Creation of The Talos Principle II well underway

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Sequel to Croteam's acclaimed 2014 philosophical sci-fi puzzler to arrive on PC, PlayStation and Xbox platforms later this year

In 2014, Croteam surprised the gaming world by setting aside its face-paced action roots in favour of a far more cerebral puzzle-based experience called The Talos Principle. The game was both a commercial and critical success, and was followed by a DLC expansion called Road to Gehenna, as well as a VR port several years later. Now, nearly a decade later, the Croatian developer is making a welcome return to its thought-provoking sci-fi world of puzzles and philosophy with a full-fledged sequel.

The original game saw players assume the role of an android waking up in a far-future world long after humanity had gone extinct, tasked by its creator to solve a complex serious of puzzles while pondering the meaning of existence. The Talos Principle II follows a similar premise, in which another android sets out in search of a "mysterious megastructure hiding enormous powers," solving a variety of intricate and often dangerous puzzles along the way, all while reflecting on important questions about "the nature of the cosmos, faith versus reason, and the fear of repeating humanity's mistakes." How the robots face their own future is dependent on you, as "the choices you make and the sides you take will determine the course of events."

The sequel will retain what was beloved about its predecessor while expanding on it with "more amazing puzzles, new puzzle mechanics, a deep story, more mysteries, and the biggest and strangest world Croteam has ever created." Over a dozen new environments are once again presented in gorgeous, free-roaming 3D, ranging from "a city on the brink of a paradigm shift to the varied landscapes of a mysterious island that holds the keys to the future." There will be puzzles aplenty of varying difficulty – some of them familiar and others entirely new, some of them mandatory but the most challenging "Gold" puzzles being totally optional. Fortunately you'll have new powers to overcome them as well, such as "gravity manipulation and mind transference" to keep the gameplay feeling fresh. And when you're not scratching your head over the next obstacle in your path, you might be doing the same over another thoughtful story penned by returning writers Jonas Kyratzes (The Eternal Cylinder, Clash: Artifacts of Chaos) and Tom Jubert (The Swapper, Subnautica), joined this time by Verena Kyratzes (The Hand of Merlin, Serious Sam 4) as well.

There is no target release date just yet, but The Talos Principle II will be released on Steam and Epic for Windows PC, along with console versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X sometime before the end of this year.