All tonight’s Triple-I Initiative game announcements in one place

Today is the anniversary of the Triple-I Initiative, a 45-minute showcase of game announcements and trailers from the developers of Slay The Spire, MegaCrit, the developers of Darkest Dungeon , Red Hook and Guardians of Dead Cells, Evil Empire. What makes a “triple-I” game a “triple-I” game, as opposed to (hawk, spit) a regular indie game? I thought about it, and I think the answer is: “has more money and status than most indies, but not, like, Call of Duty levels, and also one of our partners is Gearbox Publishing, so maybe it’s ‘indie’ in Geoff Keighley’s sense.”

However, don’t expect any interludes or Kojima’s beloved dance numbers from Keighley in this one. The IIIIs are a simpler, quieter showcase, with no hosts, advertising or celebrity visits – you can read more about the thinking behind the event in my GDC interview with a few of the participating studios. Find the full stream below.

Don’t have 45 minutes to spare? Well, listen to yourself with your active and efficient lifestyle. Here’s a quick look at what we here at Treehouse consider to be the most important announcements from tonight’s showcase, leaving aside the more nail-biting videos and console-specific items.

The big news of the day: MegaCrit announced Slay The Spire 2 with flashy narrative animation. It will be available in early access in 2025. Here is Alice0’s article.

Risk of Rain 2, meanwhile, is receiving a Devotion update that introduces the Verdant Falls stage, as well as a few alternate skins and new artifacts.

Procedural detective sim Shadows Of Doubt delivers an all-new Sharpshooter Assassin update, live now…

…while the retro 2D steampunk platformer Gestalt: Steam and Cylinder has a release date – May 21.

Vampire Survivors teams up with Contra in the form of Operation Guns – out May 9. Among other things, it features lupine Brad Fang from Contra: Hard Corps – Alice B has a piece.

Thorium has announced UnderMine 2, a sequel to its popular action-RPG. Nic has major questions about the title, but likes the bombshell twist.

Nic is also pretty excited about the dafty arcade game What The Car?, which now has a Steam demo and a September 5 release date.

Medieval kingdom simulator Norland will be available in Early Access on May 16.

Speaking of realms, Darkest Dungeon 2 is getting a big new mode – I interviewed Red Hook about its creation.

Wabisabi Games, meanwhile, has unveiled Rakugaki, a Gearbox-incubated sci-fi game about revolutionary graffiti artists, for release in summer 2024.

There’s a big Fall Of Avalon update in the works for the roguelike Ravenswatch, releasing April 22, 2024.

Tactical RPG The Last Spell is also getting DLC, Dwarves of Runenberg, which launches on April 24.

A new trailer for Cat Quest 3, which appears to feature more than three cats, as well as a few ghosts.

Brotato, Alice0’s favorite, will receive Abyssal Terrors DLC and a couch co-op update this summer…

…while the expansion to the historical strategy game Old World’s Behind The Throne arrives on May 28, 2024.

Palworld’s arena multiplayer mode made a fleeting appearance in the showcase, as Matt reports – it will be released this year. Meanwhile, Thunderlotus’ 33 Immortals enters closed beta on May 24 – Ed has had at least 33 thoughts on his mini-MMO dungeon raids.

Some images from Wizard Of Legend 2. I don’t know the series but the images remind me a little bit of Magicka, and I like Magicka.

A small but pleasant surprise: mountain town builder Laysara: Summit Kingdom is available now in Early Access. Nic likes what he sees.

Here’s a proper trailer for V: Rising’s Castlevania crossover DLC, in which you can beat Simon Belmont – and probably drink his blood? It comes out on May 8.

There’s also a new trailer for Never Alone 2, a sequel to the game about a native child traversing a world of ice.

Oh, and we should probably mention The Rogue Prince of Persia, “a new roguelite that combines wall running and agile Arkham-style combat,” in the words of Alice B, who has a fitting preview. It is a collaboration between Ubisoft and Dead Cells live-ops studio Evil Empire.