The Occupation
Released Mar 2019
The Occupation is a fixed-time, investigative thriller set in North West England on Saturday 24th October, 1987.
59% positive · 414 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Where to buy
Steam $29.99 Green Man Gaming Steam key $29.99
Can't confirm — worth a look
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Evaluation
The Occupation launched on March 5, 2019 as a complete, self-contained investigative thriller. Following launch, White Paper Games issued several bug-fix patches in March and April 2019, then shipped a major quality-of-life update on July 4, 2019 adding a Chapter Select feature and additional fixes in response to player feedback. In October 2019, a free demo (the opening hour of the game) was released to help new players try it. The only DLC listed is a Deluxe Edition Upgrade, which released on November 15, 2019 and bundles cosmetic or bonus content with the base game. The developer's last official communication was on October 7, 2019 — now over six years ago with no subsequent posts, announcements, roadmaps, or unreleased content. There is no evidence of any planned future content, and the post-launch update activity clearly wound down after the initial stabilization period. The game launched as a finished, story-driven product and has received no content additions beyond the polish updates made in 2019.
Evidence
Deluxe Edition Upgrade released — the only DLC for the game, now shipped. No unreleased DLC entries exist.
Major post-launch update added Chapter Select and 12 bug fixes. Developer stated commitment to continuing to listen to feedback, but no future content was announced.
Content
1 of 1 released · no outstanding content
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
Balor Games
Achievements
15
Platform
Windows
Controller
full support
Steam Deck
Not rated
Players
Single-player
About this game
Your role is to uncover evidence as a journalist by sneaking through restricted areas and questioning people on their actions through a series of one-on-one interviews. All this takes place in a detailed, systems-driven world where people will react to your actions and where time is your biggest enemy.
At White Paper Games, we focus on world’s that feel lived in through non-linear spaces and objectives that can be solved with multiple approaches. We love games with a strong narrative drive that tackle important social issues and aim to set that standard within our own work.
We understand not everyone plays for the deeper narrative experience, and for those that like the idea of trespassing, breaking into secure locations and hacking 4 digit codes, we have plenty of rule breaking opportunities to take advantage of in the world of The Occupation
Instead of creating a feature list, we wanted to highlight the cool work our team of 9 have created over the past 4 years of development.
Time is a precious resource to us all. Every minute in the game is a real-world minute and The Occupation is played over a fixed time length so make sure your actions count. Your watch can be used to set alarms and timers to help keep track of important objectives such as time delayed safes so you don’t have to hang around whilst security is searching for you somewhere you shouldn't be.
Wherever you live, the chances are you’re in a country that could be run a little better, where trust may be feeling a little low. You may not care how their decisions impact you and you instead continue with your daily life ignoring the distracting scaremongering. Or, you may be actively involved in trying to create true change. We love that, in most countries, people have a choice in this, and that’s how we wanted to approach The Occupation’s gameplay design. The world is open for you to explore and it’s up to you what threads you find interesting and wish to follow in the world.
Daniel Hillben and Steven Crow are the security guards employed by The Bowman Carson Group and will be around to monitor your activity to make sure you’re not doing anything you shouldn’t be. Daniel Hillben has been with the Bowman Carson Group for many years so try not to get on the wrong side of him. You may have seen the acting work of Steven Crow in advertisements such as ‘Warts Away’ or ‘The Restorer’; Steve is working this security gig to pay the bills but his real aspirations lay in Hollywood.
Whether you chose to break into a office through the window, find an ID card or pull the power to the room, we designed the world to accommodate your choice, approach and need to interact with objects you may or may not need for your research.
Sincerely, if you read this far and enjoy the work we create, thank you. We put everything we have into these game and we really do appreciate every person that invest their time and hard earned money into the games we create.
- The White Paper Team
At White Paper Games, we focus on world’s that feel lived in through non-linear spaces and objectives that can be solved with multiple approaches. We love games with a strong narrative drive that tackle important social issues and aim to set that standard within our own work.
We understand not everyone plays for the deeper narrative experience, and for those that like the idea of trespassing, breaking into secure locations and hacking 4 digit codes, we have plenty of rule breaking opportunities to take advantage of in the world of The Occupation
Instead of creating a feature list, we wanted to highlight the cool work our team of 9 have created over the past 4 years of development.
Time is a precious resource to us all. Every minute in the game is a real-world minute and The Occupation is played over a fixed time length so make sure your actions count. Your watch can be used to set alarms and timers to help keep track of important objectives such as time delayed safes so you don’t have to hang around whilst security is searching for you somewhere you shouldn't be.
Wherever you live, the chances are you’re in a country that could be run a little better, where trust may be feeling a little low. You may not care how their decisions impact you and you instead continue with your daily life ignoring the distracting scaremongering. Or, you may be actively involved in trying to create true change. We love that, in most countries, people have a choice in this, and that’s how we wanted to approach The Occupation’s gameplay design. The world is open for you to explore and it’s up to you what threads you find interesting and wish to follow in the world.
Daniel Hillben and Steven Crow are the security guards employed by The Bowman Carson Group and will be around to monitor your activity to make sure you’re not doing anything you shouldn’t be. Daniel Hillben has been with the Bowman Carson Group for many years so try not to get on the wrong side of him. You may have seen the acting work of Steven Crow in advertisements such as ‘Warts Away’ or ‘The Restorer’; Steve is working this security gig to pay the bills but his real aspirations lay in Hollywood.
Whether you chose to break into a office through the window, find an ID card or pull the power to the room, we designed the world to accommodate your choice, approach and need to interact with objects you may or may not need for your research.
Sincerely, if you read this far and enjoy the work we create, thank you. We put everything we have into these game and we really do appreciate every person that invest their time and hard earned money into the games we create.
- The White Paper Team
Last evaluated Jun 27, 2026
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