Prologue Release Set for August 22 Ahead of Early Access Launch This November

Seoul, South Korea – July 15, 2025 – Independent developer I M Game is thrilled to announce the launch of the official Steam page for Master of Piece, a tactical deck-building roguelike inspired by classic board games. Starting today, players can wishlist the game on Steam and get their first in-depth look at what’s in store via a brand-new trailer, released alongside the announcement that Master of Piece: Prologue will be available to the public on August 22.

In Master of Piece, players assemble an expedition of unique mercenaries and lead them into a world shrouded in dark mist. Each mercenary has distinctive traits that can be strategically combined and upgraded to form powerful synergies on the battlefield. With an emphasis on streamlined yet deeply strategic gameplay, every decision matters and every expedition feels like a new puzzle to solve.

Following the success of its first demo in March, which saw over 10,000 downloads, Master of Piece is returning in August with a content-rich Prologue update. This enhanced version introduces a host of new features and improvements based on player feedback, including:

• A brand-new region: The Blazing Sands – face fresh enemies, explore new facilities, and challenge new bosses.
• Revamped Main Lobby:  offering a more immersive expedition experience.
• Trait Upgrade System:  customize and strengthen mercenary traits for advanced tactical depth.
• Commander Level Progression: unlock new content as you gain experience.
• Customisable Mercenary Presets: personalise your starting loadout with unique relics and team compositions.

“The Prologue serves as a foundation for gathering valuable community feedback ahead of our full Early Access launch in November,”said Junhee Kim, Game Director at I M GAME.“It reflects our commitment to developing Master of Piece in close collaboration with our players, with their input playing a key role in shaping the game’s future.”

Fans attending Gamescom will be able to experience Master of Piece in person at Hall 10.2, Booth F010g – E019g.

About I M GAME

I M GAME is an indie developer established in 2021, originating from a Korean interactive media agency named I M FINE. I M GAME has started its game development career from casual mobile indie games, and has released games such as ‘Greater’ and ‘Dawntown’ on google play store. Starting from 2024, we started developing a PC roguelike deckbuilding game

This supernatural mystery brings 1960s London’s strangest cases – and even stranger detectives.

July 15th, 2025 – The critically acclaimed Staffer Case: A Supernatural Mystery Adventure is now available on Switch, bringing its clever puzzles, charismatic cast, and crime-solving action to a wider audience. Developed by Team Tetrapod and set in a stylized 1960s London, the game drops players into a world where telekinesis, ice manipulation, and pyrokinesis turn every investigation into a mind-bending challenge.

Superpowered Sleuthing

Take on the role of Notrick “Note” a non-powered detective from New Mexico. While working with no supernatural abilities yourself, your team is anything but ordinary: 

• Thena – A human lie detector who listens to heartbeats to expose deceit.
• Bryan – An analyst who timestamps physical evidence with uncanny accuracy.
• Redfins – An agent who can read the memories of inanimate objects, revealing hidden truths. 

Cross-reference alibis, spot inconsistencies in heart-rate patterns, and piece together forensic evidence to crack seemingly impossible cases. 

Twisty, Tactile Investigations

Solve five main cases (and two bonus stories) involving gruesome superpowered crimes, from vertically bisected victims to circus murders. Each investigation unfolds through logic-driven puzzles with branching outcomes, but be prepared to face consequences should your deductions falter. 

Dive into “Staffer Reborn,” a standalone spin-off that explores the chilling themes of an immortality paradox, now included with the base game.  

About Team Tetrapod:

A Seoul-based studio specializing in narrative-driven games, Team Tetrapod blends mystery, humor, and supernatural twists to create unforgettable adventures. Staffer Case is their debut title, inspired by cult classics like Hotel Dusk and Ace Attorney.

Watch the Groundbreaking Cinematic Storytelling Experience in Sky: Children of the Light Beginning July 21

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – July 14, 2025 – Thatgamecompany today announced the highly anticipated launch of Season of The Two Embers – Part 1, which will begin on July 21 in Sky: Children of the Light. This new season introduces a never-before-seen cinematic storytelling experience that unfolds in parallel with immersive gameplay; blending film, interactive narrative, and cooperative play in a way only Sky can deliver.

