Pawsmonaut Games has partnered with Making Port to bring AETHUS to consoles. Released on Steam on 6 March, the game will launch in early 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and Microsoft Store on Windows, with a version tailored for Xbox Ally. Making Port, a Spanish studio specialising in bringing Unreal Engine games to console, is developing the console versions and publishing them across every platform.
AETHUS is the debut game from Alex Kane, a Scottish solo developer who left AAA after many years at studios including Rockstar North. He spent three years in Edinburgh building a different kind of survival game: one that isn't built around combat, that lets you take your time, and where the story always gives you a reason to push on. No generative AI, no early access, no microtransactions.
Your own mine, and a secret worth digging up
You play as Maeve, a mining engineer who's had enough of working for ARC, the megacorp that strips whole planets bare. With some basic gear, the stories her grandad used to tell her and a loyal AI drone at her side, she sets out to start fresh on her very own mining claim, a long way from ARC. Or so she thinks. The deeper she digs, the more she learns about a scientific expedition that seems to have gone badly wrong, along with clues to something ARC would much rather stayed buried.
Getting to the bottom of it means heading underground. You go down into the caves with a laser, a drill or a handful of explosives, come back up with a pack full of ore and gems, and watch your little outpost grow one module at a time, from refining stations to hydroponic farms, with almost anything you find doubling as decoration. Every suit and drone upgrade lets you go a little deeper, and every time you go a little deeper, the story hands you another reason to keep going.
You also get to play it your way. Game modifiers can turn AETHUS into a laid-back exploration game or a proper survival challenge, and you can change them whenever you like.
▶ Watch the official gameplay trailer
In just a few months, AETHUS has become one of Steam's solo-dev success stories.
Made for a controller
The top priority for the console versions is making AETHUS feel like it was designed for a controller from day one. The controls are being reworked so that mining, building and navigating menus feel almost as quick and comfortable on a gamepad as they do on mouse and keyboard, despite how many menus and options the game has. The console versions will also include:
▸ Visual improvements across all platforms.
▸ Art touch-ups to some parts of the game.
▸ Joy-Con 2 mouse controls on Nintendo Switch 2, for anyone who wants to play exactly the way they would on PC.
▸ Spanish and German localisation, with more languages to be confirmed.
A release date and more details on the console versions will be announced soon.
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About Pawsmonaut Games
Pawsmonaut Games is the one-person studio Alex Kane founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, after many years at AAA studios including Rockstar North and Splash Damage. AETHUS is its first game. It received a UK Games Fund Prototype Grant and was made without generative AI, early access or microtransactions.
Making Port is a Spanish studio based in Castellón de la Plana that brings Unreal Engine games to console and publishes them. Its team has more than 12 years of experience and over 50 ports behind it. Recent releases include What Have You Done, Father?, published in 2026 on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.