Parallel Studio and Quantic Dream announced today Under The Waves™, a single-player narrative-driven adventure game releasing on PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2023, through a world premiere trailer unveiled during Gamescom Opening Night Live.
Dive into the depths of the North Sea to explore a moving and poetic underwater adventure about the engulfing power of grief. Set in a techno-futuristic 1970s, players will follow Stan, a professional diver working for an oil company, facing the isolation of the deep sea as he starts to experience a strange series of events, far beneath the waves.
“This is the most personal and intense work we have ever done as a studio,” says Ronan Coiffec, CEO and Game Director of Parallel Studio. “We are an indie team of a dozen members, and everything we want to convey is poured into this game, very passionately. From art to writing, from sound design to tech, we all got a chance to leave our mark on Under The Waves. We truly hope you will like it as much as we loved creating it!”
To help deliver this underwater tale, Quantic Dream offered Parallel Studio access to various talents and creative tools such as motion capture, voice recording, animation, quality assurance, localization and more. This partnership marks the first time Quantic Dream provides support for a fellow French studio, both being Paris-based.
“Back in 2021 when we announced our partnership with Parallel Studio, we couldn’t wait for players to discover their work,” says Guillaume de Fondaumière, co-CEO of Quantic Dream.“Today, we are thrilled to present Under The Waves to the world, a unique experience created by a very passionate indie team here in Paris. We’ve been able to work closely together to give them all means they needed to create a game that lived up to their expectations, and achieve their most ambitious project to date. We are also very proud to support Surfrider Foundation Europe, whose message and actions are core to the theme of Under The Waves.”
As a love letter to the ocean, Under The Waves™ shines a light on the importance of ocean preservation, thanks to its vibrant sea life and subtle messages shared throughout the gameplay experience. Parallel Studio and Quantic Dream are proud to announce a partnership with Surfrider Foundation Europe, a non-profit association responsible for the protection and enhancement of lakes, rivers, oceans, waves, and coastlines. Quantic Dream is engaged to financially support the organization through a donation and will actively carry out activities to support the cause during and after the campaign. Through in-game activations, cross-communication, and internal activities, both studios aim to amplify Surfrider’s ecological message and ocean protection actions.
“We are delighted to partner with Quantic Dream for the release of Under the Waves,” states Pénélope Giroud, Marketing and Communication Manager of Surfrider Foundation Europe. “For 30 years, Surfrider Foundation Europe has been working on protecting the oceans, by making the general public aware of all the threats that weigh on them. The game gives us a huge opportunity to educate players on its fragility, especially through the impact of offshore drilling, but also on various other topics. We are pleased to support the game’s creators in getting the right and most impactful messages across and ensuring that they fit perfectly into the game’s storytelling. We are looking forward to its release!”
Under The Waves™ will immerse players in gorgeous environments, where exploration of caves, wrecks and underwater wildlife will be key to guiding Stan through an unforeseen series of events, deeper and deeper into the abyss. Following mysterious manifestations of his memories, Stan will have the difficult choice to stay lost in the depths forever or break free to the surface.
