Pokopea Release Backrooms-Style Browser Game Until September 20
The collaboration gates its merchandise store behind gameplay, so buying the limited goods requires clearing a stage of the game first, a marketing mechanic that turns the purchase into a reward for escaping.
Key Facts
- Pokopea in The Backrooms is a free browser game from VTuber unit Pokopea, released on September 7 and available until September 20.
- The game has three stages and two modes: Normal, with an unknown creature to avoid, and Peaceful, focused on photography.
- Clearing one stage opens a made-to-order limited merchandise page, and clearing all three stages earns a PC and smartphone wallpaper.
- The merchandise sale runs until September 20 at 23:59, with shipping planned for mid-to-late December.
- The game is a collaboration with the A24 film Backrooms, directed by Kane Parsons, which opened in Japan on September 4, 2026.
Reporting from 3 sources: 4Gamer.net, Denfaminicogamer, PANORA.
VTuber unit Pokopea, made up of Koga-ryu Ninja Ponpoko and Peanuts-kun, released the free browser game Pokopea in The Backrooms on September 7. The game is a collaboration with the A24 film Backrooms, which opened in Japan on September 4. Players move through three stages, photographing Pokopea-themed objects as evidence while avoiding an unknown creature in Normal mode, or focusing on photography in Peaceful mode. Clearing a single stage opens a made-to-order limited merchandise page, and clearing all three stages earns a wallpaper for PC and smartphone. The merchandise sale runs until September 20 at 23:59, with shipping planned for mid-to-late December. The game site is available for a limited time until September 20. The collaboration is part of a wider push around the film's Japanese release, which also includes the Q LIMINAL spatial experience event at Sunshine City in Ikebukuro from September 11 to 20.
The Backrooms began as an internet urban legend from a single photo posted on 4chan in 2019, and grew into a subgenre of the Liminal Space aesthetic. Kane Parsons, 16 at the time, released the found-footage short The Backrooms (Found Footage) on YouTube in January 2022; as of 2026 the series has over 25 episodes and tens of millions of views. The cooperative horror game Escape the Backrooms by Fancy Games drew nearly 50,000 concurrent players on Steam at launch.
The A24 film, directed by Parsons, opened in the US in May 2026 and in Japan on September 4. The Pokopea game is one of several collaborations tied to the Japanese release, alongside the Q LIMINAL event at Sunshine City in Ikebukuro from September 11 to 20. In the game, players photograph Pokopea-themed objects across three stages, with a Normal mode that includes an unknown creature and a Peaceful mode for photography. Clearing a stage opens a made-to-order merchandise page with T-shirts, tote bags, and stickers; clearing all stages earns a wallpaper. Merchandise sales close September 20 at 23:59, with shipping in mid-to-late December.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.