Developer preview coming later this month shows never-before-seen gameplay
Seongnam, South Korea — September 7, 2026 | Publisher Kakao Games is excited to announce upcoming PC MMORPG ArcheAge S: Strait of Freedom is scheduled to launch on Steam in Q2 2027.
ArcheAge S: Strait of Freedom builds on the original ArcheAge’s core identity and the elements that have resonated with fans, while reinterpreting them for contemporary MMORPG audiences. The person leading development and at the forefront of this vision is project director Kyung-tae Kim, who served as the lead game designer and producer on the original ArcheAge.
More information on ArcheAge S: Strait of Freedom will be revealed later this month via a developer preview video. The video will feature members of the development team speaking about their design philosophy and the choices they’ve made for the game, alongside never-before-seen gameplay.
ArcheAge S: Strait of Freedom is targeting a worldwide PC launch in Q2 2027.
About Kakao Games Corp.
Kakao Games (Co CEOs Taehwan Kim and Siwoo Lee) is a game company specializing in both publishing and development across a wide range of genres, from casual to hardcore titles on PC and mobile. Since its KOSDAQ listing in September 2020, Kakao Games has successfully developed and launched popular titles such as Odin: Valhalla Rising, Uma Musume Pretty Derby, Eversoul, Guardian Tales, and PUBG: Battlegrounds, with multiple global releases on the horizon. Kakao Games remains committed to expanding its portfolio and exploring new opportunities in the evolving gaming landscape.
Seven world premieres, a Rain World Anthology Edition for Nintendo Switch 2, and a new publishing partnership
LOS ANGELES, CA – September 6, 2026 – Today, Akupara Games held their first-ever Akupara Direct, a 30-minute showcase marking the publisher’s tenth anniversary. Hosted by indie lover and curator AlphaBetaGamer, the presentation featured six world premieres spanning new reveals, release dates, and a new publishing partnership.
The next title from Paul Hart and Lee Williams, the developer duo behind Cryptmaster. Bonespire is a whimsical-dark crafting simulation game where you forge ancient artifacts, brew dubious potions, and decipher ancient scrolls atop your own wizard tower. Recurring visitors arrive to trade, and your choices ripple out to reshape the world below—all seen from your tower window. Coming soon to PC.
The next release from Videocult, the team behind Rain World. Airframe Ultra vibes as a retro combat racer where you make your racer, hop on your airframe (hoverbike), and fight your way through the streets of Megacity West with pipes, chains, katanas, and whatever else you can get your hands on. Online multiplayer racing is only half of it…you can get knocked off your bike, brawl on foot, and steal your friend’s ride!
Launching November 5th on PC.
Rain World Anthology Edition – Coming to Nintendo Switch 2, Physical Edition with Serenity Forge
Videocult’s survival platformer gets its definitive physical release! The Anthology Edition packages the base game with both Downpour and The Watcher expansions, published physically in partnership with Serenity Forge for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch – with a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 edition marking the game’s debut on the platform. The Standard Edition ships with an embossed slip cover.
The Collector’s Edition adds an artbook, a knitted Slugcat scarf, a linking keychain, a Shaker standee, a holographic sticker sheet, a soundtrack download card, and a collector’s box. Pre-orders open Today.
The second episode of Mango Factory’s Kumitantei: Old School Slaughter, an episodic murder-mystery ADV, arrives on November 12th. Episode 1 launched in April to a current Steam review rating of Very Positive, producing lots of buzz in the Fangan community. Episode 2 arrives in November 2026 on PC.
AOKAKI – Akupara Signs AOKAKI & Announces New Publishing Sub-label, Kallisti Games
Kallisti’s Games’ debut title, AOKAKI, launches players into a retro, feudal platformer full of insect-inspired characters. With fast, smooth movements, players will dash, pogo, and parry their way across a war-torn land to reclaim it from the clutches of the shogun.
Spooky Doorway’s third entry in the supernatural point-and-click series, The Darkside Detective. The Direct revealed a glimpse into a case involving werewolves and, most terrifying of all, traffic. Arriving in 2027 on PC. A demo is available now.
Montabi – “Working with Montabi” – A Free Desktop Companion, Revealed
A free desktop companion from Mankibo, the team behind Montabi. Place items around your room to attract different Montabi, then watch them visit, idle around your desktop, and stick around for a gentle pat. Discover what draws each one out, uncover rare Legendary Montabi, and complete your Montapedia as you go. Your avatar sits alongside it all, typing away whenever you do. Built-in productivity tools include a to-do list, a Pomodoro timer, and a lo-fi music player, plus gentle affirmations throughout your day.
