlight critic reviews - Metacritic". https://www.metacritic.com/game/fear-the-spotlight/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. 
  15. ↑ "Fear the Spotlight critic reviews - Metacritic". https://www.metacritic.com/game/fear-the-spotlight/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-5. 
  16. ↑ "Fear the Spotlight critic reviews - Metacritic". https://www.metacritic.com/game/fear-the-spotlight/critic-reviews/?platform=xbox-series-x. 
  17. ↑ "Fear the Spotlight critic reviews - Metacritic". https://www.metacritic.com/game/fear-the-spotlight/critic-reviews/?platform=nintendo-switch. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Fear The Spotlight Reviews". 28 October 2024. https://opencritic.com/game/17507/fear-the-spotlight. 
  19. ↑ "Fear the Spotlight (PS5) Review - CGMagazine". 21 October 2024. https://www.cgmagonline.com/review/game/fear-the-spotlight-ps5-review/. 
  20. ↑ Castle, Katharine (5 November 2024). "Fear the Spotlight review - lo-fi horror that's light on scares but big on heart". https://www.eurogamer.net/fear-the-spotlight-review. 
  21. ↑ "Fear The Spotlight Review - Blumhouse's First Video Game Is Best Enjoyed As An Intro To Horror". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/fear-the-spotlight-review-blumhouses-first-video-game-is-best-enjoyed-as-an-intro-to-horror/1900-6418304/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f. 
  22. ↑ Taylor-Kent, Oscar (21 October 2024). "Fear The Spotlight review: "A love letter to PS1 survival horror"". https://www.gamesradar.com/games/survival-horror/fear-the-spotlight-review/. 
  23. ↑ "Review: Fear The Spotlight (Switch) - A Retro-Styled, Narrative Horror Gem & A Must-Play". 21 October 2024. https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/fear-the-spotlight. 
  24. ↑ "Fear the Spotlight Review - Review". http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/68836/fear-the-spotlight-switch-eshop-review. 
  25. ↑ "Review: Fear The Spotlight (PS5) - A Love Letter to PS1 Horror with a Bit Too Much Back-and-Forth". 22 October 2024. https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps5/fear-the-spotlight. 
  26. ↑ "Fear the Spotlight Reviews - Metacritic". https://www.metacritic.com/game/fear-the-spotlight/. 
  27. ↑ Bosso, Axel (21 October 2024). "Fear The Spotlight Review: Don't Let It Hide In The Darkness". https://www.thegamer.com/fear-the-spotlight-review/. 
  28. ↑ "Blumhouse's 'Fear the Spotlight' Is the Perfect Gateway Horror Game [Review - Bloody Disgusting"]. https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3836417/blumhouses-fear-the-spotlight-is-the-perfect-gateway-horror-game-review/. 
  29. ↑ "Fear The Spotlight Review (PS5) - A Great Start To Blumhouse's Venture Into The Gaming Space". 21 October 2024. https://www.psu.com/reviews/fear-the-spotlight-ps5-review/. 
  30. ↑ Cichacki, Shaun (4 December 2024). "'Fear the Spotlight' Wraps Two Engaging Stories in a Mildly Terrifying Package (Review)". https://www.vice.com/en/article/fear-the-spotlight-wraps-two-engaging-stories-in-a-mildly-terrifying-package-review/. 



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