'Bendy and the Dark Revival' Takes Place a Decade After 'Ink Machine'

Bendy and the Ink Machine brought players to a cartoonish world filled with nightmare-inducing creatures – and its sequel, Bendy and the Dark Revival, is looking to do more of the same. The first-person survival game has you exploring a haunted animation studio while trying to evade its twisted inhabitants and escape in one piece.

But when does Bendy and the Dark Revival take place, and is it a true sequel to Bendy and the Ink Machine? Here’s a closer look at its story to help piece together the Bendy timeline.

The latest game in the Bendy series serves as an indirect sequel to Bendy and the Ink Machine. You’ll play as newcomer Audrey (who replaces Henry as the main character) as they venture through an old-timey animation studio. But while the main character might have changed, you’ll still encounter plenty of familiar faces as you navigate the studio’s haunted halls.

Bendy and the Dark Revival takes place in 1973, placing it after the events of the original game – which largely took place in 1963. It begins with Audrey staying late at her job as an animator at Archgate Pictures, only to stumble upon Wilson, a mysterious janitor who draws Audrey into a twisting narrative centered around the nefarious Ink Demon.

Although you’ll get different answers depending on who you ask, there’s no requirement to play Bendy and the Ink Machine before diving into Bendy and the Dark Revival. Folks who experienced the first game will pick up on tons of easter eggs or smaller plot points, although the story of Dark Revival largely stands on its own two legs.

Much of this is due to the ten-year gap between both games, along with the introduction of a new protagonist. Audrey’s story is entirely her own, although fans of Ink Machine will encounter a few places and faces that are callbacks to the original. These largely consist of background lore and other minutiae, but there’s no doubt that players with knowledge of Ink Machine will get more out of Dark Revival.

In other words, Bendy and the Dark Revival can be enjoyed as a standalone experience, but folks who played the Ink Machine will likely have a deeper appreciation for its references. The original game only takes about four hours to beat – so it might be worth knocking it out over a long evening before diving into Audrey’s story in 1973.

Bendy and the Dark Revival is now available on PlayStation and Xbox, following its release last year on PC.