Game: Fakin’ It XL
Developer: Jackbox Games
Publisher: Jackbox Games
Genre: Party / Social Deduction
Release Date: November 12, 2026
Platforms: PC · PS4 · PS5 · Xbox Series X|S
Switch: 1 & 2, later this year
Price: $8.99
Players: Up to 8
🤥 Fakin’ It XL arrives November 12 for $8.99 on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Nintendo Switch 1 and 2 versions follow later this year. It’s a standalone, expanded release of one of Jackbox’s most-played party games, with new question types, eight-player support and proper remote play.
⚖️ One Person Doesn’t Know What the Question Was
If you haven’t played it, the design is beautifully simple.
Everyone gets the same prompt on their phone — something like “raise your hand if you’ve ever pretended to like a gift you hated.” Everyone, that is, except the Faker, who has to behave as though they got it too.
Then comes three rounds of interrogation. The Faker bluffs, deflects and redirects; everyone else grills, accuses and tries not to look suspicious themselves. Points go to whoever reads the room best.
It works because the pressure is entirely social. There’s no bluffing meter and no hidden information to deduce beyond watching your friends’ faces — which is why it’s held up for a decade and why a standalone version makes sense.
One fibber has to fool the room
Jackbox’s own framing: “Who knew that casting suspicion on others could be so personally rewarding?”
Jackbox Games has announced Fakin’ It XL, a standalone and expanded version of the social deduction game from its Party Pack series, arriving November 12 for $8.99 on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Nintendo Switch 1 and 2 versions follow later this year.
It brings new question types, quality of life improvements, expanded player counts and — the genuinely significant one — proper remote play support so it works on a video call as well as it does in a living room. Jackbox say the series has hosted over 50 million games in the past three years alone.
Two New Ways to Get Caught
🎭 Emojional Damage & Thumb Luck
Two new question types join the classic formats, and both work by narrowing what the Faker knows rather than hiding it entirely — which is a smart escalation.
Emojional Damage asks everyone to answer in emoji. The real prompt might be “the emoji for a perfect gift for your boss.” The Faker gets only a general category — “the emoji of an object” — and then has to explain, straight-faced, why a shoe is a thoughtful present for their manager.
Thumb Luck runs three quick thumbs-up-or-down votes in a row on things like “Working from Home” or “Dogs in Costumes.” The Faker votes without knowing the subject at all, then has to justify whatever position they accidentally took on singing along with musicals.
Both are funnier than the original format because the Faker isn’t just lying — they’re committing to a nonsense answer and then defending it. That’s where the comedy in this game has always lived.
😬 Emojional Damage
Answer in emoji. The Faker only knows the category, not the prompt.
👍 Thumb Luck
Three rapid thumbs up or down. The Faker doesn’t know what they’re voting on.
👥 Eight Players
Up from the original’s cap, with a batch of new avatars to go around.
💻 Remote Play
Your avatar can act on your behalf, so it works over a video call.
Eight Players Quietly Fixes an Old Quirk
👥 It Was the Odd One Out in Its Own Pack
The jump to eight players is more meaningful than it looks.
Fakin’ It debuted in The Jackbox Party Pack 3 back in 2016, and it was capped at three to six players. Every other game in that pack went to eight or more — Quiplash 2 took eight, Tee K.O. took eight, Trivia Murder Party and Guesspionage took eight. Fakin’ It was the only one that couldn’t fit a full party.
Anyone who’s hosted a Jackbox night knows the consequence: you get eight people round a screen, someone suggests Fakin’ It, and two of them have to sit out.
XL brings it in line with the rest of the catalogue, which for a game whose entire appeal is reading a roomful of faces is arguably the most valuable change here — more players means more suspects, and more suspects means a harder read.
💻 Remote Play Is the Other Big One
Jackbox games became a fixture of remote socialising, and the format has always had a friction point: you needed someone to screen-share, with all the lag and audio mess that implies.
Fakin’ It XL adds options that let your avatar take action on your behalf, so the game is designed to function over a video call rather than merely tolerating it.
That matters especially for this game. Fakin’ It is built on watching people — hesitation, glances, the half-second pause before an answer. Any version of it that works remotely has to solve for the fact that you can’t see the room. Giving avatars something to do is at least a considered attempt at that.
Jackbox Is Mining Party Pack 3
Worth noticing the pattern here. Fakin’ It XL is bundled alongside Trivia Murder Party 3 in the Steam offering — and both Fakin’ It and Trivia Murder Party originated in The Jackbox Party Pack 3, released back in October 2016.
A decade on, that’s the pack Jackbox are returning to for standalone expansion. It’s a reasonable read on which of their games have aged best, and it signals a broader shift in how the studio operates: rather than only shipping five-game bundles once a year, they’re extracting individual fan favourites and building them out properly at a lower price point. At $8.99, that’s a very different proposition to a $30 pack containing two games you’ll never load.
Price, Platforms and Bundles
🎮 November 12, and Switch Comes LaterFakin’ It XL is $8.99, launching November 12 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Nintendo Switch 1 and Switch 2 versions arrive later this year — no date given, which is worth knowing if Switch is your party machine.
Two bundles have been announced:
• The Jackbox Backpack Bundle (Steam) — Fakin’ It XL, Trivia Murder Party 3 and The Jackbox Party Pack 12 for $46.95
• The Jackbox Holiday Bundle (PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) — Fakin’ It XL and The Jackbox Party Pack 12 for $34.69
Note that the Steam bundle includes an extra game, which explains the gap. Both reference Trivia Murder Party 3 and The Jackbox Party Pack 12 as upcoming releases — neither has been dated in this announcement.
🎉 Party Game
🕵️ Social Deduction
📱 Phone Controller
💻 Remote Play
👥 Up to 8
🎄 Holiday Gift
Who’s Making It
🎤 Jackbox Games — Chicago
Best known for The Jackbox Party Pack series, which draws tens of millions of players a year and has become the default answer to “what do we play with eight people and one screen.” The studio now also publishes independent titles that share its focus on creativity, humour and accessible design.
🃏 The Standalone Shift
Fakin’ It XL and the upcoming Trivia Murder Party 3 represent a real change in approach — individual games pulled out of the packs, expanded, and sold separately at under ten dollars. For anyone who’s only ever wanted two or three games out of a given pack, that’s a considerably friendlier way to buy in.
Fakin’ It XL launches November 12 for $8.99, with Nintendo Switch versions following later this year.
Hi there! I’m Marie, also known as CtrlQueen. I’m passionate about keeping up with the latest in gaming news and sharing my insights. RPGs steal my heart with their rich narratives and immersive worlds, but I also love unwinding with fun, casual games. Whether you’re here for deep dives into game mechanics or just to chat about your favorite casual game, you’ve found the right place! Let’s game and explore together.
