I feel like the people complaining about Playtime Co making "goth" or scary-themed Smiling Critters feeling unrealistic are just too young to have been around for when this happened all the time in real life.

Look up "Monster High" and "Bratzillaz". Lalaloopsy had a monsters spinoff, Barbie had a "Haunted Beauty" spinoff, etc. A lighthearted take on horror for a toy line with unexpected success makes perfect sense for Playtime Co. It's not "edgy", it's a plushie sheep with a punk necklace lmao

I will say the content shown for Chapter 4 is pretty barebones, but apparently the game is still very early in development. I would guess that the page is up this early for administrative purposes, like to secure the trademarks or something, I dunno. I'm not impressed yet but I have faith - I'm still a hardcore Poppy Playtime defender.