Last Ditch Effort
Press Kit
Factsheet
- Developer
- Moonwell Games
- Publisher
- Trellis Labs Inc.
- Announcement
- Future Games Show at gamescom, Aug 26, 2026
- Release
- 2027
- Platforms
- PC (Steam)
- Genre
- Action-adventure · Story rich
- Studio
- 9 people across 7 countries
One-line pitch
“NieR: Automata, but darker and pixel art.”
Arseni Tsoi · Studio Director, Moonwell Games
Description
Last Ditch Effort brings the character-action lineage of Devil May Cry and NieR: Automata to pixel art. Combat combines the impact and weight of a Souls game with the speed of a Platinum Games title, set in the grim darkness of a not-so-far future with an atmosphere of oppressive despair.
Every combat animation is hand-crafted at a high frame count, giving fights a weight and clarity uncommon in pixel art. Between battles, the story is told through stylized comic panels inspired by Sin City.
Key features
- 01High frame count, hand-crafted pixel art animation, built for weight and clarity.
- 02Combat that blends Souls-level impact with Platinum Games-level speed.
- 03Story delivered through stylized comic panels inspired by Sin City.
- 04A grim, near-future setting built around an atmosphere of oppressive despair.
- 05Character-action design rooted in the lineage of Devil May Cry and NieR: Automata.
Trailer
Watch the reveal trailer
Opens on YouTube. Downloadable master file is in the Drive folder.
Screenshots
All screenshots are captured in-engine and cleared for press use. Full-resolution PNGs are in the Drive folder above.
Logos & key art
Publisher logo, title-free key art and the full logo pack are in the Drive folder.
History
Moonwell Games got its start more than ten years ago, when co-founders Valeria Kim and Arseni Tsoi began making games together out of a shared love for the stories games could tell through gameplay. They taught themselves animation, music, scriptwriting, and programming along the way. Other developers joined the project over the years. Moonwell Games was formally established in 2023 and now has nine people working across seven countries. Last Ditch Effort is the studio's first game.
Valeria Kim — Co-Founder, Lead Artist
Arseni Tsoi — Co-Founder, Studio Director