Q-Games, the popular Japanese game developer best known for its PixelJunk franchise, is ready to announce its next game. Introducing PixelJunk Raiders, a third-person action game that's heavily stylized just as fans would expect from any game in the PixelJunk series. But just as important as the game announcement itself is the confirmation that PixelJunk Raiders will be a Google Stadia exclusive game release, even including gameplay using Stadia features.
Surprisingly little about PixelJunk Raiders was shared as part of the game's announcement, and its trailer raises as many questions as it answers. It appears that players take on the role of a monster hunter or city guardian of some sort. Players venture out to take on groups of enemies via "hundreds of unique missions," fighting increasingly challenging enemies. These enemies appear to drop some sort of currency, implying a progression system, but again very little is clear other than PixelJunk Raiders' action combat.
One feature that is mentioned is the use of Stadia's State Share functionality. State Shares are like save files that allow players to jump into other players' exact game scenarios. However, it looks like PixelJunk Raiders may be using this in a different way. An example is shown of a player summoning another player, for example. Perhaps there's some sort of State Share co-op being implemented, like a racing game's ghost challengers.
The announcement of PixelJunk Raiders as a Stadia exclusive does channel some worries, however. Google recently shut down all of its Stadia game development studios, leading many to question the future of the platform and Google's dedication to gaming. Q-Games' contract with Stadia likely goes back way before the decision to shut down Google's studios was made. Nevertheless, wariness regarding Google hopefully won't impair Q-Games ongoing development of PixelJunk Raiders.
PixelJunk Raiders releases March 1 on Stadia.