Windblown

Dead Cells was the last chance for French studio Motion Twin. They put all their hopes in one game and were rewarded with more than ten million players. A huge success for the team. Now, the small indie worker cooperative game studio continues its journey with Windblown.

In Windblown, players become Leapers. These are warriors who fight to protect their home, The Ark, from the Vortex and its Sentinel minions. In this combat-heavy action-roguelite, movement is simple and precise, with dashes launching players between floating islands and dodging Sentinel attacks to reach the next encounter. Players will battle enemies while collecting various weapons, trinkets, gifts and fish to unlock their Leaper potential.

Roguelite is already in the game's first description, so players will often fail and learn the mechanics and attacks of their enemies, but they will also become stronger. Leapers absorb the memories of fallen fighters and learn to master the fighting styles of their predecessors. Players will switch between multiple weapons to adapt to any situation by changing their build on the fly. As players unlock more memories, they will be able to collect more powerful and complex weapons. These weapons, found in hidden treasure chests or dropped by defeated bosses, have a unique rhythm and power. "Every death is a new beginning, as the Leaper's mission is not over, learning from their mistakes, discovering new Memories to unlock even more build options in their arsenal, and trying just one more run," says the Motion Twin team. Throughout their adventures, players can choose to go it alone or team up for 3-player online co-op.

With two weapons at their disposal and Alterattacks that unleash the secret move of one weapon by using the other throughout an encounter, players are encouraged to mix up their playstyle. Trinkets can also be collected throughout a run, allowing Leapers to wreak havoc on the environment with bombs, frost novas or poison clouds. Gifts can also be unlocked, providing useful passive bonuses. Finally, fish can be unlocked during the journey, providing useful abilities with long cooldowns. This synergy of weapons, attacks, combos, trinkets, gifts and fish can all be combined to create a personalised playstyle.

"We were craving a lightning-fast combat roguelite, but it simply didn't exist. So, we rolled up our sleeves and crafted the game we yearned for; one that lets us dive into the action on our own, and with friends, whenever the mood (or too much pain) strikes!" - the team at Motion Twin

Motion Twin is an indie worker cooperative game studio based in Bordeaux, France, founded in 2001. Their last game, Dead Cells (launched in Early Access in May 2017), had ten million players worldwide so far. Dead Cells was a project close to their hearts and the last chance for Motion Twin. Without its huge success, the studio would probably no longer exist. In 2019, Motion Twin created a new development team called Evil Empire to take over Dead Cells, while the other Motion Twin developers started their next project. Since its release, Dead Cells has received over 30 updates and five DLCs (one of which is free), including a Castlevania-related one. On 7 December 2023, Motion Twin announced their next game, Windblown, with a trailer shown at The Game Awards 2023. On 9 February 2024, the creation of new content for Dead Cells was stopped and Evil Empire would move on to new projects such as The Rogue Prince of Persia, published by Ubisoft. While Evil Empire now employs more than 50 people, Motion Twin remains committed to the cooperative approach and employs less than ten people.

Windblown will be released in Early Access on 24 October 2024. Kepler Ghost, a subsidiary and video game publisher of Kepler Interactive, is providing publishing support for Motion Twin. "We provide true AA & AAA publishing expertise that helps studios build their own brand while retaining true control of marketing. (...) For fully funded projects that want expert marketing and publishing tools, we offer all the support of a AA/AAA publisher at just 15% base revenue share," says Kepler Ghost.

Conclusion

Coop. Roguelite. Fast-paced combat. Tons of build options. Windblown is Motion Twin's next game after Dead Cells, and the core gameplay, especially the combat, really shines.

Features

• Fast-paced roguelite combat
• Co-operative multiplayer mode
• Numerous customisation options for the builds