From a team of veteran developers behind iconic franchises like Battlefield, Mirror’s Edge and Little Nightmares comes a surprising new take on the stealth genre. Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream, the debut project from upstart studio River End Games, was unveiled today as a richly atmospheric isometric adventure set in a fictional Nordic-inspired city during the early 1900s.
While the pedigree of its developers may suggest an action-packed first or third-person shooter, Eriksholm instead adopts a compelling top-down perspective to tell an intimate, character-driven story of oppression and revolt. Revealed during the Future Games Show Summer Showcase, the lush reveal trailer introduces Hanna, one of three playable protagonists united by a shared struggle against authoritarian forces controlling the industrialized city of Eriksholm.
As an orphaned young woman desperate to rescue her brother Herman, Hanna reluctantly transforms into a beacon of hope and symbol of change for Eriksholm’s downtrodden masses. Her tale is just one of multiple narrative threads players will experience while utilizing stealth tactics, environmental traversal, and an arsenal of tools and weaponry to navigate the densely packed urban locales.
According to the developers, Eriksholm will freely allow players to control the in-game camera, openly surveying the environment to devise optimal strategies and timing for overcoming patrolling adversaries and solving environmental puzzles. Each of the three protagonists will possess their own unique abilities and means of progression.
“We can’t wait to show you even more in the future,” said River End Games founder and creative director Anders Hejdenberg. “This is just the first glimpse of what we’ve done, and we hope it will capture your hearts and minds, just like it has captured ours.”
While light on gameplay details, the Eriksholm reveal trailer oozes with artistic flair and technical prowess. Highly stylized yet grounded character models and intricate environmental details bring the compelling early industrial era setting to life. Particularly striking are the cinematics, which blend strikingly photorealistic visuals with impactful storytelling.
With an eclectic team whose collective works span gritty military shooters, first-person platformers, and haunting indie adventures, River End Games’s ambitious debut looks to blend these disparate experiences into a unique new flavor of stealth-focused gameplay. Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is currently slated to arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store in 2025.