Free to play, coming to PC and Mac in November 2026.
The Direct rolls right into a live program, with developer play sessions, AMAs, and community segments running through the afternoon until 6:00 PM Pacific. The livestream includes a dedicated Rain World Speedrun segment and time with the AOKAKI and Moonlight Kids teams. Founded on October 5, 2016, Akupara Games has spent a decade publishing independent titles without outside investment, building a catalog of nearly 60 games, including Rain World, Cryptmaster, GRIME, Mutazione, Desert Child, and The Darkside Detective.
About Akupara Games
Akupara Games is an indie game publisher based in Los Angeles, California. Using extensive knowledge and experience in development, they support their developers through an involved and personalized pipeline to bring games to communities of players who are looking for their next enveloping experience. Their vision is to help bring stories to life and usher in the next line of gaming classics. For more information, visit: AkuparaGames.com
Series Sales Surpass 10 Million Units Driven by First New Title in 20 Years
Capcom Co., Ltd. (Capcom) today announced that worldwide sales of Onimusha: Way of the Sword™, the latest title in the series, have surpassed 1 million units on the first day of its release. Driven by the performance of this title, cumulative sales of the Onimusha™ series have now surpassed 10 million units.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword, which marks the first new title in the series in over 20 years, is a swordplay action game featuring protagonist Miyamoto Musashi that is set in Edo-era Kyoto. This title enhances the exhilarating sword-based action of the series with cutting-edge technology while also providing a compelling story and beautiful visual depictions. In addition, through several marketing initiatives prior to launch, such as multiple demo releases and hands-on exhibitions, Capcom worked to expand awareness among a broad range of users, resulting in sales surpassing 1 million units on the day of its release.
In addition to regularly releasing major new titles each year, Capcom is focusing on re-activating IPs that haven’t had a new title launch recently. The company is working to further maximize corporate value by leveraging its rich library of content, including this title.
ABOUT THE ONIMUSHA SERIES The Onimusha series consists of swordplay action games where players assume the role of warriors with the superhuman powers of the Oni and fight against monsters bent on world domination. Cumulative game sales since the first game was released in 2001 exceed 10 million units.
ABOUT CAPCOM
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher, and distributor of interactive entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld, and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including groundbreaking franchises Resident Evil™, Monster Hunter™, Street Fighter™, Mega Man™, Devil May Cry™, and Ace Attorney™. Capcom maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Tokyo, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More information about Capcom and its products can be found at www.capcom.com or news.capcomusa.com.
Capcom and the Capcom logo are registered trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd. in the U.S. or other countries. Ace Attorney, Devil May Cry, Mega Man, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Capcom Co., Ltd. and/or its subsidiaries, in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
Nintendo Switch is a trademark of Nintendo Co., Ltd. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark or trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, the XBOX Sphere mark, the Series X logo, Series S logo, Series X|S logo, XBOX One, XBOX Series X, XBOX Series S, and XBOX Series X|S are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
Arc of Tomorrow introduces the new Atomic Age, while Earthrise takes players from charting the stars to launching missions across the solar system
Executive Summary:
Arc of Tomorrow:The next major free update launching in 2027 for Sid Meier’s Civilization VII introduces the Atomic Age, an entirely new fourth Age spanning approximately the 1950s through the 2050s, with period-specific gameplay, buildings, units, visuals, music, civilisations, leaders and more.
Sid Meier’sCivilization VII: Earthrise:The first paid expansion for Sid Meier’s Civilization VII coming in 2027 explores humanity’s relationship with space and the environment across the entire campaign, culminating in space agencies and missions throughout the solar system.
Update 1.5.0:Later this month, players will experience Update 1.5.0 which brings quality of life updates to the game and the long-requested True Start Location: Earth map.
Today at PAX West, in celebration of the franchise’s 35th anniversary, 2K and Firaxis Games announced new updates for SidMeier’s Civilization® VII. Coming 2027, players can expand their empire’s story into the present day and beyond in a major free update, Arc of Tomorrow*. Additionally, later in 2027, the game’s first paid expansion, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII: Earthrise**, will empower players to reach for the stars.
The full Civilization VII PAX West panel can be viewed here.
What is the Arc of Tomorrow update?
Arc of Tomorrow, a major free update launching in 2027 introduces the Atomic Age. Players are invited to sign-up for a chance to playtest Arc of Tomorrow content through the Firaxis Feature Workshop during the first round of playtesting later this year.
