Development

gen ATLAS is developed by genDESIGN and published by Epic Games Publishing. genDESIGN was founded in 2014 by Fumito Ueda, the director behind ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian, and is staffed by veterans of those games.

A New Project

Ueda has explained that the title carries layered meanings. He associates gen with several words at once, among them genesis, gene, and generate. For ATLAS, he points both to the world atlas, or world map, and to the atlas, the first cervical vertebra that connects the head to the neck. He has said the name is meant to capture the entirety of the world the team is building.

gen ATLAS is Fumito Ueda's first new game since 2016 and the studio's first release to reach multiple platforms. Ueda serves as director and creative lead. The game was first teased at The Game Awards in December 2024 under the working title Project Robot, and was fully revealed with its current name and gameplay at Summer Game Fest in June 2026.

Ueda has said the team began designing gen ATLAS around 2020, placing it in its sixth year of development at the time of the reveal. The years between The Last Guardian and the start of serious work on the project went into prototyping ideas and building the foundations of a standalone studio, from hiring to day-to-day operations. He has described it as the largest game he has built.

Heritage

Ueda has said gen ATLAS has no direct narrative link or connection to ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, or The Last Guardian, and that it began as a brand new world. He has welcomed the idea of fans treating it as a fourth entry alongside those games, while noting any sense of connection is left to the player rather than designed in. The bond the player forms with the robot head continues a thread that ran through the companions of his earlier games, such as Yorda, Agro, and Trico. As personal inspirations for gen ATLAS he has cited the anime Giant Robo and the film WALL-E, noting that with WALL-E it is the quiet, peaceful side he is drawn to rather than the noisier moments. He has also pointed to the PlayStation 2 traversal game Air Ranger: Rescue Helicopter as an influence on movement, and named The Iron Giant among the films he loves.

Engine

gen ATLAS is built in Unreal Engine. Ueda has said that moving the studio onto Unreal made development more accessible and let the team see their ideas come to life relatively quickly.

Publishing

The game is produced under a publishing partnership with Epic Games Publishing, an arrangement in which the studio retains full ownership of its work and creative control while the publisher supports development and release. genDESIGN was among the first studios to partner with Epic Games Publishing.

Tone

Describing the project, Fumito Ueda said the team hopes to share an experience that inspires moments of quiet wonder and discovery. The reveal emphasized a desolate, awe-inspiring world marked by solitude and immense scale. In a later interview, Ueda said he puts his absolute effort into the project, the same commitment he brings to every game he makes.

Platforms and Release

gen ATLAS is planned for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. On PC, it is available exclusively through the Epic Games Store. A release date has not yet been announced. It marks the studio's first game to appear on platforms beyond PlayStation, and Ueda's first title to launch on several platforms at once. The game carries a 12+ age rating with a Moderate Violence content descriptor.