New Blood April Fools hotline unexpectedly receives over 1,000 fan voicemails

The publisher behind ULTRAKILL, Dusk, and Gloomwood, some of the best retro-callback boomer shooters, New Blood Interactive, pulled a fun April Fools’ joke last month. On April 1, the indie publisher set up an old-school tip line and asked gamers to call in with any questions, feedback, or anything on their mind about its games. It’s been over a month, and the 1 (800) 325-9727 phone line is still active and is being flooded with calls every day.

The April Fools’ joke turned into a genuine feedback hotline and was appreciated by fans of the publisher’s titles, with some offering genuine feedback, some placing delivery orders, and some pulling the old “Is your refrigerator running?” joke. On May 1, New Blood responded to the flood of voicemails on Bluesky and said:

“We’ve listened to over 1,000 of your voicemails so far. Thank you for your questions, kind words, food orders, and concern about the status of our refrigerator. We’ll have some answers soon.”

New Blood found one particular hotline message from a fan quite interesting and decided to share it publicly:

“Hey, you ever think about making a game where you fight bugs? It’s all the rage these days, and you’ve got so many bugs to choose from.”

The original announcement on YouTube, titled “Call the New Blood Tip Line Today,” was chock-full of personality and featured voice actor Gianni Matragrano as the Gloomwood Huntsman, while composer Andrew Hulshult cameoed as the protagonist from Amid Evil. While it was supposed to be a light-hearted joke on the surface, voicemails inevitably poured in, and the studio stuck with it.

New Blood’s answering machine, which runs constantly, is a really wholesome way for gamers and developers to stay connected in old-school fashion, in an industry where developers often feel out of touch with players and fans.

Currently, there are many developments at New Blood. ULTRAKILL’s latest Act III, “Godfist Suicide,” is chucking players into the deeper pits of hell with Layer 8: Fraud, introducing four new campaign levels, a new Prime Sanctum, and a new secret level. The final ninth layer, known as “Treachery,” is still in development.