Bendy (real-world franchise)

*See Bendy (disambiguation) for other related uses.*

***Bendy*** (stylized as ***BENDY***) is an American-Canadian media franchise based around the vintage horror video game series created and owned by Joey Drew Studios Inc. The franchise began life in 2017 as a video game project, *Bendy and the Ink Machine*, created by Kindly Beast (formally known as "theMeatly Games"). Weeks later after its first chapter's release, the first game received global attention, leading to its success and a franchise which has spawned games, books, animated shorts, and an array of merchandise.

Bendy, the titular Little Devil himself, is the iconic focus of the series.

## Games

*Main category: Games*
The first chapter of *Bendy and the Ink Machine* was announced on January 30, 2017 and released on February 10th, 2017. Once a fandom erupted from the ashes with praise and then some, four additional chapters were released in almost a two-year time span from April 18, 2017 (*Chapter 2: The Old Song*) to October 26, 2018 (*Chapter 5: The Last Reel*). The completed edition was released on November 20, 2018 on consoles (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch) whereas the mobile ports were released on December 21, 2018. The second installment, *Bendy and the Dark Revival*, was released on November 15th, 2022 as a full package with all five chapters on Steam to overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and fans alike. It was released for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 on March 1, 2023.

The first spin-off game, *Bendy in Nightmare Run*, was released on IOS and Android for free on August 15, 2018. The secondary spin-off title, *Boris and the Dark Survival*, released on February 10, 2020, for the franchise's third anniversary. On November 16, 2022, theMeatly hinted that more Bendy games were in development, stating on Twitter that "we're just getting started".

### Main Series

* *Bendy and the Ink Machine* (2017-2018)
	+ *Chapter One: Moving Pictures* (February 10, 2017)
	+ *Chapter Two: The Old Song* (April 18, 2017)
	+ *Chapter Three: Rise and Fall* (September 28, 2017)
	+ *Chapter Four: Colossal Wonders* (April 30, 2018)
	+ *Chapter Five: The Last Reel* (October 26, 2018)
	+ *Chapter ?: The Archives* (October 26, 2018)
* *Bendy and the Dark Revival* (2022)
	+ *Chapter One: Drawn to Darkness* (November 15, 2022)
	+ *Chapter Two: The Demon's Domain* (November 15, 2022)
	+ *Chapter Three: The Eternal Machine* (November 15, 2022)
	+ *Chapter Four: Factory of Horrors* (November 15, 2022)
	+ *Chapter Five: The Dark Revival* (November 15, 2022)
	+ The Archives (April 11, 2023)

### Standalone Games

* *Bendy in Nightmare Run* (August 15, 2018)
* *Boris and the Dark Survival* (February 10, 2020)

### Upcoming Games

* Bendy: The Cage (Announced October 31, 2023)
* Bendy and the Silent City (Accidentally announced May 10, 2023)

## Books

*Main category: Books*
The first novel written by Adrienne Kress, *Dreams Come to Life*, was published on September 3, 2019 by Scholastic. Kress has since published three more Bendy books such as *The Illusion of Living, The Lost Ones,* and *Fade to Black*, with more presumably on the way. Alongside novels, the *Joey Drew Studios Employee Handbook* and its updated edition, released on July 30, 2019 and February 6, 2024, respectively, exist as guidebooks for *Bendy and the Ink Machine* and *Bendy and the Dark Revival* as well as exclusive lore. A collection of comics from the 1930s and 1940s revolving around Bendy, his cartoon friends, and his mischievous antics, was released on September 1, 2020.

### Novels

* *Dreams Come to Life* (September 3, 2019)
* *The Illusion of Living* (February 2, 2021)
* *The Lost Ones* (December 7, 2021)
* *Fade to Black* (October 3, 2023)
* *Sent from Above* (On-hold)

### Guidebooks

* *Joey Drew Studios Employee Handbook* (July 30, 2019)
* *Joey Drew Studios Updated Employee Handbook* (February 6, 2024)

### Comics

* *Crack-Up Comics Collection* (September 1, 2020)

## Animation Shorts

*Main category: Cartoons*
An assortment of animated *Bendy* shorts that exist in-universe are available to watch on the official Joey Drew Studios YouTube channel.

