Callisto Protocol Roguelike Spinoff [Redacted] Launches in October

Developer Striking Distance Studios and publisher Krafton have announced the release date for [Redacted], a top-down roguelike set in the world of survival horror game The Callisto Protocol.

You might know [Redacted] better as Project Birdseye, which is the name under which it was first revealed back in March. At that time, Striking Distance said that the game was a "side quest", and that the team wanted to "see if the concept clicks with you as much as it has with us".

Well, it looks like that concept has indeed found its intended audience, because now the project is officially called [Redacted] (yes, complete with brackets) and it's set for release across PC and current-gen consoles on October 31st.

Each run allows you to experiment with loadouts of different weapons, buffs, and "powerful experiments" as you blast your way through The Callisto Protocol's Black Iron Prison.

As you play, you'll gain loot, and you can then use that loot to unlock new permanent weapons and buffs for future runs, and there's even a ZombiU-style mechanic that reanimates your corpse when you die, tasking you with defeating it to unlock a powerful new upgrade.

In a rather unique twist on the formula, at the end of each run, [Redacted] will ask you whether you want to escape or turn back and "risk it all in one last hardcore do-or-die run back through the prison". Successfully completing said run will grant you new permanent gear.

All of this is wrapped up in an "irreverent attitude" that's a little less serious than The Callisto Protocol, as well as an "arcade-punk soundtrack" composed by Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter soundtrack studio Mutato Muzika.

You'll be able to check out [Redacted] when it launches on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 31st. If you want to know where it all began, The Callisto Protocol is currently free on the Epic Games Store for a week. Just be aware that you'll need a real beast of a PC to run it well.