Atomic Age: A new, fourth Age that extends the playable timeline of history from the 1950s through the near future.
Modern World & Visuals: Sweeping urban city architecture, updated tech and civic trees, new Triumphs, social policies, narrative events, and more.
New Civilizations & Leaders: A new roster of period-specific civilisations, plus the return of leader Gandhi.
Expanded Nuclear Gameplay: New offensive and defensive options and units, with a new twist on mutually assured destruction.
New Empire Management Tools: Players can recognise the independence of your Settlements and release them as City-States, giving them new tools to address empire size and loyalty.
Great Works of Film: Film Crews will hunt for the perfect filming location that differs depending on desired genre, and gives variable benefits depending on the quality of Film produced.
Manufactured Goods: Follow recipes that combine specific commodities to produce brand new, powerful resources like Enriched Uranium.
What is Sid Meier’s Civilization VII: Earthrise expansion?
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII: Earthrise is the first paid expansion for the title, themed around the historic space race and deploying missions across the solar system. Earthrise isn’t just about looking up but also protecting the Earth itself. More details about Earthrise will be shared in the coming months.
Antiquity & Exploration Ages: Players chart the night sky and name the celestial bodies above before expanding their insights of the solar system and their own planet’s place within it.
Modern Age: Launch early orbital missions around Earth and the Moon, setting the stage for additional space operations later on.
Atomic Age: Launch missions across the solar system with the player’s own established space agency, discovering planetary features and untapped resources which feed back into their civilisation’s power here on Earth.
Environmental Adaptability: New unit abilities and technologies enable you to alter the terrain and bonuses of tiles in your empire. New civil engineering structures help you fight back against increasing Natural Disasters as global temperatures rise–and you can even reverse the warming itself. And as your empire becomes more proficient in working the land in specific biomes, your civilisation will earn new gameplay advantages that enhance your abilities in those biomes.
What is coming in Update 1.5.0?
Later this month, players will experience Update 1.5.0 which brings quality of life updates to the game and the long-requested True Start Location: Earth map.
Earth Map & True Start Location: This new map generates the land, features, and resources of the real world, enabling a stronger roleplaying fantasy through history. Players start their campaign in a map location representative of where their civ began in the real world, with each game spawning a different set of natural wonders in their natural locations, keeping things fresh even on a familiar map.
Map Updates: Updated Terra Incognita and Shuffle map types with the Voronoi map generation algorithm. This will help ensure these map types are more varied and look more natural.
Updates to Resource Generation: Map loading and generation is speedier, and resource placement should feel more varied.
Updates to Diplomacy: Players can use Influence to stay in an alliance without joining their allies’ misguided wars.
UI Updates: Additional updates to plot tooltips, settlement banners, game set up, and a new tile ruler to help with city planning.
For more details on Arc of Tomorrow, Earthrise and Update 1.5.0, read the official announcement article.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII is available on PlayStation®5 (PS5®), PlayStation®4 (PS4®), XBOX Series X|S, XBOX One, Nintendo™ Switch, Nintendo™ Switch 2, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, and Mac and Linux via Steam.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII is rated PG. Firaxis Games is a 2K studio. 2K is a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).
*Base game required. This content is free for all owners of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII and will be delivered automatically in-game on release. Terms apply.
**Sid Meier’s Civilization VII: Earthrise is paid post-launch DLC available for separate purchase (base game required). Exact release timing to be announced at a later date and will be subject to change. Terms apply.
Wandering through Edo-era Kyoto Miyamoto Musashi is seeking to earn a reputation as the top samurai in the land but along the way he is slain by monstrous Genma. Revived against his will and given a mystical gauntlet, he must work to cleanse the land of the rising Genma threat if he ever wishes to obtain freedom once more in Onimusha: Way of the Sword.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword – Gameplay
Onimusha: Way of the Sword marks the triumphant return of Capcom’s legendary samurai action series, delivering brutal sword combat, supernatural enemies, and a dark reimagining of feudal Japan. Players step into the role of a lone swordsman chosen by fate to wield the Oni Gauntlet, a mystical artifact capable of absorbing the souls of fallen foes. As demonic forces known as the Genma spread chaos across the land, you must carve a bloody path through war-torn villages, ancient castles, and cursed battlefields to uncover the truth behind the growing darkness.
