Oxenfree II: Lost Signals finally got a release date. During the Nintendo Indie World Showcase, held early Thursday, developer Night School Studio confirmed that its long-delayed supernatural thriller sequel is now arriving July 12 on PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Netflix. While the follow-up wasn’t originally connected to the original Oxenfree, a series of updates in 2021 added radio transitions that would provide context into some future villains, a group called Parentage. Later that year, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals got delayed into 2023, with the goal of adding more localisation options.
Night School Studio also dropped a trailer for Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, which revolves around a new character Riley, an environmental researcher returning to her hometown of Camena. This sequel is set five years after the original and has you investigate weird electromagnetic waves that are causing interference with radio and electrical equipment. It’s almost like a poltergeist’s presence — TVs turn on and off, planes are unable to navigate, and all radio stations feel powerless against the static. Back in 2016’s Oxenfree, a group of teenagers on the Edwards Island inadvertently opened a portal, allowing free travel between realities and timelines — akin to Stranger Things.
But now, the members of a cult group, the aforementioned Parentage, have been prodding at the chance of opening a new portal and pulling something sinister out. “Have you seen anyone else around? We’ve been all over,” Riley tells her partner in the Oxenfree II: Lost Signals trailer, hinting they’re traversing through a ghost town and that the cult might have something to do with it. The game works on an easy point-and-click mechanic, where you tap into ghostly frequencies using the signature ‘radio mechanic’ as means to communicate with supernatural entities and jump back in time via fissures in the natural space. The trailer offers glimpses of a bunch of unnatural occurrences such as a glitchy demon, characters being forcefully levitated, and a weird tilting house.
Besides that, you’ve got the general navigation, which includes climbing and rappelling across Camena’s hauntingly beautiful landscape. There’s also a new ‘walkie-talkie conversation system’ that lets you interact with saved contacts and speak to locals to piece together the mystery surrounding the town. Night School Studio was the first developer Netflix acquired as part of the streamer’s pivot into gaming content. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals’ launch date reveal comes in the wake of Netflix announcing a slate of 40 new games coming to its platform in 2023.
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals releases July 12 on PC (Steam), PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Netflix. The first Oxenfree game is currently available to Netflix subscribers as a free download.
