Dustborn has just been announced at the Future Games Show, a next-gen title coming from Red Thread Games, the developer behind Dreamfall Chapters and Draugen.
Set in an alternative near-future America, Dustborn is a narrative-focused game about just how powerful misinformation can be.
You play as Pax, a pregnant black woman who's setting out on a road trip across the US, looking for a better life for both her and her unborn child. It's 30 years after what's known as the infodemic has occurred - an event that's described as the information epidemic that has unleashed the forces of disinformation and imbued people with the power of words.
Like Red Thread Games' previous titles, this is a dialogue-heavy game, but with a twist. Your words are literally weapons in Dustborn, with you able to physically affect other people you meet - good and bad - with them. In the trailer that debuted at the Future Games Show, you can see Pax say the word move to force back some guards, and it seems like you'll develop a full arsenal of words that you can use in conversations and in combat.
"The idea of language, words, information and, especially, disinformation, is such an important issue right now," explains Ragnar Tørnquist, creative director and CEO at Red Thread Games in an interview with GamesRadar. "We’re not the game that tries to preach anything or tries to be a statement necessarily, but we want our games to be about something, and to have themes, and to have, you know, an opinion. I think the idea of disinformation being used as a weapon – both by the good guys and the bad guys – is interesting. It’s something we wanted to explore."
Dustborn is set to arrive on next-generation consoles sometime in 2021.
For a look at what else to expect over the next few years, check out our round-up of the best upcoming games for 2020 and beyond...
