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The console versions of Mouthwashing, the first-person psychological horror game set aboard a drifting space freighter, went live on October 29, 2026 local time. It is out on PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC (Microsoft Store), and the price in Japan is US$10 (tax included). It also landed on Xbox Game Pass (Ultimate, Premium and PC) on day one.
Publisher CRITICAL REFLEX announced a feature film adaptation on the same day. Screen Gems, the Sony Pictures label, is producing. Karyn Kusama, of Jennifer’s Body and The Invitation, is directing, and the screenplay comes from her regular collaborators Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay. Casting and a release window have not been announced.
A two-to-three-hour indie horror short that quietly hit Steam in September 2024 has, in two years, made it onto home consoles, into Game Pass, and into a movie deal. This article lays out what the console release includes and costs, who is making the film, and why Mouthwashing landed as hard as it did.
*Prices in this article are converted from Japanese yen at ¥153 = US$1 (November 2026 rate).
Let’s start with the console details.
How much is Mouthwashing on consoles, and which platforms is it on?
The game is available on PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC (Microsoft Store). The Japanese store price is US$10 (tax included), identical to the Steam version’s regular price. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass subscribers can play it at no extra cost.
The international announcement gave October 29 as the release date. Famitsu in Japan ran its “out today” story on October 30, so Japanese storefronts are best understood as having gone live on October 30 Japan time. The Steam version is 40 percent off at US$6 until November 3.
| Item | Details (as of October 31, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Platforms | PS5 / PS4 / Nintendo Switch / Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One / PC (Microsoft Store) |
| Price in Japan | US$10 (tax included) |
| Game Pass | Available on Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass |
| Steam version | Released September 26, 2024. Normally US$10, US$6 through November 3 |
| Japanese support | Interface, subtitles and audio all supported (per Steam) |
| Developer | Wrong Organ |
| Publisher | CRITICAL REFLEX |
| Playtime | Roughly 2-3 hours |
The one thing worth flagging is how the Switch version performs. The game renders in a deliberately chunky PS1 style, so the load should be light and I would expect it to be fine, but our editorial team has not tested it on hardware. If you want it portable, Steam Deck is the other option. I played the Steam version on my Deck, and staring at the inside of that ship on a tiny screen in my hands was honestly brutal. In the best way.
Who is making the Mouthwashing movie?
CRITICAL REFLEX announced the project on October 30, 2026. Screen Gems, the Sony Pictures label, is producing. Karyn Kusama directs, with Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay writing. No cast, shooting schedule or release window has been announced, which suggests the film is still in script development.
| Role | Who | Notable work |
|---|---|---|
| Production | Screen Gems (Sony Pictures) | The live-action Resident Evil films, among others |
| Director | Karyn Kusama | Jennifer’s Body, The Invitation, Yellowjackets |
| Screenplay | Matt Manfredi, Phil Hay | The Invitation, Destroyer (both Kusama films) |
| Producers | Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill, Vince Chen | Doctor Strange, The Black Phone (Derrickson) |
Kusama working with Manfredi and Hay is the same team that made The Invitation, and their specialty is watching human relationships rot inside a sealed room. Mouthwashing is a story about five crew members cornered in the closed space of a spacecraft, so the hiring logic tracks. Scott Derrickson’s presence as a producer also reads naturally in a horror context.
The caveat is that an announced adaptation is not a greenlit production. In Hollywood it is common for a project to be announced at the rights-acquisition and script-development stage and then simply stall there. Until a release window shows up, treat this as “the project is in motion” and nothing firmer.
What kind of game is Mouthwashing, and why did it land so well?
Mouthwashing is a first-person psychological horror game about the five crew members of the Tulpar, a space freighter knocked off its route and left adrift. Captain Curly tries to stage an accident that would take everyone down with him, and fails. The survivors are left in a ship with no realistic hope of rescue, facing dwindling supplies and their own distrust of one another.
The story jumps back and forth in time. Before and after the crash alternate, and piece by piece you work out who did what and how the crew’s relationships came apart. On Steam, 95 percent of 24,999 reviews are positive, giving it an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating. The PC version has passed 500,000 copies and, per Famitsu, is approaching one million cumulatively. It won Best Narrative and Players’ Choice at The Horror Game Awards 2024.
The reason it connected is that its idea of fear is not to startle you but to corner you. There are no jump scares; the suffocation is built entirely out of crew conversations and small changes inside the ship. Even the two-to-three-hour length is a design choice meant to hold that density. The PS1-style low-poly look is not nostalgia either, it is a technique for omitting facial expression so you fill it in yourself.
The downside is that it is not for everyone. There is no action, and the “fun as a game” component of the horror is thin. It contains violence and emotionally heavy material, and it will leave you feeling low afterward. If you want to experience a frightening story, it hits. If you want to play a horror game, it may feel like not enough.
Which version should you play? Game Pass versus buying outright
If you already subscribe to Game Pass, Xbox or PC at no extra cost is the cheapest route. If you are buying it outright, the Steam version at US$6 until November 3 undercuts the US$10 console version. And if you simply own one of the consoles, US$10 is a perfectly fine price to pay.
| How to play | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Xbox Game Pass | Subscription fee only | Anyone already subscribed |
| Steam sale | US$6 (through November 3) | PC and Steam Deck owners |
| PS5 / PS4 | US$10 | Players who want to settle in on a TV |
| Nintendo Switch | US$10 | Handheld convenience; performance unverified |
| Xbox (one-time purchase) | US$10 | Anyone not on Game Pass |
As for whether you should play the game before the film arrives, I would say yes without hesitation. A movie will struggle to carry over that scrambled chronology wholesale, and the game’s experience of learning things in a specific order is probably not reproducible on screen.
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Summary: Mouthwashing is US$10 on consoles, and Karyn Kusama is directing the film
The console versions of Mouthwashing (PS5, PS4, Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC) launched on October 29, 2026, priced at US$10 (tax included) in Japan and included with Xbox Game Pass. The Steam version is US$6 until November 3. The film adaptation is produced by Screen Gems, directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, with no release window or cast announced. Wrong Organ developed the game, and CRITICAL REFLEX publishes it.
A two-hour horror game that slipped onto Steam two years ago now sits on PS5, Switch and Game Pass, and it is becoming a movie. A short piece of work from a tiny studio can travel this far, as long as the telling is right. US$10 for the console version is cheap for the privilege of buying that telling. The film is still at the project stage, so keep expectations in check until a release window exists.
Play it at night. Alone, if you can. The kind of masterpiece you regret afterward.
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