Rez artist unveils new action game Twin Souls

Core8 is a new “art-focused” game studio from Noboru Hotta

Former Rez, Lumines, and Meteos artist Noboru Hotta has unveiled a new “ambitious” action adventure game based on Japanese mythology.

Twin Souls is the first game from new studio CORE8, which is described as an “art-focused” game studio dedicated to the pursuit of art in games.

According to Hotta, who also directed 2020’s Space Channel 5 VR, Twin Souls has been in development for several years, and follows the story of a pair of human protagonists “who experience various kinds of love while looking at the world from different perspectives”.

“A long time ago, in a time when gods and humans were close. There were two souls that were attracted to each other,” a synopsis reads. “A boy who lives in an invaded forest, and a king who continues to invade in order to develop his country.

“These two souls fascinate even the gods and resonate with each other. What is justice? What is love? What is death? A journey of the soul begins to reexamine what flows at the root of humanity.”

The title is made possible by Game Creator Funding, a new indie game incubator, jointly founded by Tokyu Land Corporation and Skeleton Crew Studio, based in Shibuya Sakura Stage’s ‘404 Not Found’ creator hub.

The project is led by Skeleton Crew CEO and BitSummit co-founder Masahiko Murakami, and former PlayStation employee Akinari Ito.

Twin Souls is scheduled for release in 2026 for PC and other unconfirmed platforms.

“I am very excited to be able to launch the title Twin Souls, which I have been working on for many years, through the Game Creator Funding project,” Hotta said in a prepared statement.

“I would like to express my gratitude to many people, including Tokyu Land Corportation, Murakami-san, and Ito-san, for their support, and I would like to deliver creative works from Japan to the world from 404 Not Found in Shibuya.”

Murakami commented on the Game Creator Funding project: “I hope that this project will create more opportunities for creators. I hope to work with creators I met through Shibuya’s 404 Not Found and BitSummit to create new possibilities that are valuable to them.

“In the future, I would like to work with companies that are considering supporting and investing in titles, and hold game support projects, pitch contests, and exchange events.”