Set in Black Iron, players discover weapon schematics and “experiments” to unlock weapons, suits, and skills for each subsequent run. While horrifying creatures await, you must worry about Rivals, other prisoners and security guards seeking to escape. You can deal with them remotely or engage in 1v1 battles.

Of course, you need to deal with the previous run’s corpse, who uses the last loadout while adding some “extra tricks.” Interestingly, you could also ignore the escape pod in the end and go for “one last hardcore do-or-die run back”, which can unlock “powerful permanent gear” if you succeed.

Striking Distance also confirmed that Mutato Muzika, who worked on the Crash Bandicoot and Jak series, is composing the soundtrack. Stay tuned for more details on [REDACTED] shortly.

Employing a comic book-esque visual style and an overhead perspective akin to titles like Hades, Project Birdseye (which isn’t the final name) started as a “passion project” for a small group at the studio obsessed with “easy-to-pick-up and play but fun to master roguelikes.”

Striking Distance clarified that it isn’t The Callisto Protocol but more of a “side quest” that the team wanted to work on while expanding on the game’s world. It won’t affect the development of its next triple-A title ( which a job ad indicated to be in development on Unreal Engine 5). The early announcement is to “see if the concept clicks with you as much as it has with us.”

Project Birdseye doesn’t have a release window or platforms, so stay tuned for future updates. The Callisto Protocol is available for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. It received mixed reviews at launch due to several performance and design issues – check out our thoughts here. You can also read our review for the DLC, Final Transmission.