Is Somerville a Playdead Game?

After a split in creative differences from the two founders at Playdead, the studio known for the extremely critically successful games Limbo and Inside, Dino Patti formed his own studio, Jumpship and here is where Somerville enters the picture. Somerville is an Xbox exclusive that we have seen minimal glimpses of from trailers at E3 2021 and The Game Awards 2021.

What can be extracted from those trailers is that the mood and art style seem very similar to what Playdead was known for. The game looks nothing like Playdeads previous work but the vibe seems strong. The vibe from the trailer is that Somerville looks like some type of post apocalyptic style where you are trying to survive in world that is evocative of HG Wells War of The Worlds. Minimalist art style, moody and somber music set the tone from what looks to be a mix of 2D and 3D worlds.

Playdead was never known for being a development factory that churned out games, which is why there is skepticism that Somerville gets released in 2022. The silver lining is that Jumpship was founded in 2017, and it will have been five years, which is a expectable window to release an indie game.

Although the original trailers evoked the mood of Limno and Inside, they also evoked a similar play style, but the team at Playdead clarified that Somerville is difficult to describe beyond science fiction adventure game as it lacks both puzzle and platforming elements that the Playdead titles were known for. Somerville is an Xbox exclusive and the even better news is that the game will be available day one on Game Pass.