Back in January 2021, Playdead officially announced that it was working on a new game. However, unlike its first two smash-hits, this third title would be a 3D, third-person Sci-Fi game, ditching the side-scrolling perspective of both LIMBO and Inside. Playdead has always pushed the technical boundaries of its platforms, but according to a recent job listing, this new title may be pushing the boundaries further than ever before.
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How Playdead’s Third Game Can Use Next-Gen Tech
Just a few days ago, Playdead listed a new Landscape Artist job position. In the description of the role, it was stated that the individual would need to, “work closely with the art department to visually deliver the art style and meet technical performance requirements in Unreal Engine 5.” Before this post, fans didn’t know that Playdead’s next title would be using Unreal Engine 5, an engine which is still very new in the industry.
Based on recent tech demos, Unreal Engine 5 looks to be the most powerful game engine ever created, offering unparalleled visual quality and the most complex lighting system to grace consoles. A large part of Playdead’s success so far comes from its games’ visual style. Both LIMBO and Inside boasted incredibly distinct, and memorable art styles, with lighting being used to great effect throughout both to convey plot points, character emotions, and themes. Environmental design has also been an integral part of Playdead’s last two games, with LIMBO using shadowed vegetation and wildlife to evoke feelings of fear, and Inside using vast, empty spaces to convey feelings of isolation.
Unreal Engine 5 will allow Playdead to create its most detailed environments yet, with the most in-depth lighting choices available right now. Playdead also has the option to make its third game as realistic, or as stylized as it would like. Previous Playdead games have straddled that line perfectly, often providing realistic environments, enhanced by stylized lighting or character design. Now, with Unreal Engine 5, Playdead can hone in on that unique art style even further.
With Playdead’s next game also releasing on next-gen consoles, there’s also a slew of other technical features that it can take advantage of, all of which weren’t present at the time of LIMBO and Inside’s release. For a start, solid-state drives in the PS5 and Xbox Series X will help to keep the game’s loading times to a minimum, which will also ensure that the game’s pace is maintained, which has been another point of acclaim for Playdead’s previous works.
Along with better visuals, framerates, and faster loading times, Playdead’s next game being on the PS5 also opens the game up to some neat DualSense integration. The DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are the unsung heroes of the PS5, and Playdead can certainly make great use of both in their next game. With the game being third-person, 3D audio could also be used to enhance the experience. Though the game will likely be impressive on every platform, these features may make the PS5 the best place to play it.
Playdead’s third game is in development.
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