Europa

Adventure, exploration and meditation. "Europa", from Helder Pinto, Novadust Entertainment and Future Friends Games, is built around these three elements and has attracted particular attention for its visual style, which is highly comparable to Studio Ghibli.

The release of Europa, Helder Pinto's passion project, which he has been developing alongside his job since 2017, is nearing completion. Not only is it a project close to his heart, but it is also the first game he has been responsible for on his own. He has a lot of experience in the industry as an environment artist and world builder, having worked as a level artist on Crysis 2 and Crysis 3, as an environment artist on Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls and Overwatch, and most recently as a lead environment artist on Overwatch 2. When the time came for him to fully focus on Europa, he brought in support under the Novadust Entertainment banner: Alex Petherick-Brian (programming), Craig Harris (animation), Brian Horn (narrative & cinematics) and others.

"On the moon Europa, a lush terraformed paradise in the shadow of Jupiter, an android named Zee sets out in search of answers. Run, glide and fly across the landscape, solving puzzles in the ruins of a fallen utopia and discovering the story of the last living human. Europa is a peaceful game of adventure, exploration and meditation. As you travel, you'll gradually upgrade the capabilities of your Zephyr jetpack, propelling you through the air until you can float freely in the sky."

Published by UK indie Future Friends Games, the game is on more than 160,000 wishlists on Steam and will be coming to consoles at a later date. So what makes Europa so special? It's a peaceful game of adventure, exploration and meditation. On the moon Europa, a lush terraformed paradise in the shadow of Jupiter, the android Zee sets out with his jetpack in search of answers. He tells a story about growing up and man's relationship with nature, all in a picturesque style reminiscent of Studio Ghibli.

Europa, the peaceful action-adventure game heavily inspired by the world of Ghibli, will be released on PC and Switch on 11 October 2024. It will be released on other consoles at a later date.