gen ATLAS: Fumito Ueda's new game announced

For those unfamiliar, Fumito Ueda is the Japanese game designer who, during the PlayStation 2 era, created two cult video games: ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. After leaving Sony, Ueda founded the studio genDESIGN in 2014 and his whereabouts were unknown for a long time, until he unveiled his new project in 2024, at the Game Awards. That announcement remained shrouded in mystery, at least until today.

First details on gen ATLAS

Publisher Epic Games and developer gen DESIGN have shared a trailer to introduce gen ATLAS to the world. It is a single-player open-world action/adventure game where the protagonist awakens on an unknown planet with vast plains, dotted with unspecified technological structures and deserted outposts. This planet will be explored by boarding a colossal robot, which will allow access to otherwise unreachable areas.

In gen ATLAS, we find many traits common to Shadow of the Colossus: in addition to the giant robot, of course, we cannot help but notice that rarefied atmosphere, perpetually shrouded in mystery, typical of Ueda's works, whose unmistakable artistic direction is recognizable. The sense of solitude mixes with that of grandeur, amidst the immense empty spaces to traverse. However, there are also new traits for Ueda's style, such as the third-person shooter mechanics.

When and where gen ATLAS will be released

Now for what might be the sore point: Ueda is famous for the very long development times of his works, so gen ATLAS might be released several years from now. However, the gen DESIGN studio was founded in 2014 and this is its debut work, so it is reasonable to hope that development is not too far from completion. The platforms for gen ATLAS are PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via the Epic Games Store.

The gen ATLAS trailer