Dumpster Gang: The Four-Player Raccoon Heist Game Arrives December 3
Steal everything that isn't nailed down, squeeze through the vents and try not to betray your friends. One of October's most-played Next Fest demos is three weeks from launch.
Raccoons have spent decades raiding bins, opening latches and generally treating human property as a suggestion. Dumpster Gang simply asks what would happen if they got organised.
The co-op heist game from Coyote House Games and publisher Curve Games launches on PC (Steam) on December 3, 2026. It supports solo play or online co-op for up to four players, and its free demo was one of Valve's 20 most-played at Steam Next Fest in October 2026. The demo is still available.
The heist, raccoon style
Each mission gives your gang a target and a deliberately ridiculous plan. Your goal is to steal as much as you can carry while dodging the Exterminator, a human whose one ambition in life is to see your gang behind bars.
The fun comes from the physics and the movement:
- Parkour-style movement: climb, jump and squeeze through vents to reach places a human can't.
- Almost everything can be picked up, thrown or broken, so a quiet infiltration can turn into a chain reaction of falling shelves.
- Teamwork matters: some loot needs several raccoons to carry, puzzles need coordination, and captured gang members have to be rescued.
The Steam page is honest about the result: betrayals and accidents are common.
Back at the hideout
Between jobs, the gang returns to its hideout. There you can customise your raccoon, unlock hats with special abilities, and decorate the place with the stolen goods you brought home. It's a neat loop: the better your heists, the more ridiculous your hideout becomes, and the hats mean that dressing up is also a way to change how you play each job.
Who is behind it
The publisher, Curve Games, is a British label with a long record in physics-driven party games, most famously Human: Fall Flat. That background shows in Dumpster Gang's design: a game where things going wrong is part of the entertainment.
By the numbers
- December 3, 2026: release date on Steam.
- 1 to 4: players.
- Top 20: among Next Fest's most-played demos in October 2026.
- Korean: interface translated (no Korean subtitles or audio listed).
Why it matters
The four-player "friendslop" boom, chaotic co-op games that are cheap, silly and built for voice chat, has produced some of Steam's biggest recent hits. Dumpster Gang fits that mould but adds a clear structure in heists and a progression loop in the hideout, which could give it more staying power than a one-joke party game.
There is also a smart solo option. Many four-player games feel empty alone, but Dumpster Gang lists single-player support, which suggests the heists are designed to work even when your friends are offline. That matters for a game whose audience will mostly discover it through clips and streams, and then want to try it before rallying a squad.
Timing helps too. Launching on December 3 puts it right in the window when friend groups look for something new to play together over the holidays.
WGC's take: the demo shows a game that understands its own joke. If the full release has enough mission variety, this could be the co-op game your group chat argues about all December.
Where to play
Dumpster Gang launches on Steam on December 3. Try the free demo first, then grab three friends. For more October Next Fest hits, see our round-up.