### Official Shorts

* *Tombstone Picnic* (August 11, 2017 / January 7, 2019)
* *Haunted Hijinx* (October 31, 2017 / January 21, 2019)
* *Snow Sillies* (December 24, 2017 / January 15, 2019)
* *Cookie Cookin'* (December 24, 2018)
* *Tasty Trio Troubles* (February 10, 2019)
* *Hellfire Fighter* (March 5, 2019)
* *Cheap Seats* (December 17, 2019)

### Non-Canonical Shorts

* *The Original Sample* (September 30, 2017)
* *Bendy VS Cuphead* (December 22, 2018)

## Merchandise

*Main category: Merchandise*
Due to the huge success of the first gam*e, Bendy* struck deals with various companies such as PhatMojo and Funko to produce merchandise to support the franchise. Found in online and public stores, the products range from plushies, apparel, action figures, pins, and much more. After a legal issue with PhatMojo, Joey Drew Studios cut ties with them and eventually made a deal with Youtooz, who create detailed figures, pins, and more.

## Albums

*Main category: Albums*
The original soundtrack for *Bendy and the Ink Machine: The Old Song*, was released on Bandcamp on April 20, 2017. However, the soundtracks accompanying the other chapters, *Boris and the Dark Survival*, *Bendy in Nightmare Run,* and *Bendy and the Dark Revival* remain unreleased to the public in any official format.

The official soundtrack for Bendy and the Ink Machine may be for sale in the future, however, a release date is unconfirmed and the developers haven't spoken on the prospect.

An official compilation album of original fan songs, *Bendy's Inky Megamix*, was announced on April 17, 2020 for United Way's COVID-19 relief charity at Tiltify. Whoever donated received a digital copy of the album.

The voice actress of Susie Campbell and Alice Angel, Lauren Synger, released official *Bendy* songs to various stores, including *Lonely Angel / I'll be Your Angel* which was released on November 1, 2018, and *Come What May* which was released on November 10, 2022.

## Social Media

* Twitter
* Instagram
* Facebook

## Trivia

* When asked about the franchise's future during the interview with David Edding, the voice actor of Joey Drew in *Bendy and the Ink Machine*, David revealed that future *Bendy* games will have a chance to include a different animation era.
* The font used for the franchise's logo is DK Black Bamboo. However, the letter "B" is altered to look like it has Bendy's horns.
* Derek Kolstad, the creator of the *John Wick* franchise, expresses his interest in adapting *Bendy and the Ink Machine* into a television series along with *My Friend Pedro*.
* Glowstick Entertainment, the developers of the indie horror game, Dark Deception, conducted a poll on Twitter on February 11, 2019, about collaborating with fellow independent developers, and *Bendy* won the popular vote. However, on August 1, 2019, the developers clarified that Joey Drew Studios declined the offer. Daniel Dombrowsky, the composer for Dark Deception, released a cover of Drawn to Darkness on August 13, 2019.
* *Showdown Bandit*, a game developed by Joey Drew Studios when they were known as Kindly Beast, features a *Bendy* easter egg. After completing a side-quest where the player locates Mr. Body's head, he grants the player access to a *Bendy*-themed outfit for the Bandit. It sports the iconic sepia tone coloring of the The Cycle and its inhabitants.

## References

1. ↑ theMeatly on Twitter
2. ↑ Reddit
3. ↑ "*Absolutely. This is just the beginning, the first glimpse into a brand new universe, and you’re going to see a lot more Bendy to come. From Joey Drew Studios, and hopefully from Rooster Teeth, this is a really cool brand. I think, for the folks that are really really excited about Bendy, especially ones that are younger, I think that over time they’re going to be able to grow up with Bendy. Right now it’s the 1930’s era, but there’s still the advent of color in the world of Bendy that hasn’t happened yet, right? Then there’s like the 50’s and the 60’s era of animation, maybe even getting to the Pixar era at some point. We can kind of look at the history of animation and speed that up a little bit over different games, have different eras. Those are some possibilities, but right now I think Joey Drew Studios just wants to take a nice break, enjoy the fruits of their labor, and kind of just watch the fans have a great time.*" - David Eddings Talks Bendy and the Ink Machine and Game Publishing - NYCC 2018 - TechRaptor.net
4. ↑ John Wick Creator Reveals Two Video Game TV Series He's Working On | comicbook.com
5. ↑ "*If we ever made an extra DLC level, which crossover would you prefer to see? FNAF & DDLC are not possible. Feel free to suggest your own.*" - Dark Deception. February 11, 2019. Twitter.
6. ↑ "*Here are the games that already said no: Bendy, FNAF, DDLC, Baldi, SJSM. Indie devs are not very collaborative.*" - Dark Deception. August 1, 2019. Twitter.