Lethal Company

''Lethal Company'' is an upcoming cooperative survival horror video game developed and published by American developer Zeekerss for Windows. It was released in early access in October 2023 and gained popularity on the Steam storefront.

In ''Lethal Company'', players obtain and sell scrap from abandoned, industrialized exomoons while avoiding traps, environmental hazards, monsters, which are often referred to as "anomalies", "entities", or "creatures", and the hostile fauna. As employees of "The Company", players must sell enough scrap to meet a series of increasing profit quotas until they inevitably fail and the game starts over.

Gameplay

''Lethal Company'' is a cooperative video game for up to four players played in first-person perspective. Set in a retro-futuristic setting, players work as contracted employees of "The Company". They can communicate with each other through the in-game proximity chat, as well as proximity text chat. Players are tasked with visiting abandoned moons to collect as much scrap as possible. Each moon has one facility containing procedurally-generated rooms, alongside valuable scrap, hazardous traps, and malicious creatures. Players must work quickly and return to their ship before midnight, or the autopilot will leave without them. If there are no living players on board the ship as it leaves the planet, all collected scrap will be lost. Collected scrap is sold at the Company moon, 71-Gordion, to obtain Company credits. At the end of each deadline, if the players sell enough scrap to reach the required quota, they will begin another three-day cycle with a higher profit goal. Failure to meet the Company's quota results in players being ejected into space; this constitutes a game over.

Players may only carry four items at a time, including one item requiring both hands. Two-handed scrap items, while typically the most valuable, prevent one from performing certain actions when held, like climbing ladders and picking up more items. All carriable equipment (such as flashlights or walkie-talkies) and pieces of scrap require one free item slot each. Players can use their ship's onboard computer terminal to navigate to moons and spend their earned Company credits on equipment and humorous ship accessories, such as a shower or toilet. The terminal may also be used to view the positions of other players, open security doors, or temporarily disable landmines and turrets inside the facility.

The game offers twelve playable moons, including the Company's moon where collected scrap is sold. Moons differ in which and how many monsters spawn, as well as the amount and value of scrap available. Players must spend credits to access the most dangerous and lucrative moons. Moons may randomly have dangerous weather conditions or hazards such as fog, quicksand, lightning storms, flooding, or solar eclipses that hinder players' progress.

Players encounter a variety of creatures while exploring. Most are found inside each moon's facility, but some will spawn outdoors. Most entities are hostile towards the players, though some creatures, like the Spore Lizard and Hoarding Bug, will remain passive until provoked. The game's monsters include the Thumper, a two-legged beast that can reach high speeds but is bad at making tight turns, and the Bracken, a humanoid creature that stalks its prey before snapping its neck, but runs away when spotted. One of the most dangerous enemies is the Jester, an invincible creature inside a giant jack-in-the-box. It wanders harmlessly until it spots a player, whereupon it will begin following them before stopping to turn its crank. After popping open, it will hunt and kill all players in the facility.

Development

Zeekerss previously developed games on the game creation platform ''Roblox''. ''Lethal Company'' was released in early access for Microsoft Windows on October 23, 2023. In November, Zeekerss said he plans to finish the game within six months. He also expressed a desire for content updates to evoke the feeling of breaking into an "alien zoo" and unleashing all the animals.

Reception

''Lethal Company'' has received critical acclaim on the online storefront Steam, topping the platform's Global Top Seller list and having 100,000 concurrent players in November 2023. Its popularity has been attributed to social media and compared to the similar horror game '' Phasmophobia''.

Kelsey Raynor of ''VG247'' noted that the game "...might not look like much given its grisly cel-shaded graphics, but fans are wholly obsessed with ''Lethal Company'', and its gruesome aesthetic is clearly just another part of its charm." Gabriel Moss of ''IGN'' said that "''Lethal Company'' already instills a sense of wonder", and that the game's co-op loot hunts "manage to transcend its limited content and missing systems." ''PCGamesN'' included ''Lethal Company'' on its listing of best horror games available on PC.

According to an approximate estimate by Push To Talk, Lethal Company has sold more than 10 million copies as of January 2024.

The player avatar has appeared in the online video game ''Fortnite'' as "The Employee", which was added to the game in June 2024 alongside additional cosmetics and an emote based on ''Lethal Company''.

Awards

References

External links

* {{Cite AV media , title=Lethal Company - Announcement Teaser , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt08pWqO6Og, date=July 8, 2022, type=Trailer

2023 video games
Upcoming video games
Cooperative video games
Dystopian video games
Early access video games
Indie games
Video games about extraterrestrial life
Video games developed in the United States
Open-world video games
Post-apocalyptic video games
Science fiction video games
Windows games
Windows-only games
2020s horror video games
Survival horror video games
Streamer Award winners