Whether it is a living world, a god-mind, or something far more terrifying, Etre is a dazzling, Control-inspired action game about reshaping a cosmic brain.

Background: a visual pitch before a release window

Inside a planet-sized megamind on the verge of gaining consciousness, the opening joke says the last thing to do is run around zapping the cerebral fauna with magic handcannons, jump on anything, or scan anything. Following the lessons of Harlan Ellison, the response would be to curl regretfully into a ball and await transformation into a puddle of mournful goo.

Etre, by contrast, is a new third-person action adventure from Studio Lifeforms. Its premise is to explore an interconnected labyrinth of luminous architecture, solve spatial puzzles, and engage in fluid combat while searching for a lost love and deciding what this new intelligence will become. The game was kept in reserve like a health potion after reading about it in PC Gamer, described as a cheery outlet. It has lovely colours, and the coverage frames it as the perfect antidote to a day's worth of writing about layoffs and generative AI.

The look comes partly from the visionary science fiction of 1970s and ’80s European graphic novels, in addition to Remedy's rather more officious-looking Control.

Development: Xyle, Orbis, and the announced play loop

The protagonist is Xyle, a caped starjumper. The comparison offered is the Silver Surfer, but with his skin set to shuffle. He arrives at Orbis, the cosmic intelligence, in search of his soulmate Atel.

Orbis is not just a bunch of squelching neon neurones. It is home to whole societies, including two factions who are at war. There is also a network of angel tech that has become corrupted, giving rise to living geometry that wants to kick your ass. The announced design asks players to exploit terrain features and learn behaviours to prevail, acquiring new abilities over time that let them reach new areas. The description jokingly suggests this could be the first acceptable usage of the marketing term metroidbrainia.

Scanning is the other major announced system. Players will do a bunch of object scanning to unlock lore documents and get a sense of the awakening psyche being traversed. The visual and mechanical feel is compared to Metroid Prime.

Spoiler warning: what choices may decide

The Steam page notes that choices and discoveries shape what Orbis will become. The named possible outcomes are a living world brought back into balance, a transcendent god-mind, or something far more terrifying. In the article's own phrasing, getting turned into a puddle of goo may be on the cards.

Latest status: trailer, developer, and no release date

At the current stage, Etre has an announcement trailer, with a link to watch it on YouTube. Studio Lifeforms is the named developer. The game is still described through its premise rather than a launch calendar: there is no release date yet.

One suggested parallel is Double Fine's Psychonauts games, with their motley inner worlds that need to be bounced and teleblasted into a state of wellness.

What the current stage means for players

The practical reading is that Etre is currently a strong visual and conceptual pitch. The known numbers are the 1970s and ’80s graphic-novel influences, the two warring factions inside Orbis, and the three named possible outcomes for the cosmic intelligence. The missing number is a release date. For now, the next useful piece of information would be a date, a deeper look at combat, or a clearer view of how scanning, ability unlocks, terrain-based play, and final choices connect inside the luminous labyrinth.