The Fall season is upon us, and this is going to be a big one. There are an absurd number of games releasing this Fall and they’re all vying for the attention of gamers everywhere. One such game is the atmospheric horror game End of Abyss from developer Section 9 Interactive and Epic Games. In the lead up to launch next month, the studio has released the first of what will be multiple behind the scenes videos detailing the making of the game.
For those unaware, End of Abyss is an atmospheric horror Metroidvania game that features twin stick shooting combat. The first video, titled “Entering the Facility” gives a look at the game when it was at its early concept as well as detailing some of the world an enemies in the game. Section 9 Co-founder Mattias Ottvall gave early insight when the game was still in the concepting phase that it was more of a top down action shooter and even played like a mobile game at one point. Then, the game was eventually slowed down with more atmosphere added which evolved into what the game has eventually become.
The video would then go on to give little details about the world and enemies in the game. The developers want the world of End of Abyss to feel both desolate,but not decrepit with some areas feeling like time has stood still despite no one being there in a long time. However, there will still be hints that you are not the first person to visit this place in who knows how long. As for enemies, character artist Olivia Grönlund affectionately refers to them as “mutated parasitic human mutant thingies.” She details how she designs the 3D models based on the spefic concepts artists provide her with, and how the destruction of the enemies remind her of old school monster movies like the 1992 film Braindead. Finally, Ottvall mentions how enemies can just be in an area or will try to ambush the player throughout their journey making players get the feeling of cautious trepidation or that of feeling like you can mow them all down.
End of Abyss is set to release on October 1, 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X. We also got to play the game a couple months ago, and you can read about our hands-on experience with the game back at Summer Game Fest’s Play Days here. You can watch the full “Entering the Facility” video below: