- HOME INVASION - 10 September 2026
Hi everyone, Between two updates on HYPNOS, it is with immense joy that we bring you some more news:BLACKSHARD will be released on PS5 and Xbox on 22 September!It’s been a long-running project, carried out in collaboration with our friends at Bromio, and it’s finally coming to an exciting conclusion. We can’t wait to let more people discover the game and to see it take over your living rooms. Here’s the trailer:For the latest newsletter about HYPNOS, click here:In the meantime, take care.
- Hell is paved with heatwaves - 31 August 2026
Hi there!The essentials first: what a dreadful summer it's been. We fell a month behind schedule in terms of planning and communication regarding Early Access management – you've seen it, we've seen it, and we all know it. That’s just how it is.We have put a great deal of effort into the production, and we have kept delays to a minimum. We have focused on the things that could genuinely slow us down, such as finalising the dialogue for translation, completing the overall framework and composing the music. As we’re working with people outside the studio, the best course of action was to prioritise these things to respect everyone’s time.However, as a result, you haven’t received an update yet – there's been no new territory to explore, no strange characters to meet, and no lore to discover and unravel. I’m sorry about that. The Vague timeline has hit, but you won’t be disappointed in the…
- OF THE DUAL TALE - 8 June 2026
Hi everyone, We're back after a few weeks of silence, but don't worry! The team has been working hard to fine-tune, improve and add new content to the project, and we are thrilled to share the latest details with you. As promised, here is the (late) Early Access roadmap as we envisioned it in May and have tweaked slightly since then. As we are (naturally) unable to pin down fixed deadlines, we have called it 'the vague timeline'. This doesn’t mean we don’t intend to stick to it, but rather that announcing precise dates for each update might create unrealistic expectations. On the other hand, we sometimes make faster progress than anticipated on certain aspects, or create more than we originally imagined. In short, you get the general idea! IMPORTANT NOTE: We decided to add the new written content only in english and french for the rest of the Early Access. We will obviously translate ev…
- The Eternal Beginning - 15 May 2026
I hope you're all well! It’s been raining non-stop here for days. I’m building an ark to survive the flood; I’ve already found two shrews, a few cats and a sparrow. It's not much, but we'll go with what we've got. Important update: We’ve completely revamped the tutorial with a new layout, pacing and level art. I think it’ll be much clearer this way. There's a more gradual learning curve, more practical scenarios and usage reminders. Will you / Re: DO?We’ve also created a new asset to represent the teleportation sigils, which were often difficult to see and therefore easy to miss. They’re now silky monoliths of gold and light. Yes. I’ve made some adjustments to the level art, collision and textures – nothing major, but we’re making progress. I've moved a few interactions around and added a little something to the Black Temple, which suggests that things are happening there as you progres…
- HOTFIX 3 - 12 May 2026
A quick update for today! - Fixed various collision issues in the central area (such as the monolith on the coast). Extended the coastal road and added several markers along the way. - The Black Temple now has a bit more than a goat track leading up to it. - Redesigned the entrance to the Nameless City . - Fixed the sea texture, which was displaying incorrectly at a distance. That’s all for today; the rest needs a bit more playtesting and fine-tuning before it’s released! I’ll still try to post little updates like this in between, until the next major one. It’s also a chance to have a chat. And thanks again for your reeeevieews! We’ve almost hit 50, and they’re 100% positive so far: encouraging, poetic, critical reviews, it’s brilliant. We’ll try to live up to expectations, I promise. Take care!
- HOTFIX 2 - 11 May 2026
Time for another update! We’re currently working on lots to improve the game systems themselves – things that make everything run more smoothly and feel more enjoyable. More feedback, more polish. This will be the occasion for a major update, but in the meantime, here’s a first batch of rework: - There is now a proper road leading down to the sea and the harbour village, because as a wise man pointed out to me: to get off the beaten track, you need a beaten track. - Etienne’s pond has been moved further up the path to the City, to avoid the path doubling back and forcing players to choose between meeting him and the fisherman, which could have delayed the start of his quest for many players. This area has been reworked accordingly. - The small fishing village has been reworked; you’ll see. - The state of the world after touching the three Black Stones is more developed than before, more…
- THE LONG REVIEW RUN - 8 May 2026
Thanks A LOT for your support during this Early Acces's begining We're already working hard on the feedback you're reported to this day!It would mean and help us a lot if you leave a review there because: - Once we reach 10 reviews, HYPNOS visibility will increase significantly. - Once we reach 50 reviews, it will increase exponentially! Finally bear in mind that your review will only be taken into account by Steam’s Evil algorithms if you have played the game for at least two hours. There you go — now you know everything! Thanks again for your feedback and comments. We’re working hard to make this game a glorious journey. Take care.
