Collaborative developer studio XDEV is a key player in the development of popular titles such as Returnal, Rise of the Ronin, and Shift Up’s latest title Stellar Blade. The developer has recently shared an image on X/Twitter that has fans worked into a frenzy.
The teaser doesn’t have much, being only a 5-second long video, but seemingly makes a reference to Returnal or at least that’s what the fans think, promising some kind of reveal ‘today’, the 30th of April. This has excited fans who await the announcement.
XDEV Teases a Reveal, Sparking Excitement Among Fans
Returnal is a 2021 roguelike third-person shooter with elements of psychological horror. Mainly developed by Housemarque with aid from XDEV, the game was published for the PlayStation 5 in 2021 and later released for Windows.
..Tomorrow..👁️👁️ pic.twitter.com/ZSbZqj1u5T
— PlayStation Studios XDEV (@Sony_XDEV) April 29, 2024
The game sees you play as Selene Vassos, an astronaut who crash-lands on a strange alien planet called Atropos. Stuck in a time loop, Selene must relive her death and fight her way through the planet’s hostile environments with each cycle. The game emphasizes bullet hell-style combat.
You’ll need to master dodging, using different weapon types strategically, and utilizing your environment to survive against relentless enemies. As Selene progresses, she grapples with visions and hallucinations, adding a layer of psychological horror to the experience.
Stellar Blade has proven a massive hit with gamers and sparked conversation amongst fans and critics, but it’s nice to see that the studio has not forgotten about earlier titles. Although the teaser leaves much to the imagination the fan response to the surprise announcement has been massive.
No….no….don't do this to me….
Returnal is the greatest game on PS5 and the most artistic "horror" story since Silent Hill 2 (yes, that's what I said).
What is this?!
— HouseQuake (@jay_quake) April 29, 2024
The last major update received was in 2021 with a free expansion titled “Ascension.” The main addition of this expansion was the Tower of Sisyphus a new endless mode that challenged players to ascend a procedurally generated tower with increasingly difficult enemies.
Perhaps fan prayers will be answered and the latest update will be added content in the form of an additional story mode. Maybe even some kind of crossover between the games it has worked on but that’s too far-fetched. However, we won’t know for sure until the proper reveal today.
The Studio Is Also Behind Stellar Blade’s Success
XDEV is an important part of PlayStation Studios alongside at least 21 other video game studios. The studio also collaborates with third-party developers that aren’t directly under PlayStation Studios, providing resources or technical expertise that help said developers create PlayStation-exclusive titles.
The team aided Supermassive Games in the development of Until Dawn, Quantic Dream’s Detroit: Become Human, and, of course, more recent PlayStation-exclusive titles.
As smaller members under the larger PlayStation Studios umbrella, it’s hard to say exactly what the studio’s role in the development cycle is.
However, its presence within the frameworks of so many well-received and groundbreaking games points to the studio being a crucial player in PlayStation’s gaming ecosystem.
What are your thoughts about this tease? Do you have any guesses on what the announcement could be about? Let us know in the comments.
