A German magazine has leaked the announcement of a THQ Nordic-published open-world action RPG named Biomutant ahead of its likely announcement at Gamescom. Sporting a full-page ad in GamesMarkt's magazine, Biomutant puts its protagonist front and center. The main character is a sword-wielding, one-eyed, anthropomorphic cat/raccoon with a bandolier across his chest and a toxic, mutated right hand. Not to mention his robotic grasshopper companion.

According to the advertisement, Biomutant is described as a "post-apocalyptic kung-fu fable," on top of being an open-world action RPG. Three screenshots are also included, showing the protagonist swimming and gliding with the help of a mechanical device, and finally simply walking through a lush wilderness environment. Considering the mascot protagonist and visuals, Biomutant could be a throwback to classics like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter, but with the open-world flair of the modern action genre.

Biomutant is being developed by a young studio going by the name of Experiment 101. Experiment 101 was founded in 2015 by veteran Stefan Ljungqvist, best known as art director and board member at Avalanche Studios, in tandem with the Goodbye Kansas investment group. According to Experiment 101's website, the team works without producers or leads so every team member has "influence and responsibility" over the studio's projects.

Players won't have to wait too long to see Biomutant in action. According to Ljungqvist, Biomutant will have a playable demo available on the Gamescom showfloor:

"We will be demoing the studio's first title on the show floor at GamesCom - an open world action RPG not like anything you've seen or played before. We've been hard at work on this for some time and I am happy to finally be able to share it. Really looking forward to it. Made with UE4."

Since the reveal leaked, Ljungqvist has gone ahead and confirmed Biomutant's existence on social media, and THQ Nordic activated the game's official Twitter account. No new details have yet been mentioned, but it has reconfirmed what the advertisement mentioned. Hopefully the game's demo is as exciting as its leaked reveal.

Biomutant will release in 2018 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.