- HOTFIX 1 - 7 May 2026
Hi all! First sweet hotfix after you first feedback! - Y-axis inversion now working. - Crouch/slice key remapping now working. - Automatic save upon exiting Black Stone Visions to prevent players from becoming stuck there in the event of a deliberate or accidental respawn. - The side huge door in the Convergence Zone, which allows you to go to Kuranes before activating the first Black Stone after the city, is now closed before this point, to prevent triggering world transformations in a way that breaks narrative or systemic consistency. - Various collision and one-sided mesh fixes in the central zone. Obviously more to come! - The first entry in the Dreamer’s Journal is no longer an auto-interaction .- The Memory Shards at Kuranes have been translated as ‘Fragment Mémoriel’ in French .- Fixed dialogue lines being assigned to the correct character within the dialogue with the pilgrims at…
- IT'S WANDERING TIME - 6 May 2026
Well, here we are! The Dreamlands are now open, nestled in the shadow of the Holy Mountain. We’re excited, eager AND terrified. Just like with any launch, isn't it? It's been a hell of a busy time, but it was worth it. We simply want to welcome you to the Early Access version of the game, and we’re committed to finishing and perfecting it to the best of our ability. We know where we’re going and how this story ends. I will share the full roadmap in the near future. This is an Early Access release, so you may well find yourself falling into bottomless pits, encountering bizarre bugs, and, above all, discovering mysterious paths that even we haven’t seen yet. It’s all part of the process, so do feel free to join the Discord to chat with the rest of the community and share your feedback! The Steam Community Hub will, of course, be very active, and I’ll do my best to respond to everything t…
- EARLY ACCESS RELEASE DATE - 22 April 2026
HI there! We are thrilled to reveal that HYPNOS will be available in Early Access on Steam, launching on May 6th Just around the corner! Here’s the announcement trailerThe game will be available from the outset in: - French - English - Spanish - Russian - German - Japanese. Why Early Access? It’s a format we’re familiar with, and we also enjoyed the post-release phase of BlackShard, with its content additions and polish updates. We believe it's the right approach, rather than launching a Kickstarter campaign, which would ultimately force us to commit to many things other than the pure production of the game. Please note that this doesn’t mean there won’t be any cool merchandise, such as an art book, lore book or soundtrack. We're simply saving that work for the end of the project. We’ll publish the full Early Access roadmap here, but rest assured that we’ve planned for a fairly short du…
- Ashes - 4 March 2026
And so, as the Neo Fest slowly comes to an end and the dust settles, we're seizing the opportunity to review that moment. First and foremost, we would like to thank everyone who downloaded the demo and took the time to play it. And a huge thank you to everyone who added Hypnos to their wishlists! You have no idea how much it means to us. Thanks also to all the streamers. Special thanks go to everyone who provided feedbacks here and on Discord. We need these contributions to help us improve the game and refine our ideas and their execution. It also gives us the opportunity to respond to people's expectations of Hypnos that are too far removed from its nature. Overall, we are very happy with how things have gone during this period. This fresh post also gives us the chance to release a major update to the demo, which fixes lots of issues and makes other adjustments. Among that, I redesigne…
- Hotfix 2 : where walls don't shine - 25 February 2026
Hello, everyone! Another small fix to the demo: - Large walls (SHOULD) no longer flicker wildly. - Trees no longer float above the ground; they now stay on the ground too. - The tutorial has been slightly reworked for clarity - Access to the end of the demo area is now better marked So far, the feedback has been incredibly encouraging, kind and enthusiastic. Once again, you are a fabulous community. To those who are new, welcome. There may be a fix for the texts and a few other things, and the rest of your feedback will be taken into account for the next stage of production, which is continuing as we speak. If you like the game so far, don't forget to add it to your wish lists and spread the word to your favourite streamers and everyone else you know. It's a huge boost for us. We'll talk again soon. Until then, take care.
- Very Hot Fix - 24 February 2026
And here comes the first hotfix on a list (not too long, I hope, but we'll see).We've covered the essentials for now, but more refinements are coming. Lift levers; they now work in both directions as they should.No more flickering on some dialogue animationsOther smaller quick fixes There will be a patch for text or translation errors, but French and English are available in their entirety.As for the rest, I'll take care of a few flying rocks, or trees, or a few holes? In short, I'll smooth out the rough edges.Thank you all for your support and feedback!
- HYPNOS demo is OUT - 23 February 2026
Today is the day! We are glad to share this first glimpse of the world of Hypnos with you. Welcome, make yourselves at home. We've been sweating bullets over this demo; showcasing a game like this is a perpetual balancing act. But Ashes, we are having a blast working on it! Sure, the segment of the game in this demo will change for the final release. Some areas are closed and some NPCs are missing, but you'll definitely enjoy exploring and interacting. The rest will come later, along with a few surprise systems. We can't wait! In the meantime, here's some information: It turns out that we won't be doing a Kickstarter after all. - Why? - It's just too much work, boss! We would rather focus on the project for now than spreading ourselves too thinly by attempting to run a campaign alongside it, which would inevitably be exhausting and exceed our capacity. While not as impressive as a succe…
- I have no idea what you do in Hypnos, but its cosmic horror, megastructure world looks so pretty I'm not bothered - 14 January 2026
A position I take that is quite hard to explain in any way that is actually helpful is that for a game to catch someone's attention it must have aesthetic sensibilities that no other game has. To truly get someone's attention anyway, enough marketing budget can undo that, but for an indie game, a vibe (mysterious, unquantifiable) that I haven't felt before will pull me in quicker than listing off genre conventions it follows. This is how Hypnos, a first-person adventure and exploration game "set in a lovecraftian megastructure fever dream," got me to pay attention. Read more
- THE BEGINNING - 14 January 2026
HI, WE'RE THE ENCLAVE The GRAND REVEAL is here! We kept our promise, we cooked and now is the time to unveil our 'new' project: the dreamlike big brother of BLACKSHARD. HYPNOS is a first-person adventure and exploration game set within a new megastructure described in the Maze Chronicles, a Black Shard of Onyx, hidden beneath the roots of the Forest of Destiny. The Enclave is at work, supported by Redlock Studio and once again featuring the talents of ALT236 and AL9000. This time, you play as a man named Choron, an Other on his quest to the edges of Dream. Those who have not played BLACKSHARD need not worry, as you will be transported to a new world, allowing you to grasp the entire plot. However, walkers of the Labyrinth will recognise the signs, concepts, some characters and intertwined patterns. After all, some of you are already walking the Path of the Eternal Return. More images, v…
