Co-dev case study: How Blackbird Interactive and Secret Mode helped Escape the Backrooms ride the Backrooms hype wave

Blackbird Interactive and publisher Secret Mode partnered to take over development and console ports of Escape the Backrooms, a game originally made solo by a developer using the pseudonym Fancy. The game has drawn over 4 million players across PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch 2. Work on the project, codenamed Minotaur, began in September 2025, targeting a 1.0 launch on PC, Xbox, and PS5 on October 23 plus a Switch 2 version built from scratch.