The game got more than one million downloads three months after it was released. The game is free, but if you pay $10, you can receive the downloadable content. At first, Doki Doki Literature Club! was released on itch.io then released on Steam. Before creating this game, Salvato created modifications, or 'mods', to Super Smash Bros. The creator of the game, Dan Salvato, was working on the game for close to two years. It is a game that breaks the fourth wall very often.

At first, it looks like a light anime dating simulator, but it soon becomes a psychological horror game. The story involves a high school student that joins the school's Literature Club and the way the character interacts with its four female members.

On 6 October 2017, it was released for Steam.

It was released on 22 September 2017 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. Doki Doki Literature Club! is a visual novel that was created by Team Salvato.