A new indie game, both developed and published by Desborde Games, has landed on Steam on May 29, 2026, following months of fan anticipation. Previously known for their work on Midnight Snack, a horror game released in May of 2025, Control, I’m Not Coming Back shares the story of an astronaut who is lost in space, very, very far from home.
Control, I’m Not Coming Back is a short and emotional narrative game about a lost astronaut searching for a reason to keep going forward while facing the emptiness of space. Inspired by the Hopecore aesthetic, it’s a story about positivism, friendship and our human connection with Voyager 1.
Voyager 1 is not the only spacecraft to be referenced, though. The game features personified versions of both the Cassini space probe and the Curiosity rover. The Cassini space probe is known for landing on the largest moon of Saturn during the Cassini-Huygens mission, while the Curiosity rover was sent to discover the potential for micro bacterial life on Mars.
Not only alluding to spacecrafts and space missions, Control, I’m Not Coming Back is also riddled with pop culture references, particularly music. Several NPCs pay homage to space themed musicians and albums, including two inspired by David Bowie’s work: Major Tom, from Space Oddity (1969) and a Starman, named after Starman (1972). Another character, Saturn Pierrot, references Yuji Ohno’s track Saturn Pierrot In The Heaven (1981).
The relatively short gameplay, only lasting about forty-five minutes, is jam packed with a completely original space age soundtrack. Control, I’m Not Coming Back has received over 1,000 ‘overwhelmingly positive’ reviews on Steam, despite only being out for five days, as of June 3. The free to play game is available to download right now on Steam, only requiring an operating system of Windows 10 or higher, although SteamDeck compatibility is currently unknown.