Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail publisher HoYoverse’s next game seems to be less fantasy or sci-fi than psychological thriller—something more akin to Remedy Entertainment’s Control than Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which Genshin Impact was compared to when it was first released. Clearly a horror game, Varsapura begins with a job application that may cause “slight discomfort.”
HoYoverse announced the game on Thursday with a 31-minute gameplay demo showing the world of Varsapura, in which the player-character approaches a desk to join a mysterious organization called SEAL (Shadow Emergency Alliance) whose headquarters looks to be a government building that shifts and changes due to “disruption events” caused by mindrot. The gameplay demo has about 20 minutes in the SEAL building, followed by a lengthy driving segment before heading out into the field where the player battles shadowy monsters while dressed like Harley Quinn.
“Upon entering Varsapura, the protagonist’s appearance shifts to match each viewer’s preferences,” HoYoverse wrote in the YouTube video’s description, perhaps explaining the outfit shift from sexy cop to DC villian-lookalike. “The origin of this parapsychological effect remains unknown.”
Varsapura is also HoYoverse’s first game using Unreal Engine 5; Genshin Impact was made in Unity. The game shares a similar vibe for its characters but the broader art direction is definitely more moody and distinct. HoYoverse’s usual cel-shaded look has been swapped for more realistic, three-dimensional textures—the characters and design look more similar to the company’s Lumi character model from its desktop companion program Nova Desktop than any of its previous games.
There’s no information yet on its timeline for release. As of now, HoYoverse has three unreleased games in development: Honkai Nexus Anima, a creature-collecting game; Petit Planet, a life simulator; and the newly announced Varsapura. Beyond announcing the game, Varsapura‘s lengthy gameplay demo seems to be an ad to recruit developers: The video ends with all the different jobs HoYoverse is hiring for.
“Hoyo literally said, ‘go get a job’ by a game,” one person joked on Instagram.
