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Kinetic Publishing Showcase Recap: Every Reveal, Including the New Sam Barlow Game

What happened
Based on Xbox Wire · Aug 12, 2026

Kinetic Publishing unveiled its 2027–2028 game slate at its first showcase, highlighting five indie titles spanning horror, farming, Metroidvania, and RPG genres, alongside five developer teams.

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Kinetic Publishing Showcase Recap: Every Reveal, Including the New Sam Barlow Game
Xbox Wire — Xbox
Key points
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Kinetic Publishing was built to empower indie creators with the level of support that its founder, Daniel Knight, would have benefitted from when he was first creating Phasmophobia.
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From unsettling sci-fi horror to cosy magical farming, and everything in between, Kinetic Publishing has cultivated a selection of games we know players will love, because they’re games that we want to play as well.
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Ask around the Kinetic Publishing office, and few would disagree that there’s any greater horror than piles of incomplete paperwork.
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In Contact Protocol, you’ll have to confront the scourge that is corporate admin aboard the starship Pale Horse.

Kinetic Publishing introduced its inaugural showcase by revealing five upcoming games scheduled for 2027 and 2028, alongside spotlighting the teams behind them. The slate spans genres from unsettling sci-fi horror to cosy magical farming, reflecting the publisher’s commitment to supporting indie creators with resources comparable to those it would have valued when developing *Phasmophobia*. The showcase emphasized both the games and the diverse backgrounds of their development teams.

Contact Protocol, developed by an unnamed team, tasks players with managing corporate admin aboard the starship Pale Horse while making high-stakes decisions under pressure. Players verify ship details to ensure crew safety, with choices that may lead to lethal outcomes for others. The game launches for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC in Spring 2027, supported by Xbox Play Anywhere at no extra cost.

Crescent County, led by developer Anna Hollinrake at Electric Saint, is an open-world game blending racing, deliveries, and romance in a witch-tech setting. The title’s painterly aesthetic and inclusive themes celebrating queerness and witchcraft resonated with Kinetic Publishing’s team. It releases for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC in Summer 2027, also included in Xbox Play Anywhere.

Shellbound, from developer Fake Lobster, reimagines the Metroidvania genre by casting players as a parasite on a snail’s back, enabling enemy possession to unlock new areas. The game combines exploration, combat, and platforming with a living world. Shellbound launches for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC in Summer 2028, available via Xbox Play Anywhere.

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