Returnal support studio is working on a new console exclusive

Returnal support developer Climax Studio is working on a "AAA project for a 1st party publisher."

The news comes from Climax Studio's own LinkedIn jobs page, where a job listing seeking a Senior Level Designer boasted the new opportunity. "This is a fantastic opportunity to work with a team of passionate and experienced game designers on a AAA project for a 1st party publisher," the job description reads.

While this admittedly doesn't give away a whole lot of information about the new project beyond the fact it's a console exclusive, it's worth taking into account Climax Studio's history. Previously, the UK-based developer has collaborated with Returnal studio Housemarque on the 2021 PS5 exclusive shooter, as well as PS4 launch title Resogun, and the PS3 port of Dead Nation.

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Further back in Climax's history, things get even more intriguing. For those unfamiliar with the extensive history of Konami's Silent Hill series, Silent Hill: Origins was developed as a PSP-exclusive game by Climax Studios, released in late 2007 after Konami had disbanded its own internal Silent Hill team. A few years later, Climax would launch Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, a remake of the original Silent Hill game.

It's interesting then, that with both Returnal and Silent Hill in its extensive history, Climax Studio actually has a storied past of dabbling with horror games. There's nothing to suggest Climax's new venture will be horror-based at this point, but it's still an intriguing bullet point. It's also worth noting that there's actually no reason to suggest this is Climax's own game, and not a collaboration with another studio in a supporting role. Either way, we'll have to wait a little longer to find out for sure.