Season of The Two Embers – Part 1 follows the poignant tale of an orphan chasing hope in a world slowly succumbing to darkness. Told entirely without dialogue, the story unfolds as a series of animated chapters players can watch together in-game, with each chapter accompanied by playable Seasonal Quests that place players directly into the events of a kingdom’s final days.

At the heart of the journey is a gentle, expressive manatee, a companion who responds to players’ actions and stands by their side through the highs and lows of the story. This bond grows over time, mirroring the emotional depth of Season of The Two Embers – Part 1 and reflecting the game’s themes of empathy, trust, and quiet resilience.

This season also introduces one of Sky’s most expansive and dynamic new environments; a bustling market village alive with Spirits, vibrant activity, and many hidden moments to discover. Seasonal cosmetics draw inspiration from this vivid setting, featuring eye-catching items like manatee hats and earrings.

“For the first time, we’re bringing an animated film directly into the world of the game – where players can watch it unfold, then step into that same world to explore and feel it for themselves,” said Jenova Chen, Creative Director and CEO of thatgamecompany. “It’s a new kind of storytelling, built around shared experience, discovery, and connection. This has never been done quite like this before, and we’re excited to invite players to live the story together.”

Season of The Two Embers – Part 1 begins in-game on July 21 where players can view with friends, with subsequent chapters debuting one week after the other. The official trailer can be viewed here.

• Chapter 1: July 2
• Chapter 2: July 28
• Chapter 3: August 4
• Chapter 4: August 11

Each chapter will replay every two hours in the cinema following their respective air times, and the film will be viewable for a one-time showing in its entirety following the first ever Sky Creator Awards ceremony on August 15 at 6:30 p.m. PT / 9:30 p.m. ET.

Part of a larger feature in development, Season of The Two Embers – Part 1 marks a milestone moment for the Sky universe – melding cinema and gameplay in a deeply emotional and social experience unlike any other.

Sky: Children of the Light released as a free-to-play iOS game on July 18, 2019, receiving critical and commercial acclaim. It earned Apple’s iPhone Game of the Year award in 2019, ‘Best Mobile Game’ and ‘Audience Award’ at the 2020 Game Developers Choice Awards, and ‘Mobile Game of the Year’ at the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards. Sky later expanded to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam, hitting 270 million downloads as of 2025.

About thatgamecompany

thatgamecompany is the visionary studio behind the critically acclaimed award-winning titles Flow, Flower, Journey, and Sky: Children of the Light. Since its founding in 2006, thatgamecompany has been committed to developing broadly accessible, artistic, emotional, and enriching experiences that inspire human connection between all ages and cultures. The studio’s work is now featured in the Smithsonian permanent collection and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, along with countless awards and nominations from industry groups. Led by co-founder and game director Jenova Chen, thatgamecompany is currently supporting its latest title, Sky: Children of the Light, which broke the Guinness World Record for “most users in a concert-themed virtual world” and achieved a total of 270 million downloads since its launch in 2019.

Attendees can get hands-on with the latest demo for the upcoming story-driven colony sim

Wellington, New Zealand – 15, July 2025 – Adaptory, the 2D sci-fi, character-driven base builder from developer Stormcloak Games and publisher indie.io, constructs a path to planetary salvation as part of the Indie Arena Booth at Gamescom on Wednesday, August 20 to Sunday, August 24, 2025, ahead of a launch on PC via Steam Early Access and Itch.io.

Book an appointment to play Adaptory at the Indie Arena Booth!

After crash-landing onto a desolate planetoid in the galaxy, assemble a cosmic home away from home as the overseer of four intrepid explorers. Foster deep connections with each crew member, keep them well-fed and healthy, and maintain their emotional well-being long enough to embark on the journey back home. Adaptory is an engaging, and immersive sim adventure with a visually striking art style. It blends a playful, and slightly comedic aesthetic with colorfully detailed line work for a design that is wholly distinct.   

Construct a base from the ground up, implementing essential components such as oxygen supply, plumbing, air conditioning, and electricity. Break out the shovels to dig beneath the planet’s surface, collecting resources to craft beds, grow plants, and place ladders to freely move around the camp. Navigate increasingly complex systems and how they interact over time, and lean into automation to tackle tasks effectively and smoothly. 

