Products You May Like
Annapurna Interactive, the publisher behind games like Stray and Neon White, held a showcase today to reveal new games, and updates for previously announced ones, shine the spotlight on new developers, and more. It even unveiled its first-ever first-party game. We have all that and more in our breakdown below.
Here’s everything announced during the 2023 Annapurna Interactive Showcase
While the showcase featured plenty of updates about games we’re already excited about, it also featured four new game reveals.
Game Reveals
Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth
Perhaps the most significant announcement of the showcase, Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth, is a new game set in the same world as the iconic Blade Runner film franchise, and Annapurna Interactive’s in-house studio is developing it. This marks the first time the publisher has developed its own game, and its development is being led by Chelsea Hash, who previously served as the game director of Solar Ash and a technical art lead on What Remains of Edith Finch.
We didn’t learn too much about the actual game, however, beyond an ambiance-setting noir cinematic trailer, which you can watch below:
As you can see, Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth isn’t shying away from the visuals of the film series, and we can’t wait to learn more about it. There’s no word on when to expect the game, but Annapurna says it’s coming to consoles and PC.
Ghost Bike
Ghost Bike is a new biking game currently in development at Messhof, the studio behind the Nidhogg series. In the game, players control a “streetwise kid from Freehub City on a mission to revive the last of the Ghost Bikes, the magical couriers who rode between the world of the living and the world of the dead.” Players ride the ghost bike to the afterlife to defeat ghosts in contests of speed and skill, all to win back “Ghost Power.” After collecting enough, you can embark on a journey to the afterworld and save the spirit of Wheel World.
Check out the Ghost Bike reveal trailer below:
Lushfoil Photography Sim
Lushfoil Photography Sim is the most beautiful game shown during Annapurna’s showcase, featuring “true-to-life recreations” of actual locations worldwide. I recognized a few, like Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Shrine and the base camp of Mt. Everest. I wasn’t sure (and I’m still not sure) if I was seeing real-life footage of these locations or footage from the game – that’s how realistic it looks.
Matt Newell is developing the game. In it, you explore environments and capture views using a fully featured in-game camera. Annapurna says there are hidden secrets and objectives “that reward patient and observant players that have a good eye for angles and perspectives.”
Check out the Lushfoil Photography Sim trailer for yourself below:
To a T
To a T is an episodic 3D adventure game from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi alongside studio Uvula. In the reveal trailer, the main character, who goes by Teen, cannot pose in any other way but a lowercase “t.” Teen is a “t” and requires the help of those around them, including their dog, to accomplish certain things. But if the trailer is any indication, Teen doesn’t mind and is happy with their life. You can explore the town as Teen alongside your dog and mom, contend with bullies at school, discover a unique new ability, and more. To a T is being developed in collaboration with AbleGamers, too.
Check out the To a T reveal trailer for yourself below:
Game Updates
Below are some updates about games we know about, including new release dates, details, trailers, and more.
Stray
Stray, which hit PlayStation and PC last year, received a new trailer during the showcase to reveal that it’s coming to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One on August 10.
Check out the trailer below:
Cocoon
Annapurna released a new trailer from Cocoon, one of the games we went hands-on with during Summer Game Fest 2023 this year. It’s being developed by Jeppe Carlsen, one of the lead designers behind Playdead’s Inside and Limbo. Today’s trailer features new gameplay and another look at how we can traverse Cocoon’s mysterious sci-fi world. The highlight of this update was that Cocoon is coming to PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC on September 29.
Check out the trailer for yourself below:
Thirsty Suitors
We played Thirsty Suitors at Summer Game Fest 2023 earlier this month and had a great time with it. However, at the time, we didn’t know when it’d be released, but we do now thanks to a new trailer. It hits PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC on November 2.
Check out the new Thirsty Suitors trailer for yourself below:
Bounty Star: The Morose Tale of Graveyard Clem
This exciting third-person hybrid between a mech shooter and a management simulator was revealed last summer and today, we got another look at it alongside a release window. In Bounty Star: The Morose Tale of Graveyard Clem, you take on the role of a bounty hunter in a post-post-apocalyptic American desert following a profound mistake in the military that leaves you traumatized. Half of the game is a third-person mech shooter; in the other half, you make a home out of a run-down gas station.
Here, you can grow food and cook it to obtain new ways to enhance yourself in combat and elsewhere. Plus, you can collect scraps and crafting materials to build new devices that improve your personal life and mech endeavors. Bounty Star hits PlayStation, Xbox, and PC in early 2024.
Check out the latest trailer for Bounty Star below:
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes wins our award for “What the heck is going on in this game,” because what the heck is going on in this game? I don’t know, but it’s intriguing and certainly interests me. We don’t see gameplay or anything like that in today’s trailer. Instead, we see some mysterious noir-esque figures on screen – sometimes with scary red eyes – while a narrator talks about mazes, potentially secret spy stuff, infiltrations, and more.
In the game, you must observe patterns within numbers and images and solve mazes. Developer Simogo describes the game as a journey into a nightmarish surreality about solving the enigma of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.
Check out the new trailer for yourself below:
Flock
In Flock, you ride atop the backs of various birds as you explore a large open world to make new winged friends, take care of flying sheep, and more. It features a beautiful minimalistic art style and many feathered friends to charm with songs. Charming them adds them to your flock. Some of the birds look like birds…and some of them don’t. There are giant whale birds that fly and more, and the visual style somewhat reminds me of Bugsnax. It doesn’t hurt that, like Bugsnax, the game’s focus is collecting creatures. There’s no word on when to expect Flock, but it’s coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
Check out the new Flock trailer for yourself below:
Mundaun
Mundaun is a first-person horror game that was first released in 2021. However, the game is coming natively to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S…today. This updated version is also available for those who might already own it on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. For a taste of what’s in store, you can read our review of Mundaun here.
Check out Mundaun in action below:
Storyteller
We got a new trailer for Storyteller today during the showcase alongside news that, on September 26, the game hits Netflix’s gaming platform (and elsewhere) with a free new update. This update adds new characters, scenarios, challenges, and more.
Check out the new Storyteller trailer for yourself below:
Developer Spotlight
In between game reveals and updates, Annapurna’s showcase also shined the spotlight on two new developer partnerships with Maramittu Games, a Kyoto-based studio led by a husband and wife, and Glass Revolver, a Rhode Island-based studio creating a Monster Hunter-like game called We Kill Monsters.
And that’s everything revealed during today’s Annapurna Showcase. Let us know which games you’re most excited about in the comments below!