End of Abyss arrives on Xbox Series X|S Oct. 1, 2026

End of Abyss will launch on Xbox Series X|S on October 1, 2026. The game is developed by Malmö studio Section 9 Interactive and published by Epic Games Publishing. The listed launch price is $29.99. A demo at Summer Game Fest: Play Days showed a section of the game where the player character, Cel, explores an underground industrial facility and fights mutated enemies.

Section 9 Interactive was co-founded by brothers Mattias and Marcus Ottval and Gustaf Heinerwall. The three previously held lead roles at Tarsier Studios on projects that included Little Nightmares and Reanimal.

The Play Days demo concentrated on combat and exploration in an industrial corridor. The objective in that section was to reactivate several power cores to bring a reactor back online. A studio founder led the demo session and explained systems as they appeared in the build.

Controls use a twin-stick layout: the left stick moves Cel and the right stick aims independently. Cel begins with a rechargeable energy pistol and wears a large spherical helmet that makes her silhouette visible from a distance. Core actions shown in the demo include a dodge roll and a limited-use heal that refills when players use save pods placed around the map.

Players can find weapons and tools such as a limited-ammo shotgun, flares to illuminate or distract, and grenades for crowd control. Several inputs have multi-mode behavior: holding the pistol fire button charges a more powerful shot that temporarily limits firing ability, and the grenade button can be tapped for a short toss or held for a longer throw. The shotgun produces knockback useful for managing groups.

The game includes a crafting economy. Materials collected from the environment and defeated enemies are used at stations to craft ammo and equipment and to unlock permanent upgrades. Exploration follows Metroidvania patterns with locked doors, keys, backtracking, shortcuts and a scanner that updates the in-game map with new icons and information as tools are acquired.

The demo area featured machinery-lined chambers and dark passages where malformed mutants used darkness and cover to approach. One combat scenario required keeping distance to kite stronger foes and using grenade knockback to thin the group, demonstrating interactions between timing, positioning and limited resources.

On influences and tone, Ottval noted the team drew on classic science-fiction horror for the game’s aesthetic and cited films such as Alien and The Thing as reference points: “We like the same kind of things, and it’s very much the things we grew up with, like the Alien movies, ‘The Thing.'” The developers’ prior work is reflected in the game’s environmental detail and emphasis on cinematic moments paired with direct combat and exploration systems.

Section 9 lists itself as a small Malmö team led by developers with prior lead credits. End of Abyss will be available on Xbox Series X|S at launch; no additional platforms were announced for release day.