Encounter anomalies including meteor showers, solar flares, natural springs, eclipses, crash landings, cargo pods, and more,. Repair damage dealt to the base, and scavenge for rare resources left in the rubble. Uncover the larger narrative thread weaving everything together, featuring crew member diary entries to read, system logs to sift through, and conversations that hint at what truly led the crew astray. 

“Adaptory is the culmination of my passion for base-building titles,” said Jevon Wright, Founder and Lead Developer at Stormcloak Games. “It takes the deep systems of colony simulators, and blends them with emotional narrative and enriching character development. Our team can’t wait to welcome fans at Gamescom and witness as they construct amongst the cosmos.” 

Adaptory charts a path home on PC via Steam Early Access and Itch.io. Follow developer Stormcloak Games on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, and X, and join the Discord server for the latest updates. 

About Stormcloak Games

Founded in 2021, the New Zealand-based team at Stormcloak Games is an independent developer with a knack for base-building titles. The team is currently hard at work on its debut title Adaptory, and they aspire to create new titles in the future that showcase their love of systems-based gameplay. 

SPJA Confirms Record Attendance While Evaluating City of Los Angeles 

LOS ANGELES (July 7, 2025) – Anime Expo, North America’s largest celebration of Japanese  pop culture, has officially concluded its 34th edition at the Los Angeles Convention Center and  surrounding L.A. LIVE venues. Organized by The Society for the Promotion of Japanese  Animation (SPJA), the four-day, sold-out convention welcomed a turnstile attendance of over  410,000 fans from more than 65 countries, delivering an estimated economic impact of over  $110 million to local hotels, restaurants, and businesses. 

Despite the challenges faced earlier this year, Anime Expo once again united fans, creators,  and industry leaders from across the globe for an unforgettable weekend filled with exclusive premieres, interactive panels, and immersive programming celebrating Japanese animation,  video games, fashion, music, and art. 

Anime Expo 2025 featured more than 1,300 hours of programming, including live concerts, world premieres, exclusive screenings, cosplay showcases, and special guest panels. This  year’s guest roster included globally recognized names such as Naoki Yoshida, the visionary  producer behind FINAL FANTASY XIV and XVI; Peach Pit, the acclaimed manga duo behind Rozen Maiden and Shugo Chara!; Mokumokuren, creator of the award-winning The Summer  Hikaru Died; and Ryukishi07, known for the chilling yet heartfelt Higurashi and Umineko series. Anime Expo 2025 also welcomed Paru Itagaki, the mind behind SANDA, and Yasuto Sasada, a rising artist who captivated attendees with four days of live drawing and creative engagement. That’s not all, Sukeban, the Japanese female pro-wrestling league, held its first-ever World  Championship Fight at Anime Expo. With so much more content, Anime Expo expanded its  campus from the convention center to include Peacock Theater, Peacock Place, in addition to multiple street closures.  

With Anime Expo’s exponential growth and evolving production needs, in addition to rising labor and venue costs, SPJA announced that it is actively evaluating the City of Los Angeles as its longtime home for Anime Expo. This follows the uncertainty around the long-anticipated  expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center, initially planned for completion ahead of the  2028 Olympic Games.  

“The Los Angeles Convention Center has been our home for more than 15 years, and we are  deeply grateful to the city and community for their ongoing support,” said Ray Chiang, CEO of  SPJA. “However, our top priority has always been to deliver an exceptional experience for our attendees and partners. As we evaluate next steps, we remain committed to transparency and to finding the best possible path for Anime Expo’s future.”

SPJA begins planning for their next event known as anime expo chibi, a smaller-scale spinoff  convention, scheduled for November 8-9, 2025 in Ontario, California. Attendees can purchase  badges now through ShowClix. 

For more details on Anime Expo, please visit the official website, and follow the official social  channels for regular updates via Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.   

About SPJA 

SPJA is a non-profit organization dedicated to popularize and educate the public about  Japanese entertainment and pop culture, as well as provide a forum to facilitate learning  between professionals and fans. For more information, please visit www.spja.org. 

