Deploy in January, Sleepwalkers!
London, United Kingdom & Toronto, Canada (25th August, 2026) – Today at gamescom Opening Night Live, developer Alpha Channel revealed 15th January as the release date for brutal vehicular RPG, TankRat – coming to PS5 and PC via Steam.
Watch the extended version of the eerie, explosive trailer below, set to William Blake’s ‘The Tyger’
Created in partnership with Kepler Interactive, TankRat is a post-apocalyptic journey of rebellion, lost identity, and mech-mayhem. You control Whittaker, a digitized human consciousness known as a ‘Sleepwalker’, capable of fusing with fully customizable tanks.
Whittaker has one mission: find salvation in the fabled city of Highpoint. But as you venture into the Event Containment Area – a war-torn wasteland occupied by machines called Tankrats – that mission becomes an existential bullet to Whittaker’s view of morality, consciousness and power. Your only hope lies in Cyril, a mysterious guide and mentor, and in your ability to pilot your tank better than those who seek to tear it apart wheel by wheel.
Through six unique areas to explore and seven giant, mechanical bosses, the metal of the most hardened Sleepwalkers will be put to the test. The name of the game is survival. The way you do it is up to you…
For any Sleepwalker seeking survival, the tank is the backbone. Choose between the light tank – nimble, quick and able to dodge projectiles and flee from fights at the blink of an eye – and the medium tank – a mechanical behemoth capable of soaking up large amounts of damage and dealing even more. Load your tank up from a selection of over twenty-five weapons, from the 90mm cannon that tears through metal, to the 10mm cannon that picks off enemies from a distance.
Whichever tank or cannon you choose is half the battle. In the ECA, what you take becomes what you are. Dismantling tanks and harvesting parts from their corpses is just as important as getting your tank right from the start. Each part has the possibility to bring unique advantages, perks and fresh ways to wreak havoc that can only be found in the ECA.
Speaking about the upcoming release, Daniel Ebanks, Creative Director at Alpha Channel said: “Blistering, eviscerating combat is at TankRat’s core, but we’ve also infused it with what we love as a studio – the Tankrats are a homage to miniature ‘kitbashing’, the world is an ode to 20th century sci-fi, and playing the game feels like mech action at its finest. We’re psyched to let players get their hands on these and geek out about the same things we do. See you in the ECA.”
Sleepwalkers. Deploy in January. Wishlist now.
About Alpha Channel
Alpha Channel is an independent studio founded in 2018 by veteran AAA developers, creating emotionally resonant worlds driven by player-emergent design. Part of the Kepler Interactive group, the team combines creative freedom with collaborative support, crafting distinctive, atmospheric experiences.
About Kepler Interactive
Kepler Interactive is a video game company and creative studio headquartered in London. With games like Pacific Drive, Sifu, Rematch and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Kepler curates its partnerships with developers worldwide to showcase some of the newest and most brilliant ideas in gaming that combine experimental game design with unique art direction.
Alongside its game portfolio, Kepler’s creative studio seeks to bring games to life in areas such as art, fashion, music, architecture and design through development of lifestyle products and collaborations with artists like fashion designer Robyn Lynch. Kepler explores the creative spaces that inspire games and the people who make them – challenging perspectives and elevating the medium to a new level.
