Kinetic Games — the studio behind Phasmophobia — has been quietly building a publishing label, and on the morning of 13 August (4am SGT) it held its first major showcase: Kinetic Publishing Showcase 2026, revealing five upcoming indie games across PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC. Here is everything that stood out.
Crescent County — Motorbroom Life Sim (Summer 2027)
The standout for anime fans: Crescent County, a cosy-but-sharp slice-of-life adventure from developer Electric Saint. You play Lu, delivering parcels by motorbroom across the magical Isle of Mor by day and street racing by night — while getting tangled up in local gossip, fixing leylines, herding sheep, and pursuing romances. The visual style is painterly and warmly saturated, described by the team as Kiki’s Delivery Service meets the bikes of Akira, with narrative nods to Night in the Woods and Life is Strange. It is one of the more distinctive aesthetic packages of the year. Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PC. Release: Summer 2027.
Shellbound — Parasitic Metroidvania (Summer 2028)
The most unusual pitch: Shellbound, from Fake Lobster Games co-founders Eric Frantzen and Nils Klatt. You play as a parasite clinging to the back of an enormous divine snail, exploring its organs as labyrinths. The defining mechanic is possession — you can take control of enemies and NPCs, with each host providing different movement, combat and traversal abilities that unlock new areas. Killing off enemy species causes them to evolve into tougher variants, which in turn unlocks new parasite powers. The art direction is striking, and the concept earns its Metroidvania classification through genuine exploration design rather than just borrowing the genre label. Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PC. Release: Summer 2028.
“With Shellbound, we were inspired to create the sort of game that we love to play ourselves, full of secrets and exploration, and with our unique parasitic twist,” co-founder Eric Frantzen told Gematsu.
Aether Wizard Life — Cosy Wizard Life Sim (Autumn 2028)
For anyone who has ever wanted Stardew Valley to have better combat and magic: Aether Wizard Life, from Vonder Games. Set in the haunted town of Starfall, you play an apprentice mage unravelling a string of wizard kidnappings — freely mixing cosy life-sim activities (growing magical crops, tending exotic creatures, befriending and romancing townsfolk) with dungeon raids and town-building. The art draws explicit Ghibli inspiration and the lore draws on the real history of witches. It looks the part. Platforms: PS5, Switch 2, PC (Xbox status unconfirmed). Release: Autumn 2028.
Contact Protocol — Starship Security Sim (Spring 2027)
Contact Protocol, from Cold Zephyr Games, might be the most cognitively demanding game in the showcase. You are a security officer on the starship Pale Horse, a mining vessel bound for Jupiter’s largest moon, and your job is to assess every approaching ship against company records to determine if it is friendly or hostile. Fire too early and you have destroyed an innocent vessel; hesitate too long and you have let a threat through. Meanwhile the company threatens legal action for administrative errors. Lead designer Mick Hunter described it as deliberately maximising player cognitive load at exactly the moment of the hardest moral decisions. It is part of a funded Kickstarter campaign. Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PC. Release: Spring 2027.
Precognition — Sam Barlow’s Sci-Fi Horror FMV (Spring 2028)
The prestige name in the lineup: Precognition, from Half Mermaid Productions. Sam Barlow (Her Story, Immortality) is leading a non-linear sci-fi horror FMV in which the protagonist Diana receives an experimental brain implant that shows her visions of the future — which Barlow calls “unlivable memories.” Committing specific visions to memory alters the future, creating the cause-and-effect structure the gameplay is built around. Brandon Cronenberg (Possessor, Infinity Pool) has joined as a writer, bringing his particular brand of body horror to the project. Barlow traced the initial idea back to daydreaming about making an FMV Metroid game — which then “got way darker than anything my beloved Nintendo would be able to carry,” as he told Kotaku. Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PC. Release: Spring 2028.
All Five Are Coming to PS5 and Switch 2
Every game in the showcase is confirmed for Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 — all of them relevant to Singapore players without region-locking or import concerns. The two nearest releases are Contact Protocol and Crescent County in 2027; the rest follow in 2028.
Kinetic Publishing is the new label from the Phasmophobia studio and this is its first major showing — it is worth watching their catalogue as it develops. Full details including trailers are on the PlayStation Blog recap. For more game news, bookmark GameTrader.SG.