Sky Dust: Everything We Know

Travel down to a cyberpunk, pixel art-style world where morality has become a little too fuzzy to uphold. It’s the perfect game for players looking to let off some steam in a fantasy world. Yet even with its fictional locations, its themes still hit home, grappling with familiar real-life activities and societal issues we face today. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming game, Sky Dust.

What is Sky Dust?

Sky Dust is an upcoming side-scrolling, action-adventure, Metroidvania game. It takes you to a cyberpunk world rendered in pixel art form. While the cyberpunk art design is usually popping and vibrant, the upcoming game will portray atmospheric settings that help bring out the world’s demise. Moreover, you’ll be bopping your head to energetic electronic music scores that help cement the mood of the game’s environs.

Story

The story of Sky Dust will take place in a cyberpunk universe. It’ll portray a futuristic world, where society has been chopped off at the knees after a global disaster struck the city. The aftermath is a society in chaos, with violence erupting in the underground scene. Mayhem has taken center stage in the society, so much so that morality and ethics have been shoved out the door.

But even with a society in chaos, a select few people hold the most power. They hire mercenaries to do their bidding. Mercenary jobs vary, but the most popular gig is data trafficking. This is where you come in, playing the role of a hired gun. While your mission kicks off rather simple, it quickly transforms into a deep journey that influences your life and the world around you.

Gameplay

Sky Dust plans to incorporate a stylish, pixelated art design. It’ll use the classic art style to craft an action-platformer featuring diverse biomes, plenty of enemy types, and dynamic gameplay. Thanks to the game’s Steam store page already out now, we have a clear picture of the key features you can expect in the final game. 

• Challenging combat – You’ll come across enemies of varying types. Each type will have distinct moves and abilities, pushing you to strategize each encounter accordingly. To fight off enemies, you’ll have dodge, parry, and strike tactics at your disposal, with perfect timing at the heart of combat.
• Engaging gameplay loop – Being a Metroidvania, you’ll engage in multiple reruns. You’ll unravel a main campaign, which will reward you with in-game currency. You’ll later use your rewards to unlock upgrades for your character and gear. Further, in-game currency can be used to engage in side quest activities in the game hub.
• Cyberverse – Sky Dust will have two worlds: the real and virtual worlds, which have both succumbed to destruction after the global disaster. You’ll be able to switch between the two worlds, with each one giving you unique abilities and skill trees.

Development

Orbit Studio is currently working on developing and publishing Sky Dust. The studio is based in São Paulo in Brazil. This won’t be Orbit Studio’s first rodeo in the gaming world. They have dabbled in developing games for PC, mobile, and consoles since 2016. Some of their most notable works include Haunted House, Forbidden Requiem and Retro Machina. While a team of less than 10 developers, Orbit Studio is determined to create immersive and engaging worlds. Their goal is to craft worlds that captivate and challenge the imagination. 

So far, the studio has been diligent in keeping us in the loop of the development progress via their social handles. They’ve released in-game footage of the combat for the new game. Meanwhile, they inform us that they are busy “polishing and fine-tuning” gameplay while in the same breath, asking for user feedback to make the game even better.

Trailer

Check out the official Sky Dust announcement trailer via YouTube. It showcases some pretty cool ideas, infusing stylish combat and gorgeous pixel art visuals into the gameplay. We get a sneak peek into the story, which seems to start all cheery before a catastrophe strikes and sends our protagonist into the abyss. The lead character is then forced to take on underground enemies, using familiar side-scrolling movements to dash across stages.

Orbit Studio’s X account also pulls the curtain farther back on the movement and combat you can expect in the final game. We see the lead use grappling hooks to close gaps between levels. He can air-dash and wall-run, too. Meanwhile, combat appears to take on snappy swordplay. We see precise and perfectly timed parries and strikes that hopefully will pack a punch to induce satisfying results. At the moment, you can send your feedback on the snippet videos to allow the studio to fine-tune and polish any rough edges ahead of release.

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions

Unfortunately, we don’t have a confirmed release date yet. Neither the trailer nor Sky Dust’s Steam store page give us any hint of when the release window might be. Steam only says that the release date is “to be announced.” Still, at least we know that the upcoming game will be coming to PC platforms via Steam. 

Retro Machina was released on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. So, there’s a chance Sky Dust will follow in the same footsteps. Yet we still cannot be sure until Orbit Studio gives us confirmation. The same goes for the editions, which, if there are any, remain under wraps for now.

In the meantime, you can always add Sky Dust to your Steam wishlist to get a notification as soon as it drops. Alternatively, you can follow the official social handle here to keep track of new updates. Orbit Studio has been posting video snippets of their progress on X and LinkedIn. So, you’ll always be up to date on new developments whenever they release a new post. Meanwhile, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for new information and let you know as soon as it comes up.

So, what’s your take? Will you be grabbing a copy of Sky Dust when it drops? Let us know over on our socials here.