"Deadlight" was announced on January 18, 2012 as an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive, set for release during the annual Summer of Arcade period. Microsoft Studios revealed they would publish the game, which was being developed by Tequila Works. Although "Deadlight" was Tequila Works' debut, the development team included people who had worked on such series as "Commandos" and "MotorStorm", as well as games such as "Overlord II", "Heavy Rain", "" and "Diablo III". The following day, a teaser trailer was released, with a demo made available on March 5. Speaking of the demo, Eurogamer's Martin Robinson noted the similarity between the movement and animations of Randall Wayne and the protagonists of classic cinematic platformers such as "Another World" and "Flashback".