One of the most impressive games we saw at Gamescom 2024 was Tides of Annihilation. We haven't been able to talk about it until now, but the long embargo is finally over as the project was just revealed during the latest State of Play broadcast.
Powered by Unreal Engine 5 and developed by Chengdu-based studio Eclipse Glow Games, this is a single player narrative-driven action/adventure game originally codenamed Ghosts of Fog. The setting features modern-day London mixed with many fantasy elements, some of which are explicitly borrowed from the Arthurian and Knights of the Round Table myths.
The main character is Gwendolyn, seemingly the only human survivor roaming in a post-apocalyptic London, who embarks on a journey to reclaim her legacy and her homeland. Eventually, she gains the ability to summon two Knights of the Round Table to fight at her side. In the footage, the combat looked fast, frantic, and meaty. The developers promised that the skills would be customizable, too.
Tides of Annihilation clearly takes some cues from games like Monster Hunter and Shadow of the Colossus, as there are some gigantic bosses that are practically like their own level. Gwendolyn can climb on and explore them. Level design as a whole is inspired by the Metroidvania genre, featuring interconnected levels and shortcuts to unlock between them. London itself is also meant to be a character of sorts in the game. The developers likened it to a tree, with each branch being an iconic landmark, albeit transformed.
The team had around 100 developers during Gamescom 2024, although it planned to increase the size to 130 by the end of 2024 as Tides of Annihilation approached its beta phase. The employees have several years of experience at triple-A studios like Sega, Ubisoft, and Gameloft. For example, the game's producer designed combat in Yakuza 0, while the lead programmer worked on technologies used in Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia games.
The team also clarified that, much like Black Myth: Wukong, Eclipse Glow Games has received an investment from Tencent but is not owned by Tencent. Moreover, they already have plans to expand the IP to other mythologies, such as Egyptian, Chinese, and Japanese, if it is as successful as they hope.
Tides of Annihilation is currently in development for PC and consoles, with no publicly announced release window. You can find more info in our Q&A with the developers.
