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Fresh Developer Interview Offers Details on Action Horror FPS + Immersive Sim / Metroidvania Hybrid Game Where Players Manipulate Real-Time Fluid Simulations— A Spiritual Successor to System Shock 2 and Prey 2017

An interview with developer Variable State at the Future Games Show Live From LA 25 event offers a sneak-peek at DEEPEST FEAR™, the upcoming metroidvania sci-fi horror shooter, inspired by retro-future cinema of the 80s, like Aliens, The Abyss + The Thing

London, UK, 7 June, 2025 – The team at Variable State has more to say about their upcoming Sci-Fi Horror First-Person Shooter DEEPEST FEAR™. Following up on the game’s world premiere last year, an all-new developer sneak-peek demonstrates the nightmarish claustrophobia of this immersive horror indie; the protagonist, Dr. Danni Carroll, faces down monstrous creatures spontaneously emerging from water sources, as she explores a flooded deep-sea facility

The immersive sim / Metroidvania hybrid forces players to contend with and manipulate real time fluid simulations whilst combatting enemies which spawn from any water source. The developers are hoping to build a spiritual successor to System Shock 2 and Prey 2017, albeit it one which is highly unique and original.

DEEPEST FEAR™ | Details + Features

About 

• DEEPEST FEAR™ is a sci-fi horror shooter, combining Metroidvania level design in the context of a classic FPS immersive sim, where the game’s setting is a puzzle to unravel and where creativity and improvisation are your greatest assets.

Inspirations | Retro-Future Cinema

• Channeling the spirit of iconic and subversive 1980s horror action films such as The Abyss, The Thing, The Fly, and Total Recall, and more broadly the cinematic canons of James Cameron, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, and Paul Verhoven, DEEPEST FEAR™ aims to stay true to a vision of visceral horror, vivid characterisation, and confrontational storytelling. 

Fear the Water

• The immersive sim brings to life a new kind of terror as water itself becomes a living threat, with real-time fluid simulation allowing nightmarish entities to emerge from any water source or submerged space within the hermetic confines of the Neptune facility.
• Using real time fluid simulation, fight otherworldly entities which manifest spontaneously from any water source, all while the environment around you can flood and take in water at any moment, sweeping you away with unpredictable currents, plunging you into the suffocating depths.

Story of Survival 

• As Dr. Danni Carroll, players are thrust into the labyrinthine depths of Neptune, a mysterious retro-futuristic facility hiding dark secrets and dangerous truths. 
• With survival on the line, players must harness their wits and an arsenal of tools to uncover the mysteries surrounding a project masterminded by Danni’s estranged father.
• Fight your way to the heart of a sinister project and uncover a mystery both deeply personal and terrifying in its implications. 

Creative Team

• Featuring an original cinematic score by the BAFTA-winning composer and studio co-director, Lyndon Holland, and the award-winning writing talent behind Virginia and Last Stop, DEEPEST FEAR™ combines the cinematic storytelling the studio is known for with visceral first person shooter and horror gameplay.

For more details, visit DeepestFearGame.com, subscribe to the DEEPEST FEAR™ mailing list, and follow @DeepestFear on Steam, X (Twitter), Bluesky, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook.

The sequel to 2020’s critically acclaimed Call of the Sea is coming to PC and consoles 

Leamington Spa, UK – June 7, 2025– Kwalee, a leading UK games publisher, and acclaimed independent studio Out of the Blue are thrilled to unveil Call of the Elder Gods, a Lovecraftian narrative puzzle adventure and the highly anticipated sequel to 2020’s Call of the Sea.

Set 30 years after the first game, players join Harry Everhart and Evangeline Drayton on a gripping journey to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of their loved ones. Call of the Elder Gods expands far beyond the island setting of its predecessor, transporting players through time and space to the far corners of the world.

Alongside the announcement, Kwalee and Out of the Blue have released a new trailer featuring in-game footage and a cinematic narrated by Harry Everhart, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, as he reflects on the dark secrets he uncovered in Call of the Sea and his determination to keep them buried.

Call of the Elder Gods is coming to PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2.

“We’ve been fortunate to work with Kwalee — they’re fans of our games and share our passion for crafting high-quality experiences with care and dedication. We couldn’t ask for a better partner on this journey,” said Tatiana Delgado, co-founder and creative director at Out of the Blue Games.