Built with modern technology while remaining faithful to the spirit of the original games, Way of the Sword blends cinematic storytelling with intense action combat focused on precision, timing, and devastating counterattacks. Players will master powerful sword techniques, unlock supernatural abilities through collected souls, and battle terrifying bosses inspired by Japanese folklore. With stunning visuals, atmospheric environments, and satisfying hack-and-slash gameplay, Onimusha: Way of the Sword brings the beloved franchise into a new generation while honoring its iconic legacy.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword Developer: CAPCOM Co., Ltd. Publisher: CAPCOM Co., Ltd. Platform: Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC/Steam Release 4th September, 2026 Price: $69.99 USD
Recommended – “With sharp combat and a story mixing humor and weight, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the kind of well-written, stylish revival fans have waited decades for.”
Shell-shocking arcade action returns today with Master Splinter and Casey Jones joining the fight against Shredder and the Foot Clan!
MINNEAPOLIS – Sept. 4, 2026 – The heroes in a half-shell are back! Publisher TRAILMARK Games and developers Cradle Games and Raw Thrills are excited to release Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants – Ninja Edition, available exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. Expanding on both the original co-op arcade beat ’em up from Raw Thrills as well as Cradle Games’ Wrath of the Mutants rerelease for home consoles, which added new levels and bosses, Ninja Edition introduces two new playable fighters available only on Nintendo Switch 2, plus improved graphics and enhanced performance!
Battle your way across Coney Island, Dimension X and more on a mission to defeat the Foot Clan and foil Shredder’s maniacal plan. Join Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo — or, for the first time, Master Splinter and Casey Jones — from the 2012 Nickelodeon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in this exciting arcade beat ’em up.
Key Features
Double the Mayhem:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutantsfeatures six stages and 13 boss battles, including three stages and six boss battles not present in the original arcade release.
Play as the Four Turtles: Join Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey, voiced by the talents of the 2012 TMNT series (Seth Green, Sean Astin, Rob Paulsen, Greg Cipes) in your fight against the evil Foot Clan!
Unleash Turtle Power: Use special super attacks unique to each character to devastate waves of enemies and find tokens to summon mutant backup to help clear your foes.
Team Up in Local Co-op: Play with your friends in four-player local couch co-op.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants – Ninja Edition is available digitally in North America now for $29.99 on the Nintendo eShop. The digital release for EU and AUS regions will coincide with the global physical release on October 9.
About TRAILMARK Games
TRAILMARK Games is a small, focused team of industry veterans concentrated on building premium titles around globally recognized IP. We partner with passionate independent developers to create games that feel like authentic extensions of the worlds fans already love. We make games that stand alongside the worlds that inspired them; worthy of the fans, worthy of the franchises.
Announced live from PAX West. Pequi Studios drew all 24 of its islands by hand, then buried something under them.
Goiânia, Brazil- September 4, 2026. Something was on the island long before the crash. Mayday: The Survival Island, the open-world survival game from three-person Brazilian studio Pequi Studios, arrives on Steam on November 2, 2026. The date was announced today on the show floor at PAX West, where the game is playable through September 7 at the indie.io booth, stand #316. Anyone not in Seattle can play the demo on Steam right now.
Unlike other survival games, Pequi Studios did not procedurally generate its open world. The studio drew all 24 islands by hand, in top-down pixel art, with every detail designed to support a natural sense of progression. That same attention to detail extends to the animation, with more than 1,000 individual frames created for the main character. While the world is carefully crafted, resource distribution and island locations retain an element of randomness, giving each playthrough its own challenges.
Mayday starts with everything players expect from a survival game: gathering, crafting, farming, cooking, exploration, and combat, but puts its own creative spin on what comes next. Players can turn natural resources into potions, learn to raise and herd sheep, bring buffalo back to their farm, and discover new ways to use the world around them. Rather than a collection of disconnected survival mechanics, these systems are designed to feed into one another, so every discovery hands players another way to survive, explore, and chase whatever it is they are after. Progression in Mayday is meant to feel natural: the more players learn about the island and its resources, the more possibilities open up.
The island itself is full of mysteries, and there is always something new to discover, from hidden treasures and unexplored places to the truth behind the crash and why players ended up there. As they push deeper, new paths and areas open up, the dangers grow, and the answers begin to come into focus. What starts as a fight for survival gradually becomes something more personal: a journey of discovery as they uncover the secrets of the island and what brought them there
Pequi Studios is a three-person independent team based in Goiânia, Brazil, in the heart of the Cerrado, home of the pequi fruit that inspired the studio’s name. Supporting the local game development community matters to the team, and the studio ran playtests with students at SESI Goiânia, working alongside them so future developers could see how a commercial game is built and tested. The same care shows up in the art, which hides things for players paying attention: nods to the pop culture the team grew up on, and a few characters modeled on the developers themselves.
