Paris, France – June 8, 2025 | French developer and publisher DON’T NOD today revealed Aphelion, a brand-new cinematic third-person action-adventure. The game has been developed internally and will launch in 2026 on Xbox Series X|S and Game Pass, Steam, and PlayStation 5, and the reveal trailer premiered today at the Xbox Games Showcase.
Watch the reveal trailer here.
Set in a near-future where Earth is on the brink of collapse, Aphelion is an emotional journey to the edge of our Solar System to survey a planet that may be humanity’s last hope. As astronaut Ariane Montclair, crash landed on the newly discovered Persephone, players must brave harsh landscapes, master survival tools, and navigate reality-bending phenomena on a desperate mission to reunite with her wounded partner, Thomas Cross.
A powerful standalone single-player experience, Aphelion blends gripping exploration and traversal, environmental storytelling, and tense stealth gameplay.
“Aphelion is a game we’re very passionate about, something we’re really pushing ourselves creatively on. We’re excited to share more of DON’T NOD’s first human story in space, and to be able to do it in collaboration with the European Space Agency is incredibly exciting and special for us,” says Florent Guillaume, Aphelion’s Creative Director.
A Game Made in Collaboration with the European Space Agency
Aphelion is developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), grounding its depiction of space exploration in real scientific knowledge and humanistic values. Ariane and Thomas are both ESA astronauts, part of the fictional Hope 01 mission. This collaboration weaves authentic elements of space science into the emotional core of the game.
"For fifty years, ESA has combined rigorous space science with the boundless imagination of science fiction to explore solutions to our planet’s greatest challenges. Aphelion captures that spirit – where research meets imaginative vision – to inspire the next generation to carry Europe’s space ambition into the future,” says Nadia Lüders, ESA Partnership & Brand Licensing Officer.
Aphelion will launch on Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in 2026. More information will be revealed soon. In the meantime, DON’T NOD fans can stay updated through the official website, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X.
About DON’T NOD
DON’T NOD is an independent French publisher and developer with studios in Paris and Montréal creating original narrative games in the adventure (Life is Strange™, Tell Me Why™, Twin Mirror™), RPG (Vampyr™, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden™),
and action (Remember Me™) genres. The studio is internationally renowned for unique narrative experiences with engaging stories and characters, and has worked with industry-leading publishers: Square Enix, Microsoft, Bandai Namco Entertainment,
Focus Entertainment and Capcom. DON’T NOD creates and publishes its own IPs developed in-house, such as Harmony: The Fall of Reverie™, Jusant™, and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage™, as well as using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with
third-party developers whose editorial visions parallel the company’s own. Step into the studio's immersive and innovative universe at dont-nod.com.
DON’T NOD (ISIN code: FR0013331212 - ALDNE) is listed on Euronext Growth Paris
About European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.
ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
ESA has 23 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia are Associate Members.
ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.
By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.
Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int