The Vanishing of Ethan Carter studio is working on an 'action-adventure' game

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter was certainly an adventure, but it didn't have much action. Chris Livingston described it as "a tense and spooky stroll through a gorgeous world", and stroll is the operative word here: it was a slow-paced, investigative experience. The studio responsible for it, Poland-based The Astronauts, looks set to expand its horizons though, according to a job description on its website.

The description is in Polish, but a rough Google translate suggests the studio's follow-up will be "an open world action-adventure". The Astronauts is recruiting for an AI and general programmer who can work with Unreal Engine 4. While the new title will presumably have more "action" the translation suggests it will have a similar mood and focus on narrative.

That's good news, because those elements were the best parts of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. It was also a very beautiful game too, as these 8K screenshots demonstrate. And it's not like The Astronauts don't have action pedigree: the studio has former employees of People Can Fly, responsible for underrated shooter Bulletstorm.

Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.

Latest in Adventure
Max, protagonist of Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Double Exposure, stares with trepidation at something off-screen with her friend.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure reportedly a 'large loss' for Square Enix, says analyst, who adds: 'The company's IP fundamentally varies too much between good and bad'
Inside
Limbo and Inside studio demands compensation from co-founder Dino Patti for alleged 'unauthorized use of Playdead's trademarks and copyrighted works'
Two characters sitting on a bench talking
Wanderstop review
Zoe showing off in front of Mio
Split Fiction review
Rusty Rabbit chomping a carrot like a cigar
Rusty Rabbit turns Yakuza's Kazuma Kiryu into a fluffy bunny
Pathologic 3 screenshot
Get ready to get weird in Pathologic 3: Quarantine, a free 'prologue chapter' about a young doctor looking for immortality in the world's most miserable town
Latest in News
Virtual human head divided into horizontal layers in various skin tones.
The future of robots is looking ever more meaty as MIT researchers grow first bidirectional muscle tissue machine
Three sheep with big guns in Palworld.
It was 'super popular to hate Palworld' after launch, says community manager: 'A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure'
Palworld Ancient Civilization Parts - Grizzbolt with a minigun
'It was a very depressing day': Palworld community manager reveals studio's reaction to Nintendo lawsuit
CS 1.6 remade in CS: Legacy.
A gorgeous ground-up remake of Counter-Strike 1.6 is on its way to Steam, and one of the game's original creators says 'it really gives me old vibes'
Portal P3 pinball table
There's a new Portal game and it costs $12,500
MrBeast posing in front of a stack of cashing, promoting Beast Games season 2
Beast Games opens casting for season 2: MrBeast lost a ton of money on season 1 but apparently not enough that he won't do it again