“We’re really excited to be teaming up with Out of the Blue on Call of the Elder Gods. They’ve already shown what they’re capable of with Call of the Sea and American Arcadia,” said Benjamin Forrester, VP of PC & Console at Kwalee. “Their talent for storytelling and clever puzzle design is something we truly admire and we think players are going to love what’s coming next.”

About Call of the Elder Gods

Journey to the far corners of the Earth and unearth ancient horrors in this Lovecraftian narrative puzzle adventure and sequel to 2020’s critically acclaimed Call of the Sea.

________________________________________

Dear Prof. Everhart,

It brings me no joy to write to you again but I’m afraid I have nowhere else to turn. I recognize the artifact in your possession. I have dreamed about it every night for months. I have seen impossible, unexplainable things, but if the artifact is real then I fear they may be too. I must meet with you at once. I am running out of options.

Yours,

Evangeline Drayton

All is not well at Miskatonic University. Professor Harry Everhart tries to ignore the shadows flitting at the corners of his vision, while student Evangeline Drayton is haunted with impossible dreams of an artifact uncovered a decade ago. In their search for answers, the pair will uncover revelations more ancient than anyone could have imagined.

Shocking Secrets

Call of the Sea’s object- and observation-based puzzles return with new depth. Scour richly-rendered environments for clues. Swap between Harry and Evangeline to solve complex, multi-part problems across time and space. Choose your own difficulty level with toggle-able hints, icons, and journal entries. For a true challenge, dare to read the Occult Books scattered about the world and meet new, reality-warping enigmas.

Dizzying Marvels

Harry and Evangeline’s journey takes them from the firelit libraries of a New England mansion to the red sands of the Australian outback, through frozen wastelands and otherworldly cities out of time, all stunningly rendered in Unreal Engine 5 and featuring a soundtrack by multi-award-winning returning composer Eduardo De La Iglesia.

A Shadow Out of Time

Follow Harry Everhart and Evangeline Drayton as they search for the truth about their missing loved ones and come face-to-face with beings beyond their understanding. Inspired by H P Lovecraft’s ‘The Shadow out of Time’, Call of the Elder Gods features a fully voice-acted story of grief, family, and sanity, starring returning talents Yuri Lowenthal (Spider-Man, Arcane, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) and Cissy Jones (Firewatch, Starfield, Baldur’s Gate III)

6 JUNE 2025 – Belgian solo developer Thomas Waterzooi is excited to announce Please, Watch The Artwork, a spin-off from his award-winning cozy series about touching art.

The game continues the tradition of immersing players in the captivating realm of a renowned modern artist. This time, become absorbed in the iconic paintings of Edward Hopper, known for his themes of loneliness and urban solitude.

You are a nightwatch at The Museum of animated Modern Art (MaMA), tasked with spotting changes in the paintings. There’s nothing chasing you except the feelings of paranoia, melancholy and isolation. Oh… and there is a lonely clown moving from canvas to canvas, infecting other paintings with his sorrow. To prevent this from happening, you’ll need sharp eyes, a strong memory and lots of coffee.

The game was announced at Day Of The Devs during the Summer Game Fest with an introduction by Thomas Waterzooi himself. It doesn’t have a release date yet but will be available to anyone with a smartphone/tablet (Apple Appstore, Google Play), via Steam (Windows/Mac/Linux) and Nintendo Switch. 

Please, Watch The Artwork Official Reveal Trailer:

Night surveillance at the museum but the paintings are alive. A sad clown roams between them. Watch, listen and report any changes. Paranoia-inducing. Weird. Melancholic. Relaxing? No jump scares or monsters, but the game can feel oppressive at times. Inspired by Edward Hopper.

Key Features

• Casual Spot-The-Difference – Easy point & click controls make the game accessible to all types of players. Take advantage of the zoom function to delve into every intricate detail.
• No jumpscares/no monsters – However, the game can make you feel paranoid, melancholic and isolated. Oh… and it has clowns.
• Themed galleries – Six levels showcasing over 40 paintings from American realism painter Edward Hopper, bundled by theme and subject.
• Clowns – They are sad, but innocent.
• Real hand-painted animated art – Animations, soundscapes and VFX bring Hopper’s masterpieces to life, featuring more than 400 unique anomalies.
• 3 difficulty levels + cozy mode – Both hardcore gamers and casual players can find their sweet-spot by adjusting the difficulty level. And there is a cozy mode without time pressure or game over. Just report changes at your own pace.
• Did we mention clowns?