In a recent announcement Chucklefish, the indie studio behind StarBound and Stardew Valley, have released details about their new game Eastward. The London-based studio is partnering with a small studio in Shanghai by the name of Pixpil. This will be their first game together, and Pixpil’s first game ever.
A look into Pixpil’s Twitter will reveal that they’ve been working on the game for a few years, drumming up a small hype for their title. Chucklefish was apparently caught onto that hype, and once they had been drawn in by pixel artist Hong Moran’s work they partnered up to bring us Eastward as a collaborative effort.
The indie title centers around a man named John who must guide a mysterious young girl named Sam through treacherous territories filled with leagues of monsters. The adventure is set in a future that isn’t so far off, featuring a dwindling human population, and a dying world. Not only will Pixpil’s original art and musical composure be featured in the game, but it will all run on an engine of the studio’s own design as well.
This is a big break for the Chinese studio and is a far cry from their humble beginnings of just three employees. We will continue to be on the lookout for major updates on the game, but it’s safe to say that given Chucklefish’s history Eastward is in very capable hands.
For more on the game be sure to visit the official website, or follow it on Twitter (@eastwardgame). Pixpil tweets out fairly regular art updates on Twitter (@pixpilgames) as well as on Tumblr. And finally, be sure to follow Chucklefish (@ChucklefishLTD) and check out their announcement blog post here.