The Exit 8 developer denies involvement with “The Exit 9” copycat game 

Fans of the anomaly-spotting immersive walking sim The Exit 8 have been noticing a real-life anomaly over the last week. A game called The Exit 9 has appeared on the PlayStation store, bearing a strong resemblance to the Japanese indie hit both in name and description. This has caught the attention of The Exit 8’s developer KOTAKE CREATE, who has denied that The Exit 9 has anything to do with them. 

The Exit 8 is a first-person walking sim in which you are trapped in a seemingly endless loop of Japanese subway station passageways. You must spot anomalies in your surroundings in order to safely make it to the titular Exit 8. Since the game’s release last November, it has become a top seller on Steam and has garnered a Very Positive review rating, with players praising its creepy atmosphere and original concept.

The Exit 8
Screenshot from The Exit 8.

The Exit 8’s success has led to many similar first-person games being released that use The Exit 8’s “spot-the-difference” style gameplay but change the setting. These include Station 5, The Street 10 and Chilla’s Art’s upcoming Shinkansen 0.  

The Exit 8’s developer has previously expressed approval for these “Exit 8-like” games, saying that “it is absolutely ok to make a new game that “puts a new spin on existing games,” as long as it isn’t exactly the same setting or gameplay system etc.”  (Related Article

However, a game called The Exit 9 recently appeared on the US PlayStation store. Releasing on January 25 and retailing for $14.99, the game caught the attention of The Exit 8 fans, some of whom asked KOTAKE CREATE about it. The Exit 8 game developer took to X to deny their involvement with the copycat game. 

The appearance of The Exit 9 also generated discussion on Steam as well as in forums such as Japanese message board Nan J God, with commenters focusing on the high degree of similarity between the two games.   

Steam post about The Exit 9

Both English and Japanese language comments highlighted the similarities in the game descriptions. The English-language description for The Exit 9 on the “Game and Legal Info” section on the PlayStation store has been copied word for word from the first two lines of The Exit 8’s “About this Game” description on Steam (You are trapped in an endless underground passageway. Observe your surroundings carefully to reach “The Exit 8”). The Japanese language version has a few word changes, but the overall meaning is the same. 

Nan J God comparison of The Exit 8 and The Exit 9's game descriptions.
A comparison of the Japanese descriptions for The Exit 8 and The Exit 9 was posted on Nan J God, highlighting their almost word-for-word similarity.
Nan J God post about the lack of information on The Exit 9's developer
Nan J God post translation: Even though I searched for “GAMING DEV SRL,” I could not find out about the company.

The name of the game developer also raised suspicions among commenters. The Exit 9 is developed by Game Dev SRL. Users have pointed out that this sounds like a very generic name and stated that they had difficulty finding out any information about the company. At the time of writing, The Exit 9 has 68 ratings on the PlayStation Store, with 49% of these being one star. The Exit 8 is currently available on PC only, so the developers of The Exit 9 are likely taking advantage of the fact that The Exit 8 doesn’t have a console release yet. 

The Exit 8 is available on PC (Steam). 

Verity Townsend
Verity Townsend

Automaton West Editor and translator. She has a soft spot for old-school Sierra adventure games and Final Fantasy VIII (yes, 8!). Can often be found hunting down weird forgotten games and finding out everything about them. Frequently muses about characters and lines from Metal Gear Solid and Disco Elysium. Aims to keep Automaton fresh and interesting with a wide variety of articles.

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    • Thank you for your comment. The Exit 8 has been released on the Switch but at the time this article was written, it was only available on the PC.

  1. That’s true – when this article was written in January 2024 Exit 8 wasn’t available on Switch. Always advisable to check dates when reading past publications!