“What I am proudest of is the way the gameplay and the story weave together, and that players get to choose where and when they push the story forward,” says Daniel Siqueira, Artist and Narrative Designer at Pequi Studios. “ I am looking forward to seeing how people decide to survive, and to watching them find all the things we tucked away for them.”
Mayday: The Survival Island supports single-player and will be available in English and Portuguese (Brazil). The demo is live on Steam now, and the game is available to wishlist ahead of launch.
Pequi Studios is a three-person independent game studio based in Goiânia, Brazil. Founded in 2017, the studio began with small solo projects and gradually gained experience developing increasingly ambitious games, leading to Mayday: The Survival Island. The studio focuses on creating original and creative games with a strong sense of identity
ABOUT INDIE.IO
indie.io is a games publisher dedicated to bringing exceptional independent games to players worldwide. With a portfolio spanning a wide range of genres, indie.io partners with developers to provide the support, resources, and expertise needed to bring creative visions to life. Developers self-publishing their own games can also use the indie.io Tools Storefront, with marketing and development tools. For more information, visit indie.io.
Announced from the PAX West show floor, Pangea Game Studios’ modular château builder arrives with player-requested character creation
[Oregon, USA, September 4, 2026] Pangea Game Studios has put down the hammer, poured a glass of something from the valley, and finally set a date. Cozy Builder arrives on Steam on October 14. Announced today from the PAX West show floor, the two-person family studio also confirmed that character creation, one of the most requested features from players of the game’s demo, will be available when the game launches.
Restoring the valley’s earthquake-damaged châteaux means fitting dormers, arches, and gabled roofs together until the building comes back, a modular system that hands players the parts rather than the finished house. Then decorate every room inside, harvest the vineyard, bottle the wine, and put every coin of the profit back into the house. A greenhouse, better curtains, one more shelf of houseplants. The valley never quite runs out of things worth wanting.
Most games in this space start with a blank canvas. Cozy Builder starts with a damaged house. The restoration is modular, assembled from dormers, arches, gabled roofs, and curved glass walls, and there is no single right answer to any of it. Two players given the same ruin will bring it back as two different houses. Then they move in. Players do not step back from a finished model; they walk into it. Interiors and exteriors are both fully decoratable, from kitchen shelves and hanging plants to the ivy climbing the outside wall, and the château becomes somewhere to live rather than something to look at.
Living there is the point, and the valley makes a case for staying. An earthquake left Cozy Vineyard Valley in quiet disrepair, its houses shuttered and its hillsides gone quiet, and watching a collapsed shell turn back into a lived-in home over the course of an afternoon is the game at its most satisfying.
The valley gives something back as well. Grapes and olives come off the sunlit hills, herbs, wildflowers, and rare plants turn up for anyone willing to forage. What players do with a harvest is the second half of the game. Grapes and fruit become wine, jam, and preserves to sell or gift. The making is the pleasure of it rather than the bottle at the end, and what comes out can be kept, shared or sold. There is no combat, no fail state, and no clock anywhere in it.
Cozy Builder also offers players the option to play in co-op, which is where the game tends to surprise people. Players can take on the same valley together, splitting a single house between them or wandering off to build something of their own, now each with a customizable character of their own to do it in.
All of it is playable at PAX West from September 4 to 7 at the indie.io booth, #316. For anyone not in Seattle, the free demo is on Steam now.
Cozy Builder releases on PC via Steam on October 14, 2026. Players can wishlist the game and download the demo on Steam, and follow development on Discord.
Hailing from Oregon, Pangea Game Studios is a family independent game development studio of two. Guided by a Content First approach to game development, they focus on creating rich, deep gaming experiences, exploring uncharted waters of the imagination to fire it up, by gamers, for gamers.
ABOUT INDIE.IO
indie.io is a games publisher dedicated to bringing exceptional independent games to players worldwide. With a portfolio spanning a wide range of genres, indie.io partners with developers to provide the support, resources, and expertise needed to bring creative visions to life. Developers self-publishing their own games can also use the indie.io Tools Storefront, with marketing and development tools. For more information, visit indie.io.