About Anime Expo 

Anime Expo (AX) brings together fans and industry from Japan, the US, and all over the world  for the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America. Taking place every year  since 1992, Anime Expo features the best in Japanese animation, popular art, entertainment,  music, fashion, and video games. 

For more information, visit www.anime-expo.org.

Part of Steam Automation Fest, Dawn Apart is on sale for 10% off

LOS ANGELES – July 14, 2025 – Developer Industrial Technology and Witchcraft (IT&W) and publisher Astra Logical today release Dawn Apart, a sandbox-meets-survival automation and colony-sim, in Early Access on PC via Steam. The title is also part of the Steam Automation Fest, which runs today through July 21.

Dawn Apart drops players onto a remote, fully destructible voxel planet where corporate quotas drive the workday and nightly raids test every conveyor, turret, and wall you’ve built. Sent to mine the lucrative mineral Lucrum for the galaxy-spanning Aurora Corporation, players must expand towering industrial complexes, optimize production lines, and keep a restless workforce alive. When the sun sets, alien It’ak raiders descend and every misplaced belt or empty ammo box can spell disaster.

Key Features:

• Automate: Stack sky-high production lines, weaving belts, pipes, and power grids across multiple floors for maximum throughput
• Colonize: Recruit engineers, mercenaries, and civilians; meet their needs to keep your outpost thriving and attract new settlers
• Destroy: The entire voxel world – terrain, factories, enemies – can be pulverized or terra-sculpted down to the last cube

Dawn Apart is available to play now in Early Access on Steam for PC for $19.99 with a 10% discount.

About Industrial Technology and Witchcraft

Industrial Technology and Witchcraft is an independent game studio based in Berlin, Germany focused on making games in voxels and pixels with amazing soundtracks. For more information, visit www.industrial-technology-and-witchcraft.com. 

About Astra Logical

Astra Logical publishes systems and strategy games that don’t hate you. A mission-driven indie publisher, they support games with an ethos of progressive complexity and emergent thought. Astra teams up with  developers who create approachable yet deep challenges for the curious-minded.

QUEZON CITY, Philippines – July 14, 2025 – Eat the Rich, the post-apo-capitalistic social deception game that pits billionaires against each other from publisher Monstronauts and developer Maccima Games, will take some extra time to round the rich for a sadistic game show, Eat the Rich will now let the games begin on Wednesday, September 10 on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, and launch on PlayStation, Xbox, and mobile platforms at a later date!

After bringing society to the brink of destruction and utter collapse, billionaires must fight for their very lives in a twisted game show organized by the broke masses. Step on up as a high roller to compete for pennies and survival. Trust no one, deceive everyone, spread rumors, and point fingers (standard billionaire behavior), to gain the most wealth and avoid exile!

Compete against fellow yacht jockeys to earn pennies in ridiculous mini-games based on tried-and-true billionaire pastimes. Avoid crushing debt in Tax Evasion, speed up climate change in Crypto Miners, or go on a hot date with lady luck in Pay or Bluff. Want to ride solo? Try for a personal best in carnivalistic mini-games like the shooting gallery, or toy fishing.

But even amongst other fat cats, no one’s cash is safe. Sneak winnings all the way back to the vault before the other billionaires snatch them away! Spend pennies on outrageous advantages to go from scummy to scummier. Don more than 30 mix-and-matchable cosmetics to steal the show in style. 

“When putting on a game show that’s to die for, we wanted to make sure everything feels just right,” said Allen Tan, CEO of Monstronauts. “The team has worked incredibly hard to polish every last bit of our wacky take on the social deception genre. We look forward to welcoming trust fund titans from around the world to Eat the Rich in September!”

Eat the Rich will arrive on PC via Steam on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. To learn more about Eat the Rich, check out the official website, join the Discord server, and find Monstronauts on X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. 

About Monstronauts

Monstronauts is an independent game development studio made up of creative professionals based in Manila, Philippines. With more than ten years of in-house game developing skills and experience creating previous titles such as Potion Punch 2,the team is dedicated to bringing its latest anti-capitalistic social deception-meets-party game, Eat the Rich, to players around the world.

