Charlie Murder was eventually released on 14 August 2013 to positive reviews, with critics praising the game's soundtrack and hand-illustrated visuals.

Players are pitted against a large variety of enemies, including zombies, witches, ninjas, giant rats, yetis, and sharks with dynamite strapped to their heads.

[3][4] Players earn money by defeating enemies,[2] and outside of combat, they can purchase weapons and armor (all of which is visible on the character), stat-boosting food and alcohol, and the aforementioned tattoos from shops.

Charlie kicks one of the founding members, Paul, out of the band, and begins to experience chart-topping success creating music in a new genre with new bandmates.

[1] Charlie and his band are killed at the beginning of the game, fight out of hell, and are reborn on Earth amidst an apocalypse caused by Lord Mortimer and his army.

[citation needed] The game has two endings that depend on whether or not the player has acquired all of the hidden pieces of Smockula by the time of the final battle.

Charlie Murder was first announced in January 2010 in a Ska Studios blog post as an Xbox Live Indie Games title set for release in March 2010.

[6] Ska Studios announced in May that the game was to undergo a "complete overhaul", and would be released through Xbox Live Arcade in 2012.

Michelle Juett was a tester for The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, and the two met in person for the first time at the September 2009 Penny Arcade Expo.

[9][10][11][12] In an interview with Joystiq, James Silva explained that he used major game conferences, such as PAX East, as public betas.

The conferences allowed Silva to expose a large number of people to the game, providing him with the opportunity to solicit feedback and discover issues.

[11] Silva proposed to Juett at the Charlie Murder booth at PAX 2011, using an in-game cutscene built in as a secret for the occasion.

Microsoft required Ska Studios to create picture packs (Xbox Live account customizations), but was not responsible for the Windows Phone 8 game mechanic.

[10][12][13] Charlie Murder was promoted as a free Xbox download with Microsoft's Games with Gold program during the month of June 2014.

IGN's Jose Otero found the inventory management system, which lacks an easy way to sort items, to be problematic.