Why A Mickey Mouse Horror Game Actually Makes Perfect Sense
Mickey Mouse may be known as an expressly family-friendly figure, but an upcoming horror game is taking a significantly darker route with the character. Subverting children's media as horror experiences isn't a new idea at this point, with recent years seeing a major trend of grim re-imaginings. In many cases, these fresh takes can ultimately loop back around to feeling childish in their cheap ploys for attention, but Mickey Mouse is one case where there's actually some potential to make something interesting out of the material.
Playing around with Mickey Mouse has traditionally been a major no-go for unlicensed media, as Disney has notoriously spent decades leveraging its litigious power to protect the IP of its most central character. Extensions of the United States copyright window have frequently (and infamously) worked out in Disney's favor, keeping the mouse fully insular for a much longer time than anyone would have anticipated when he was first introduced. With the dawn of 2024, however, the copyright on Mickey's first adventure has finally expired, and some creators were already poised to take advantage of the big shift.
was officially announced not long after the new year dawned, and taking a quick look at its marketing material reveals the basic idea of its take on. The distinct figure of a black-and-white Mickey in an exaggerated steamboat captain's hat is twisted into something more nefarious, with a dripping, decaying appearance and a wicked smile. Following up on recent surprise Steam hits like and is a co-op survival horror experience that tasks players with exterminating
Although is obviously taking advantage of 's new public domain status, the Steam page still seems careful not to poke the hornet's
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