Death Game Hotel, White Owls’ VR title that forces players to ante up their body parts before playing games of chance and skill, recently relaunched as a free-to-play title which allows anyone with a Meta Quest helmet to get in on the bloody multiplayer action.
Recently, Gamecritics had the chance to interview creator Swery65 about what changes have been made to the game, and what he has planned for the future, for both DGH and other projects, such as the upcoming horror-themed beat-’em-up Hotel Barcelona (co-designed with Suda51) and a possible new version of Deadly Premonition!
The interview was conducted through a translator, and has been edited for clarity.
*
GameCritics (GC) — How did you come to the decision to move Death Game Hotel to being Free to Play?
SWERY — When I originally created the concept for Death Game Hotel it was mainly for a social, multiplayer type of game. Ever since launch, we’ve had such an amazing community around the game — especially on Discord — and a lot of the members let us know that they want to spread the game around to their friends and people they know online, however it’s sometimes difficult to do that with a premium, or ‘not free’ game. So I thought by making the game more accessible to players around the world, and allowing them to experience the game and lore firsthand, it would be able to transform into a sustainable business model, allowing us to make the tweaks to keep the game healthy. The main goal is to make sure as many people as possible can access that game that we made, and that the community wants to share.
GC — Speaking of the community, what do you find most interesting about the fanbase that has built up around the game?
SWERY — Rather than just using social channels to promote the game, for the first time in White Owls’ history we created a dedicated Discord server so that players would have a place to gather. We have various channels where players can freely talk to each other and find games, ‘Ask SWERY’ and ‘suggestions’ channels where the devs can get immediate feedback from players. We also have ‘dev parties’, where players can challenge the developers in the various death games, which we also livestream. We’ve used Discord to keep up with the community and make sure that they’re being heard — which has allowed us to see what changes are most important to the fans — even if those tweaks are sometimes far more difficult than the players might realize to implement. Being able to create a feedback loop makes sure that players feel like they’re being heard, which is a big part of why we took the game free to play.
GC — While making the move to Free to Play, you also included a new single player mode, the Slot Machine — why add this, and was it difficult to balance?
SWERY — It was extremely difficult to maintain the balance between the single and multiplayer modes. The main reason we wanted to include a single player mode was because we understood how difficult it can be for people to organize multiplayer sessions, so we wanted to make sure that players could have something enjoyable and thrilling to do inside the game while waiting for their party to arrive. One of the most complicated aspects was figuring out how we were going to use the chips you can win playing death game. We didn’t want players to wind up with huge stacks of chips that they couldn’t spend on anything, so we thought the slot machine would be a great way to give players another way to use those chips in an entertaining way. Of course, you can also lose body parts while playing the slot machine, and even win them back. The important part was making single players feel like they were getting the same experience as in the multiplayer gambling games.
GC — Speaking of losing body parts, in the table games players can use them to cheat in a variety of ways. Can you also cheat at the slot machine?
SWERY — The slot machine is entirely RNG-based, so we thought it would be a little risky to add in cheating mechanics.
GC — Is there just one slot machine room, or will players be able to use the slot machine in a variety of the game’s environments?
SWERY — Right now there is only one dedicated slot room per lobby, but it’s possible in future DLC updates we could add additional characters and locations for the death slot machines.
GC — Is the ‘story mode DLC’ that players can buy for the free to play game the same content as the game’s original single player mode?
SWERY — Yes, the story mode is the same as the single player mode from the Premium version of the game. The only change we’ve made is to tweak the amount of nuggets you can win playing the single player mode so that it doesn’t affect the free-to-play experience too much.
GC — What additional items are you adding to the shop in this new release? I was particularly happy to see a ‘Killer Tomato’ in there.
SWERY — We are currently working on a variety of item designs, although we can’t reveal any specifics just yet. Stay tuned for for news about other SWERY-ish items we’ll be adding. As for the new items available in the free-to-play version, we’ve added new items like bladed weapons you can use to cut off your own limbs, and darts you can throw into other players’ faces to try and gouge out their eyes. There’s plenty of interesting things to do with pointy and bladed items in the game.
GC — You’ve announced that there are going to be seasonal events in Death Game Hotel. How many are you thinking about, and what will these events feature?
SWERY — For right now you can expect the same kind of seasonal events we had in the Premium version, including summer, winter and Halloween festivals. But I’m not satisfied with just continuing as-is, and right now I’m looking at ways to include more original events and focus on the lore of the game. That could include crazy items and decorations around the lobby, because we’re working to make sure that it feels different from last year’s events. We haven’t locked down any specific dates yet, but given the game’s theme, we might do a Day of the Dead celebration, and there’s also a Japanese celebration of ancestors every summer that we would like to focus on. If only there was a national torture day, that would be perfect. We’d like to find weird celebrations that fit the game’s themes.
GC — Are you planning on adding any more multiplayer games to the current lineup of Goblets of the Reaper and Death Poker?
SWERY — We have plans for additional games, but nothing to announce just yet. Right now we want people to focus on Death Poker, since it’s a game that a lot of people already understand the rules of. Stay tuned for news about more games to come.
GC — Do you have any news to share about expanding the world of the game, be that through manga or light novel adaptations?
SWERY — I do have an idea for a light novel in the world of Death Game Hotel, and right now I’m looking for a good partner to work alongside. The writers I worked with on The Good Life have had their careers take off, and are very busy with their own projects, so the biggest obstacle right now is finding a partner who I work well with. So yes, I do have plans in this area.
GC — Now, to move on to other subjects — do you have any news you can share about Hotel Barcelona?
SWERY — We are currently working the the publisher, Cult Games, to find the best release date for the game. We’re currently taking the game to various events and looking for ways to get their hands on it.
GC — So Hotel Barcelona is complete?
SWERY — Yes, the game is finished, we’re just going through the console submission proccess.
GC — Where would you rank Hotel Barcelona among your games?
SWERY — Well, that’s hard to answer, it’s like asking me which is my favorite child. I can say that I’m always most excited about the game I’m currently working on, and Hotel Barcelona is the focus of all of my attention.
GC — It was recently reported that you worked on a VR test for Deadly Premonition, can you tell us a little more about that?
SWERY — It was actually Deadly Premonition 2. The developers and I did a test to see how the game’s environment worked in VR, but sadly I don’t have the rights to keep working on it or share what we made with the public. So if fans want to see Deadly Premonition in VR, they’ll have to let the publisher know and draw attention to it.
GC — Now, a question for you — is there any media you’ve been enjoying recently?
SWERY – I watch a lot of movies, as you know, but something I’ve really been enjoying lately is On Call, a show about the LA Police and what they go through. It’s from Dick Wolf, who’s done a lot of shows about law enforcement, and whose work I really like.
GC — Is there anything else that you’re working on you’d like to give people a hint about?
SWERY — Actually, there are a few games that we’re working on, focusing right now on how to build the new mechanics we’ve envisioned. One example is a multiplayer horror game, where we’re trying to find a way to make people feel like they’re having an out-of-body experience.
GC — Thank you so much for your time — do you have any final thoughts about Death Game Hotel you’d like to share?
SWERY — The most important thing I want people to know about Death Game Hotel is that when you buy a piece of pizza in the game and ‘eat’ it, when you pull your hand away the cheese will stretch realistically.
*
Thanks again to SWERY for providing a look into Death Game Hotel and what else White Owls is working on Death Game Hotel is currently free to play on Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro.
- Little Nightmares 3 Review - November 17, 2025
- PIGFACE Preview - November 16, 2025
- Robots At Midnight Review - October 16, 2025