Section 9 Interactive Studios, founded by brothers Marcus and Mattias Ottvall, is building End of Abyss, a top-down game that mixes twin-stick shooter controls with Metroidvania-style exploration. The team told GamesRadar+ the project started as a cartoony action prototype and gradually shifted into a darker, slower-paced title with horror elements.
The Ottvalls previously worked on the Little Nightmares series, and readers can find our coverage of the franchise’s latest release date in our Little Nightmares 3 release date coverage.
“The game started out as a bit of a cartoony action game, a kind of top-down twin stick shooter with some adventure elements. Player movement was quicker back then and with fast dodges to avoid enemy attacks. During development, we talked about how there really weren’t that many top-down Metroidvania games, and we wanted to explore that idea. We started leaning towards a more serious tone. We discussed sci-fi anime and classic horror movie inspirations, and began forming a darker atmosphere, and horror elements were introduced, shifting the game toward slower-paced gameplay.”
Marcus did not share many story specifics. Mattias highlighted a gameplay feature the team built to help players move through complex maps: a scanner that tags points of interest and offers lore hints and creature data.
“It’s a tool that we created for making the exploration more manageable and enjoyable. Scanning your environment and creatures also provides a bit of extra information about the world around you and may even help you find some secrets. Metroidvania games can get disorienting at times, so the scanner helps you to mark points of interest on your map so you can have an easier time finding where to go later on.”
Section 9 says the game will be published by Epic Games and is expected to arrive in 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC via the Epic Games Store. No firm release date or platform-specific features have been announced yet.
Trailer footage is available for a look at the tone and combat style:
End of Abyss sounds aimed at players who like tight shooting controls and slower, atmospheric exploration, with the scanner meant to keep backtracking and map confusion manageable.
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End of Abyss
Developed by Section 9 Interactive
