Serial Cleaners is a '90s set sequel that has you mopping up crime scenes once more

(Image credit: Draw Distance)

Serial Cleaners has just been announced with a teaser trailer at the Future Games Show, and is aiming for release on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC in 2021.

A follow-up to indie hit Serial Cleaner, the series is making a two-decade jump from the ‘70s to the ‘90s. If you haven't played the original, you work as a professional crime scene scrubber, sneaking past police cordons, destroying any evidence, and then escaping the area. This time around though, you'll be playing as four different cleaners, rather than just one, with the story focusing on each of their perspectives at a New Year's Eve catch up in 1999. 

Each cleaner will offer different skills in the game, and the non-linear narrative will let you pick the cleaner whose side of the story you want to hear. Whether it's being sneaky, thorough, or quick, you'll be able to put your play style onto cleaning up for the mob.

This is a stealth action game - so less about spending long minutes hidden in shadow than dashing between the gaps in enemy vision cones. Think early Metal Gear Solid. While the original's art style was 2D, this sequel will be using 3D graphics to immerse you in it's scuzzy world, while keeping the isometric perspective as well. 

Take a look at this new style with 5 brand new screenshots down below. 


Original developer Draw Distance returns to the series after a break in which it explored the hidden world of Vampire: The Masquerade, in a visual novel named Coteries of New York.

The first Serial Cleaner took place in a stylish ‘70s where the cars were stretched and the guitars went ‘wicka wacka’, like the ones in the theme from Shaft. By shifting to the ‘90s, this new sequel evokes memories of Pulp Fiction’s fixer, Winston Wolfe - a man who knew how to get Tarantino blood splatter out of a car seat, with an eclectic soundtrack to match the era it is based in.

The original Serial Cleaner impressed us in early access with its surprising variety - changing locations and randomised objectives kept levels fresh, if not clean. In the three years since it came out, the original game has sold over a million copies, so we're excited to see what Draw Distance has in store for us in this tale of cleaning up after criminals.

Make sure you come back to GamesRadar for all the latest news on Serial Cleaners before it's 2021 release. And if you can't wait to play the game, you can wishlist it now on Steam.

Jeremy Peel

Jeremy is a freelance editor and writer with a decade’s experience across publications like GamesRadar, Rock Paper Shotgun, PC Gamer and Edge. He specialises in features and interviews, and gets a special kick out of meeting the word count exactly. He missed the golden age of magazines, so is making up for lost time while maintaining a healthy modern guilt over the paper waste. Jeremy was once told off by the director of Dishonored 2 for not having played Dishonored 2, an error he has since corrected.