A ruined American metropolis, new weapons and even more options for realistic weapon customization arrive in the “250 Shades of Freedom” update
Gaijin Entertainment and Matter Team announce the release of “250 Shades of Freedom,” a major update for the hardcore online shooter Active Matter. For the first time, operatives will be able to embark on a full-scale raid through the streets of a ruined North American metropolis, expand their arsenals with new modern firearms, and take advantage of even more options for detailed, realistic weapon customization. The update is available for the early version of Active Matter shortly before the full game launches on September 15 on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S – with a few more surprises still in store for launch.
One of the update’s biggest additions is the Downtown raid, which takes players into an American metropolis abandoned by its inhabitants. Firefights unfold among crumbling skyscrapers, broad avenues, abandoned school buses and yellow cabs. The city is far from deserted, however: its streets are patrolled by former police officers and SWAT operatives transformed by active matter, who have retained both their weapons and their combat skills
The update expands the arsenal with the American M14, M39 EMR and SCAR-H rifles, the P17-V pistol, and other weapons. Active Matter also now features variable-magnification scopes, new pistol and foregrips, red-dot sights for handguns, laser sights, suppressors and a wide variety of mounting adapters. These allow players, for example, to fit modern Picatinny-mounted optics to weapons equipped with dovetail mounts, or raise a sight higher when the factory front sight obstructs the view. Weapon camouflage is now available as well.
Operatives also have more vehicles at their disposal, including an American armored vehicle, a classic 1978 off-roader and several iconic Soviet vehicles. Car horns and engine noise can scare off certain monsters, while the powerful floodlights mounted on buggies can blind enemies.
On September 15, hardcore shooter Active Matter launches on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, giving players a proper taste of realistic gunplay. Vaseline not included.
About Gaijin Entertainment Gaijin Entertainment is the developer and publisher of the online games War Thunder, Crossout, Enlisted, CRSED: F.O.A.D. and Star Conflict as well as other PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android titles across several genres. The company’s diverse portfolio has received a range of mass media and game industry awards including such as Gamescom Award and many more. Official website: http://gaijinent.com/
Real actors. Real sets. Real craftsmanship. Inside the HUMANKIND™ 2 Trailer
Paris, France (04 September 2026) – In response to the interest generated by the HUMANKIND™ 2 announcement trailer, Amplitude Studios is releasing a behind-the-scenes video, offering players and media a closer look at the live-action production, practical craftsmanship, and visual effects that helped bring the trailer’s vision to life.
Watch the video making-of video here:
For a deeper dive into the creative process behind the trailer, visit the HUMANKIND 2 page on Amplifiers.
Experiencing history for the first time
Rather than observing civilizations from the outside, the trailer places viewers directly in the eyes of a newborn. Across nine distinct eras, audiences witness humanity’s journey unfold through a series of first breaths, first sights, and first encounters.
Filmed at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria, the production combined live-action filmmaking, practical sets, custom-made props, costumes, visual effects, and CGI to recreate thousands of years of history in just a few seconds.
Developed with BETC’s expertise
To create the behind-the-scenes trailer, Amplitude Studios once again partnered with BETC, the creative agency behind several previous HUMANKIND trailers. The production took place across multiple practical sets, each designed to represent a different era, with unique costumes, props, lighting, and performances bringing every period to life.
BETC also collaborated with LiveFX, a CGI and visual effects studio, to enhance several key moments in the trailer, such as the tornado, nuclear explosion, and space sequences. These elements were seamlessly integrated into the live-action footage during post-production to help bring the film’s most ambitious worlds to the screen.
Here are a few words from Benjamin Le Breton, Creative Director at BETC, about the creative vision behind our announcement trailer: “Our ambition was to condense the breadth of human history into 73 seconds without losing its emotional weight. Instead of telling a story about civilizations, we wanted audiences to experience them. Seeing the world through the eyes of a newborn allowed us to move across nine different eras and reminds us that while every generation inherits the legacy of those before it, each one also has the opportunity to redefine the future.”
About HUMANKIND™ 2
HUMANKIND 2 is a historical turn-based strategy game in which every age transforms your civilization and the world around it. Found cities, develop technologies, forge alliances, command armies, and guide your people from their earliest settlements to the Modern Age. Building upon the core gameplay mechanics found in the first HUMANKIND game, Amplitude Studio’s sequel enhances the experiences with further ways to rewrite history in brand new ways.
Today is just the beginning of our journey together with HUMANKIND 2. Wishlist now on Steam ahead of release in 2027 and keep an eye on the game’s social channels for more details soon.
