Don’t fret if you didn’t catch the Annapurna Interactive stream today, because we’ve got all the info you need to know right here. Read on!
New game announcements
You can watch the entire 30 minute presentation above if you wish, but we’ve also rounded up the announcements below, dividing the news into three sections: new games, developer announcements, and an extra bits section where you can find out what platforms Annapurna Interactive’s older games are now available on. Onwards!
Bounty Star: The Morose Tale Of Graveyard Clem
What a name. This Western-themed mech battler that infuses the spirit of John Wayne into Virtual On was the first brand new game of the showcase. Hailing from devs DinoGod, Bounty Star, erm, stars someone I can only assume is an engineer judging by the goggles plonked on their forehead. You’ll have to thwack and shoot up machines while building your base in an arid land, and talking to yourself in overly formal 19th century American vernacular. Seems like a lot of fun. The soundtrack is provided by Grammy-nominated musician Brother Dege. Bounty Star is comin’ ta gitcha in 2023 on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and Game Pass. Please excuse me for that outburst.
Flock
Over to the UK for a new game from Wilmot’s Warehouse and I Am Dead devs Hollow Ponds. It’s another collaboration with artist Richard Hogg, but doesn’t resemble their previous works. Take the role of a little person who flies around on the back of a bird rounding up animals behind them, while dressed a bit like Windy Miller from Camberwick Green. It’s very cute but I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do with the creatures you’re shepherding. The tagline is: gather your friends. Sounds cool to me. Coming to Steam, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and – you guessed it – Game Pass. No release window yet for this one.
Uvula
Named for the dangly bit hanging from the soft upper palate of the mouth, this one was short and sweet, just a teaser. It’s the new game from Keita Takahashi, creator of roly-poly pick ‘em up Katamari Damacy. The trailer showed a dog licking a contentedly sleeping person’s face. No idea when we’ll find out more, but what little we’ve seen so far is very sweet.
The Lost Wild
Coming from UK/Australian joint venture Great Ape Games, single-player survival horror The Lost Wild might finally satisfy the craving some of us have had for another Dino Crisis made with the RE Engine. Take note Capcom, an indie beat you to it. You play as a human struggling to survive in a place full of dinosaurs. It’s in first-person, and seems just as intimidating as you’d expect that to be. Crawl through dense forest, and rummage around dark human facilities to find stuff such as flares – the sparkly things, not the trousers, unless your trousers are sparkly – to fend off those ol’ thunder lizards. I suspect there’s some timey-wimey shenanigans at play here. I’m really crossing my reptilian fingers that The Lost Wild is as good as the trailer. Coming to Steam at an undisclosed future date.
Thirsty Suitors
An update on a game we’ve seen before, but lots of very welcome news nonetheless. I would say I’m so up for Thirsty Suitors but, good grief, that sounds cheeky. Imagine if Netflix’s Sex Education was adapted into an instalment of the Persona series by way of Scott Pilgrim, then throw in a dash of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater for good measure. That’s a reductionist way to describe this one, but it looked pretty special from the new gameplay shown today nonetheless. Outerloop Games say it’s all about “fighting exes, disappointing parents and finding yourself”. Oh, and you can high-five the dog. Thirsty Suitors is a day one addition to Game Pass, but you can also nab it on current and last-gen PlayStations and Xboxes, as well as Nintendo Switch. Check it out for yourself now, because there’s a demo on Steam.
Hindsight
After the pizazz of Thirsty Suitors, we got another look at Team Hindsight’s thoughtful dive into one woman’s memories following the death of her mother. You’ll need to use objects as windows into the past and dreams, to uncover the story of the mother and daughter’s life together. The visual style is simply beautiful, mixing bright colourful memories of childhood with bleak tones in the present as an adult. I know this one will make me properly bawl my eyes out. It’s out August 4th on Steam, Nintendo Switch and iOS, so not long to wait at all.
Developer announcements
Cardboard Computer
The trio of Kentucky Route Zero devs are working on a new game. We didn’t get to see it in action, alas, but Cardboard Computer’s Jake Elliott, Tamas Kemenczy and Ben Babbitt say they rolled straight off the final episode of Kentucky Route Zero to begin their next project. It’s based on an idea they’ve had knocking around since the inception of KRZ, but the three devs have learned and honed their processes from the earlier game’s drawn-out creation. Expect whatever the new one is to be funnier than KRZ, and faster paced.
Yarn Owl
Two-man team Yarn Owl split their development between their home states of Texas and Georgia. Fabian Willis and Chris Hofmann met online and began working together remotely, spending just a bit more than a year full-time on their current project so far. Fabian handles the art and Chris the programming. They’re heavily inspired by classic Zelda games, particularly A Link To The Past. These two seem like great pals and I’m excited to see what they come up with.
Third Shift
Based in Krefeld, Germany, Kai Brueckers and Fabian Denter a.k.a. Third Shift are working on their debut game. Like Yarn Owl, their logo is also a bird that can almost fully rotate its head. Third Shift are creating a single-player road trip adventure called Forever Ago, starring an elderly gent searching for redemption called Alfred. No, not Batman’s butler. Forever Ago already wins points because it features photography, which is always a fun thing in a game. This one seems like pure van life rendered in digital form, so I’m interested to see where Third Shift go with it.
Dreamfeel
Dublin studio Dreamfeel are known for their interactive diary turned coming-of-age tale If Found…, and they’re making a new game that has cats in it. From what we could see in the showcase, it didn’t appear much like the other cat game published by Annapurna, Stray. Dreamfeel’s director Laura says they want to pull from their own experiences as much as possible in the games they make. Their new game is set in a fantasy version of Ireland, and the art design is very cool indeed. Dreamfeel are hoping to make a more polished game than If Found… while keeping their sense of exploration.
Extra bits
Just a few already released games coming to new platforms this year: Outer Wilds is still on track for Nintendo Switch, but no firm date. Coming to Xbox Series X/S and PS5 on September 15th. The Pathless is heading to Xbox and Nintendo Switch in winter. Maquette will be out on Game Pass and Nintendo Switch in the winter. Solar Ash leaves Epic exclusivity to land on Steam on December 6th. Arriving on Game Pass in winter. What Remains Of Edith Finch is out now on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It’s a free upgrade. And if a new game from the Wilmot’s Warehouse devs wasn’t enough, their whimsical snake ’em up Hohokum from 2014 finally makes the leap from PlayStation exclusivity to PC after eight years. It’s out today on Steam.
