While the next entry in the horror saga has yet to release, Poppy Playtime Chapter 3: Deep Sleep is in development at Mob Entertainment and set for a 2023 launch. The episodic survival simulation sees players delve into the Playtime Co. factory to investigate the disappearance of the factory’s entire staff, only to be confronted by violent monster toys. Last year Poppy Playtime Chapter 2 ended on an intense cliffhanger, with Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 set to take fans to even deeper depths of Playtime Co.
The ending of Poppy Playtime Chapter 2 dramatically set up the next episode of the terrifying survival simulator. The franchise’s second installment ends with the player nearly escaping Playtime Co. via train, only for the titular Poppy to divert the locomotive towards the mysterious Playcare area instead before it derails completely. Chapter 2 also sets up a number of monstrous toys, like the dinosaur Bron and Huggy Wuggy’s feminine counterpart Kissy Missy, who may act as monstrous pursuers in Chapter 3. Fans are no doubt anticipating the next entry in the Poppy Playtime story, with Chapter 3 shaping up to be a particularly terrifying entry.
Poppy Playtime Chapter 3’s Release Date Is In Winter 2023
Although there’s no specific date for the launch yet, Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 is set to release in Winter 2023. The first two episodes in the ongoing horror experience were released about seven months apart, with the first chapter debuting in October 2021 and Poppy Playtime Chapter 2 arriving in May 2022. Project: Playtime, a free-to-play co-op spin-off of the main series, then arrived seven months after that in December 2022. Approximately a year is likely to pass between the release of Project: Playtime and Poppy Playtime Chapter 3, representing the longest development cycle for the series yet.
If Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 takes a similar approach to Project: Playtime, it could see an early-to-mid-December launch, with Project Playtime having released on December 12. Winter 2023 is a fairly narrow category, with December being the only eligible month. Launching Chapter 3 with time to spare in the holiday season may be more likely than a release in the end-of-year crunch, although there’s no way to know a definitive Chapter 3 release date until Mob Entertainment makes an official announcement.
Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 Has Teased An Intense Story
The story of Poppy Playtime has been incredibly intense so far, and Chapter 3 is set to continue the trend by building off of Chapter 2, which left players alone near the Playtime Co. factory’s Playcare area. The first Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 teaser trailer sheds more light on this aspect of the narrative, featuring voiceover audio that describes the Playcare, an orphanage that was once run on-site within the Playtime Co. toy factory. A gas mask is the central focus of the trailer, suggesting that the noble Playcare program came to a horrific end along with the disappearance of the factory’s workforce.
With Playcare set up to be the game’s central focus, Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 will likely be even darker and more disturbing than previous episodes. The series’ lore suggests that Playcare was actually a front for strange experiments which Playtime Co. performed on innocent children living in the orphanage. This Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 teaser trailer lore also hints that discovering and exposing these crimes committed by the toy company will be Poppy and the player character’s primary goal. The truth will no doubt be protected by bloodthirsty toys sent to hunt the player, however, with the teaser’s gasmask possibly warning of even greater hazards within this new area of the factory.
Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 Is Set In The Playcare
Based on previous teases, Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 appears to mainly be set within the Playcare orphanage established within Playtime Co. By moving away from the factory’s industrial areas, this setting can help give the game’s third episode a truly unique atmosphere and level design. Material revealed so far has showcased brightly colored toys and drawings and a run-down home-like environment, a foreboding set-up considering the terrifying nature of the abandoned Playtime Co. factory and the horrific experiments which were supposedly conducted on the orphanage’s young residents. This darker Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 story could also lead to unique level design, with different toys pursuing players through different areas.
Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 Can Introduce Horrific New Monsters
The newest trailer for Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 teases a new monster, set to follow up on the legacy of the Poppy Playtime franchise’s terrifying toys. The first installment features the iconic Huggy Wuggy, with the fuzzy blue doll chasing players through the factory with razor-sharp teeth at the climax of the horror experience. Poppy Playtime Chapter 2 then introduced Mommy Long Legs, a disturbing spiderlike creature that attempts to nurture the player character by any means necessary, alongside other toys like Bunzo Bunny and PJ Pug-a-Pillar. The multiplayer title Project: Playtime brought back both of these bloodthirsty playthings while also introducing a violent jack-in-the-box named Boxy Boo.
The new monster for Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 doesn’t appear to match up with any possibilities that have been established or teased in the series so far, leaving fans guessing as to what real-life toys it might have taken inspiration from. What has been established is that there’s no love lost between the new addition and classic villain Huggy Wuggy, with the new teaser exhibiting the aftermath of some violence against the blue toy. Shots of cut-up and repurposed toys could fit in with theories about the Prototype in Poppy Playtime, a yet-unrevealed antagonist who might finally appear in Chapter 3.
While the highly-anticipated horror sequel has been confirmed for a Winter 2023 release, many aspects of Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 remain in the dark. Players can count on a harrowing experience in the Playcare orphanage with a new monstrous villain to stalk them through the run-down halls, but who the antagonist will be and whether the Prototype will show up are questions that await more reveals from Mob Entertainment. For now, franchise fans are left imagining the horrors that await them in Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 and the terrifying Playcare orphanage.
