Hollow Knight and Made in Abyss Composers Unite for Winds of Viridia on Nintendo Switch 2 and Steam With a Free Demo Today
Wednesday's Nintendo Indie World Showcase on October 28, 2026 delivered a standout reveal for fans of handcrafted action-adventure games. Developed and published by Adelaide-based independent studio Shark Jump Studios alongside lead designer Matt Trobbiani (best known as the creator of the acclaimed terminal hacking game Hacknet), Winds of Viridia has been officially announced for Nintendo Switch 2 and PC via Steam with a release window set for early 2027 (Q1 2027). Even better, players do not have to wait until next year to try it: a free playable demo is out today.
Playable Demo Out Now on the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop and Steam
Rather than leaving players with a distant cinematic teaser, Shark Jump Studios rolled out a hands-on trial immediately following the presentation. You can download the free demo right now on the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop as well as the official Winds of Viridia Steam page.
Originally backed in South Australia through Screen Australia's Games: Expansion Pack fund under the working title Legend of Valley, the project brings together lead programmer Matt Le Krupa, lead artist James Pearse, and lead designer Matt Trobbiani. Slated to join the 2027 video game release calendar in the first quarter of the year, the game will launch with full controller support, Steam Cloud saves, and localization across twelve languages.
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Christopher Larkin and Kevin Penkin Team Up for a Sweeping Orchestral Score
One of the most remarkable highlights of today's announcement is its powerhouse musical pedigree. As detailed on the official Shark Jump Studios website, Winds of Viridia features a sweeping orchestral soundtrack co-composed by two legends of modern game and anime music: fellow Adelaide native Christopher Larkin, the composer behind Hollow Knight and Hollow Knight: Silksong, and BAFTA-winning composer Kevin Penkin, celebrated for his work on Made in Abyss, Florence, and Star Wars: Visions.
That artistic pairing immediately defines the atmosphere of the reveal trailer, blending delicate woodwinds and wonder-filled exploration themes across sunlit mountain glades with urgent orchestral swells during boss encounters deep inside ancient ruins.
Exploring the Grantree Valley, Befriending a Mothbug, and Uncovering the Frenzy
In terms of gameplay, Winds of Viridia channels classic top-down action-adventure design while emphasizing fast, momentum-driven traversal. Players journey across a seamless, handcrafted wilderness toward the towering Grantree, seeking to uncover the truth behind the wild frenzy driving the creatures of these forgotten lands mad.
Shark Jump Studios has outlined several core pillars shaping the adventure:
- Momentum-driven movement: players can chain rolls, slides, flips, and grapple swings seamlessly to maintain speed across the world. Strange reactive plants scattered through the wilds also boost jumps and launch you further into hidden grottos and elevated cliffside ruins.
- A Mothbug companion and Sanctuary hub: along the journey, you befriend a loyal Mothbug companion that assists in both environmental traversal and agile combat. Between expeditions into the deep wilds, players can return to the settlement of Sanctuary to help local residents, share a meal, and prepare for the road ahead.
- Frenzied beasts, grand bosses, and customizable totems: combat revolves around reading enemy attack patterns, finding openings against dozens of frenzied creatures, and challenging towering bosses including gigantic beasts, living statues, and ancient guardians. Lost relics discovered in the ruins can be equipped and combined as totems to tailor your build and playstyle.
As Nintendo's next-generation hybrid hardware continues building out its library alongside major third-party patches like Minecraft Update 26.60 on Nintendo Switch 2, day-one playable demos from ambitious indie teams give early adopters plenty to dive into right away.
My Perspective
Every so often, a single credit line is enough to turn a charming indie reveal into an instant must-watch. Bringing Christopher Larkin and Kevin Penkin together on the same orchestral score feels like a dream collaboration: on one side, the haunting intimacy and chamber-orchestra precision that gave Hollow Knight its unmistakable soul; on the other, the soaring, otherworldly sense of discovery that made descending into Made in Abyss so unforgettable.
Beyond that musical pedigree, seeing Matt Trobbiani pivot from the tense command-line terminals of Hacknet to a vibrant, momentum-based wilderness adventure is genuinely refreshing. Chaining grapples, slides, and plant-boosted jumps gives the traversal a crisp kinetic flow that many top-down adventures lack. Dropping a free demo on both the Switch 2 eShop and Steam on announcement day shows real confidence in how the game feels in your hands, and if the combat and exploration hold up to that soundtrack, early 2027 already has a standout indie gem on the horizon.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
