After two years filled with speculation, Petscop has ended not with a bang, but with a track-listing of eighteen songs, as the final update for the fake horror video game series is a soundtrack and one last clip showing an interaction between the player character and Belle.
Petscop is a YouTube channel that uploaded Let's Play videos of a game of the same name. Petscop was described as an unreleased title for the original PlayStation that had fallen into the hands of a collector who was playing it online. It didn't take long for it to become apparent that there was far more to Petscop than met the eye, as it contained references to the real-life murder of Candace Newmaker and was filled with symbolism related to child abuse.
The thing is, though, Petscop wasn't a real game. The whole thing was a horror series created by an unknown individual, who slowly released videos over the course of two years. Petscop gained its own fan community, whose members dissected each video for clues about the overall story.
The saga of Petscop has now come to an end. The creator of Petscop has been discovered and he has discussed the creation of the series on Twitter. The creator's name is Tony and he confirmed that the series is over except for one last surprise. It turns out that the last surprise is a Petscop soundtrack video, which can also be purchased on Bandcamp.
The Petscop soundtrack video ends with one final scene of Paul talking to Belle about family. The last Petscop video left a lot more questions (and theory fodder) than answers, but maybe that's the best way for it to end. The Petscop fanbase has been endlessly theorizing for the past two years and concrete answers to some of the series' biggest mysteries could have taken away what made it so special in the first place.
Petscop was the kind of unique experience that could only be created in the Internet era. The idea of there being an unfinished video game that was filled with secrets related to real-life crimes was fascinating and it kept fans coming back for more. The ending of Petscop might not have been as conclusive as some fans had liked, but it was aiming to end on an emotional moment. It seems this approach was the correct one if the heartfelt reactions from the fans on the Petscop Reddit are anything to go by.