Cover art by Niklas Åkerblad, featuring Jacket, the Girlfriend, the Biker, and the three masked personas[1]
Developer(s)
Dennaton Games
Publisher(s)
Devolver Digital
Designer(s)
Jonatan Söderström
Dennis Wedin
Programmer(s)
Jonatan Söderström
Artist(s)
Dennis Wedin
Writer(s)
Jonatan Söderström
Dennis Wedin
Engine
Game Maker 7
PhyreEngine (ports)
Platform(s)
Windows
OS X
PlayStation 3
PlayStation Vita
Linux
PlayStation 4
Android
Nintendo Switch
Xbox One
Stadia
PlayStation 5
Xbox Series X/S
Release
23 October 2012
Windows
WW: 23 October 2012
OS X
WW: 18 March 2013
PS3, PS Vita
NA: 25 June 2013
EU: 26 June 2013
Linux
WW: 9 September 2013
PlayStation 4
NA: 19 August 2014
EU: 20 August 2014
Android
WW: 30 March 2015
Hotline Miami Collection
Nintendo Switch
WW: 19 August 2019
Xbox One
WW: 7 April 2020
Stadia
WW: 22 September 2020
PS5, Xbox Series X/S
WW: 23 October 2023
Genre(s)
Top-down shooter
Mode(s)
Single-player
Hotline Miami is a 2012 top-down shooter game developed by Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital. The player assuming the role of an unnamed silent protagonist—dubbed "Jacket" by fans—while committing numerous massacres against the local Russian mafia at the behest of anonymous messages he had received. In each level of the game, the player is tasked with defeating every single enemy through any means possible, ranging from simple firearms and melee weapons, to more specific methods such as knocking enemies out with doors and executing enemies brutally. Before beginning each level, the player can choose from a variety of different masks, which offer unique abilities. The game is set in Miami in 1989, and primarily tells its story through cryptic dream cutscenes where mysterious masked figures berate Jacket for his actions and foreshadow upcoming events.
Hotline Miami was developed as the first commercial release of developers Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin, who both faced financial difficulties following past development ventures. Using a scrapped prototype developed by Söderström years prior as a basis, the team developed Hotline Miami throughout the course of nine months. Throughout development, the team faced numerous troubles related to mental health and financial difficulties. The game was released in October 2012 for Windows, with the game being ported to OS X and Linux the next year in March and September respectively. Versions of the game for consoles that featured added additional content, partially developed by Abstraction Games, were released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita that year in June as well. A version for PlayStation 4 followed in August 2014.
Hotline Miami received generally positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise focused on its atmosphere, soundtrack, and gameplay. The game's themes and storytelling were also a point of discussion, with critics commenting on the games take on an "anti-violence" message by using exaggerated brutality to make the player feel guilt. It has since been considered to be one of the greatest games of all time, as well as a highly influential independent video game. The game is considered the breakout title of Devolver Digital, having sold 1.5 million copies by May 2015. A sequel, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, was released in March 2015. Hotline Miami was re-released alongside its sequel as part of the localized Hotline Miami: Collected Edition in Japan that same year. Another compilation, the Hotline Miami Collection, released on Nintendo Switch in August 2019, and was later ported to Xbox One, Stadia, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in the following years.
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HotlineMiami is a 2012 top-down shooter game developed by Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital. The player assuming the role of an unnamed...
& Hip Hop: Miami, Kourtney & Kim Take Miami, The Golden Girls, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Dexter. Several video games, including HotlineMiami, the Gameloft...
to represent blood and gunfire. Otxo was inspired by the video game HotlineMiami (2012) and the John Wick film series. The game was first revealed in...
top-down shooter game HotlineMiami being developed by Spencer Yan. It would have taken place thirty years after the events of HotlineMiami 2: Wrong Number...
included some of the genre's best-known songs), the 2012 video game HotlineMiami as well as its 2015 sequel, the 2017 film Thor: Ragnarok, and the Netflix...
smaller independent studios, one of the first being their breakout title HotlineMiami (2012). Devolver continued to expand its operations by publishing titles...
smaller independent studios, one of the first being their breakout title, HotlineMiami. The company also operated Devolver Digital Films for film distribution...
"The HotlineMiami Collection includes both brutally-challenging and neon-soaked HotlineMiami games and is availabl…" (Tweet) – via Twitter. "HOTLINE MIAMI...
officially release the song "Miami Disco" and as a way to thank the developers of HotlineMiami. The success of the HotlineMiami games resulted in a greater...
Critics praised the gameplay—which they favorably compared to Devolver's HotlineMiami (2012)—and the visuals, writing, and music. The story divided reviewers...
were special editions for Papers, Please and a compilation of HotlineMiami and HotlineMiami 2: Wrong Number. Metabomb – A video game news website with...
wherein the player controls a hired hitman known as Agent 47. In the game HotlineMiami, the player controls a man who receives mysterious calls telling him...
Castlevania characters Richter Berg, a hitman in the action games HotlineMiami and HotlineMiami 2: Wrong Number Felix Richter, in the 2016 multiplayer horror...
world. Black Skylands has been described by reviewers as a mix between HotlineMiami, Sunless Skies, and Stardew Valley. Morton, Lauren (9 July 2021). "Black...
November 2022 added more homages to other indie games, including Terraria, HotlineMiami, Slay the Spire, Shovel Knight, Risk of Rain, and Katana Zero. A fourth...
Red Dead Redemption: Bastion: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Minecraft: HotlineMiami: Journey: BioShock Infinite: Transistor: Crypt of the NecroDancer: Everybody's...
movies such as those of John Woo as well as other video games like HotlineMiami and Max Payne, The Hong Kong Massacre is a top-down shooter in which...
psychological thriller in which players hunt down a serial killer. HotlineMiami – An independent top-down game with psychological aspects of crime-thriller...
(June 9, 2019). "Devolver is selling 'bootleg' versions of games like HotlineMiami and Enter the Gungeon". The Verge. Archived from the original on November...
former soldiers from Eastern Europe. The HotlineMiami games prominently feature the Russian mafia. HotlineMiami (2012) features the Russian mafia as a...
TRILOGY (Le perv and Roller Mobster) were used in the soundtrack for HotlineMiami 2: Wrong Number. The track "Escape from Midwich Valley" was used in...
including the United Way of Miami, Miami-Dade County and The Children's Trust. Switchboard answered the 2-1-1 hotline in Miami, which is funded by The Children's...
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