About Maccima Games

Maccima Games is a small indie studio also based in Manila. They make experimental PC games. After developing fantasy-based evil overlord simulator Ruinarch, the team has now switched their attention to making a social deception party game based on real-life evil overlords, Eat the Rich.

New trailer reveals more emergent co-op combat chaos!

United States, July 14th, 2025 – Noodle Cat Games is thrilled to reveal that the Open Beta for Cloudheim, its physics-based action-RPG built for co-op, will be playable from July 18th–21st ahead of its launch later this year on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Get ready to gather loot and combine wild weapon traits with physics for endless emergent experimentation by signing up for the Open Beta here.

Cloudheim is a vibrant action-RPG built for co-op chaos and based around creative physics-based combat. Up to four players can team up to unleash mayhem in a fully destructible world. Tear down pillars onto the monsters around you, lasso enemies into tornadoes, kick exploding barrels into the fray, and string together aerial combos. Anything and everything can happen in this sandbox of physics-based pandemonium!

Your offensive options are exponentially expanded as you can craft hundreds of potential weapons, gear, and powerful attacks on the fly by tossing materials into forges in real-time. There’s no menus or downtime here folks! Instead, you can see exactly what your friends are up to at any given moment, as everything happens persistently in the game world. All loot and crafted items are shared, though player progression is not, so you’ll have to work as a team to make the most of your band’s ever changing array of abilities.

Explore diverse islands and mysterious dungeons while building up your flying turtle base, the Odin Shell, in this colorful world inspired by Norse mythology. Expand your workshop, customize your space, run a thriving shop, and uncover hidden secrets as your fortress takes flight!

“Imagine a charming action adventure, then toss it in a blender with physics based combat and a hefty dose of brawler spectacle. We made a game that lets us wreak havoc with friends, and now it’s time to share that with players and use your feedback to make it better,” said David Hunt, CEO and Founder of Noodle Cat Games. “With Cloudheim, we built a sprawling combat playground that’s ripe for experimentation, and a great place to hang out with friends against the cozy crafting backdrop. We see constant surprise in players when systems collide in fun and new ways, and discovering combos we never imagined. Grab a squad, dive in, and kick some fluffy monsters off a cliff!”

Cloudheim’s Key Features:

• Physics-Driven Combat: Lasso, launch, and juggle enemies into fire pits, each other, or the scenery—anything goes. Longer air time = more damage. 
• Real-Time Crafting & Fusion: Grab and toss materials directly into crafting stations in the world. No menus, no inventory clutter—just pure, visible teamwork.
• Drop-In 4-Player Co-Op: Tame creatures, fight bosses, and explore mythic dungeons with friends. All loot is shared; your progression is not.
• Evolving Base & Shop System: Return from adventures to upgrade your base, sell loot, and unlock new features.
• Stylized Fantasy World: Built by a dev team where artists outnumber any other department, Cloudheim is rich with visual flair, character, and discovery.

About Noodle Cat Games

Noodle Cat Games was founded in 2022 to revolutionize how games are made and studios are run by emphasizing healthy autonomy for our team and more sustainable development processes. By emphasizing player value and prioritizing the quality of work over quantity, we focus on crafting video games more efficiently. We leverage new technologies like AI tools to not replace creatives but assist teams in their work, empowering our teams to achieve more, faster. Led by an ex-Epic founder and CEO who was the lead designer on Fortnite for almost a decade, our gameplay thesis is based on applying the design principles behind Fornite’s explosive growth to create a collaborative physics-based action RPG combat in the gameplay loop of a survival crafting game. 

Featured in Automation Fest on Steam, Kaizen is a fresh take on logic-based gameplay, set in 1980s Japan

LOS ANGELES – July 14, 2025 – Developer Coincidence (founded by the creators of Opus Magnum and SpaceChem) and publisher Astra Logical today open the factory doors to Kaizen: A Factory Story, an open-ended automation puzzle game out today on PC via Steam as part of the Automation Fest.

In the midst of Japan’s 1980s economic boom, players rivet, drill, and snap components into place, then watch their machines whirl to life on an ever-moving assembly line. Rising through the ranks as Indiana-born David Sugimoto, players will build everything from calculators to arcade cabinets while relentlessly proving themselves through factory rookie work at Matsuzawa Manufacturing.

