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Forspoken is the official name of Project Athia, coming in 2022

PlayStation 5 and PC players will take on a strange, yet beautiful world populated by fantastical creatures in Forspoken next year.

TJ Denzer

March 18, 2021 10:57 AM

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Back in June 2020, Luminous Productions shared a teaser for what they had in the works for PlayStation 5 alongside Square Enix. Nicknamed “Project Athia” at the time, it showed off an action-adventure experience in which players will explore a gorgeous natural world populated by fantastical and dangerous beasts. On the latest Square Enix Presents, we got a new look at what Project Athia is. Not only that, it was officially titled Forspoken and is set for release on PS5 and PC in2022.

The latest peek and official titling of Forspoken were revealed during the Square Enix Presents Spring presentation on March 18, 2021. Actress Ella Balinska introduced us to her character, Frey Holland, whom we’ll be playing as she develops magical powers and must learn to use them in a world not her own, populated by creatures such as a “[expletive deleted] dragon”. Forspoken received its official title and 2022 release window during the trailer shown below.

Whether you call it Project Athia or Forspoken, Luminous Productions’ upcoming game has looked gorgeous since it was first announced in 2020. Designed specifically for the PlayStation 5’s technology, we’ve seen Frey leap and bound across vast stretches of natural land, utilizing flashy magical powers, and hiding from or coming face-to-face with creatures both mysterious and terrifying in their design. The glimpses we’ve seen of the game also seem to contain traces of the modern world among the wilds, with ruined structures and civilization peaking out between glimpses of the game and the encounters therein. There’s still a lot we don’t know about Forspoken, but for what we’ve seen, it’s looking more interesting with each tidbit.

With a 2022 launch window, it will also be quite some time before we get to learn more about what kind of adventure and story Forspoken offers. Stay tuned throughout the coming year as we continue to follow the game for further news, updates and reveals.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.