Yacht Club Games has debuted an all-new game in the Shovel Knight series, and has given confirmation that it is working on multiple new IPs. Last week, the studio teased new announcements for a "Yacht Club Games Presents" stream, which took place just yesterday on YouTube and Twitch.
Yacht Club's first and only game so far has been Shovel Knight with its many add-ons and refinements, but that game alone has propelled the young company to prominence in the industry. Beginning as a Kickstarter project in 2013 that raised over 300 percent of its asked amount, Shovel Knight's popularity spawned three extra campaigns, a platform fighter spinoff, and multiple amiibo figures. The game officially ended development after the complete edition was released at the end of last year. The character of Shovel Knight has also made numerous appearances in other games, including Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Blaster Master Zero, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to name a few. The sheer visibility of Shovel Knight has enabled Yacht Club Games to move into the business of publishing in addition to development, although the team has already said that Shovel Knight isn't going anywhere - it will be a staple franchise going forward.
Yacht Club Games has now announced another Shovel Knight game and also confirmed multiple new IPs in development during its second Yacht Club Games Presents stream. The presentation was extremely similar to a Nintendo Direct, and the big concluding reveal was Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon. The game is described as a roguelike/puzzle game hybrid, and Yacht Club says it "mashes up everything we love about falling-block puzzle games with a dungeon-crawling twist." Game director Sean Velasco also stated the team has begun internal development on new original IPs - though he didn't share the actual number of IPs or any details about them. The full recording of the stream is embedded below.
The presentation also involved more info about the previously unveiled games Shovel Knight Dig and Cyber Shadow. Both of these titles have been public knowledge for nearly a year, but now they both have release windows. Cyber Shadow will be published by Yacht Club but developed by Mechanical Head, and is targeting a Fall 2020 launch. Shovel Knight Dig is still in the middle of development at Yacht Club, but is expected to come out some time next year.
These "Yacht Club Games Presents" presentations don't seem to be as regular as Nintendo Directs, but Yacht Club's brand management is clearly helping it grow more and more. It's good that the company is using some of that success to help other games get made, although players will have to wait and see what becomes of Cyber Shadow. Even if the upcoming Shovel Knight games are great, it still would have been nice to hear more about the other, new IPs that Yacht Club is working on.
Source: Yacht Club Games