As players optimize factory designs, they can share their sleekest solutions with friends and the wider world by exporting GIFs with the press of a button. Kaizen also includes side content such as playing “Pachi-Sol,” an exciting new pachinko-themed solitaire game. 

Kaizen: A Factory Story is available to play now on Steam for PC for $19.99 with a 10% launch discount.

About Coincidence

Coincidence is a flexible business framework that mostly makes games, founded and created by numerous former ex-Zachtronics developers who worked on titles like Opus Magnum, Infinifactory, Last Call BBS, SpaceChem, and more.

While it may appear their works are developed according to a certain plan or schema, they are not. The human brain is wired to infer causal relationships between events that bear similarity to each other whether or not such causes exist. Therefore, these works are developed by Coincidence.

About Astra Logical

Astra Logical publishes systems and strategy games that don’t hate you. A mission-driven indie publisher, they support games with an ethos of progressive complexity and emergent thought. Astra teams up with  developers who create approachable yet deep challenges for the curious-minded.

Terraform a Barren Planet into a Thriving New World in This Calm and Contemplative Sci-Fi Builder

[Paris, France – July 14, 2025] – Gaddy Games is thrilled to announce that Plan B: Terraform, the planetary-scale terraforming and resource management game, will officially launch into 1.0 on August 29, 2025 on Steam. The announcement coincides with the start of Steam Automation Fest today, where players can check out a demo of the game. After a robust Early Access period marked by continuous evolution—including overhauled levels and objectives, new transportation systems like container ships, and key improvements to the UI and terrain—Plan B: Terraform is ready to deliver its complete vision of humanity’s future on a new world.

In Plan B: Terraform, take charge of transforming a lifeless rock into a habitable, thriving planet. Build sprawling factories, deploy supply chains with drones, trucks, trains, and ships, and raise cities from small settlements to metropolises housing millions. Along the way, you’ll influence the climate itself—constructing greenhouse gas generators to raise temperatures, releasing underground sources of frozen water to form rivers and oceans, and ultimately planting forests across a dynamically simulated ecosystem.

Version 1.0 introduces new ways to shape the world, bring it to life, and experience it from new perspectives. Creative tools offer full control over the environment, from terrain and temperature to city creation and population. Witness wildlife like deer, bears, and eagles appear as the ecosystem comes alive—and even take to the skies for a fresh perspective. Alongside these additions, new music tracks arrive with 1.0.

Key Features of Plan B: Terraform:

• Terraform a Planet in Real Time: Warm the atmosphere, release underground frozen water, and experience a dynamically simulated water cycle—complete with evaporation, wind-driven clouds, and rainfall. Shape forests, rivers, and oceans, through a scientifically grounded climate simulation.
• Build Massive Supply Chains: Extract resources, manufacture goods, and transport them across an enormous hex-based planet using trucks, trains, drones, and ships.
• Develop Thriving Cities: Grow small settlements into bustling metropolises with populations in the millions by efficiently managing logistics and infrastructure.
• Experience a Calm, Science-Driven Simulation: Enjoy a meditative sci-fi sandbox rooted in a credible near-future scenario, with educational insights into climate systems and sustainability.
• Play on a Planetary Scale: Explore and build on a vast world made up of over a million hexagons, complete with dynamic terrain, weather, and ecosystem changes.

The full release arrives after a series of major updates that steadily refined the game’s systems, redesigned the user experience, introduced multi-selection and undo tools, and expanded environmental realism with improved vegetation, dynamic clouds, and natural terrain.

Plan B: Terraform launches into 1.0 on PC via Steam on August 29, 2025. A free demo is available now as part of Steam Automation Fest. Players can wishlist the game

About Gaddy Games

Gaddy Games is an independent Video Games studio founded in 2011 by Nicolas Gadenne (Ex Eugen Systems, Vivendi Games, MKO Games, Punchers Impact). It has published various small web and mobile games, then Dig or Die, a unique action/strategy sandbox game for PC/Steam, and is now working on Plan B: Terraform.