DaRmaZat Publisher Kwalee and developer The Wild Gentlemen have officially released a playable Steam demo for RetroSpace, their upcoming “disco-punk” sci-fi space horror game. Launched on June 11, 2026, ahead of the upcoming Steam Next Fest, this early build introduces players to the title’s unique blend of immersive sim mechanics and dark, 1970s retro-futuristic satire. A release date has yet to be announced.
Set in the year 2177, RetroSpace takes place aboard the Aurora 5, a massive city-ship part of an interstellar convoy searching for a new home for a hibernating humanity. The plot triggers when the space station is swallowed by a sentient black hole, trapping the ship in a void where time constantly fractures and jumps between two distinct eras. You step into the shoes of a nameless, mustache-sporting janitor who suddenly becomes the crew’s last hope of survival after the station’s corridors become heavily infested with hostile, mutated animal and plant hybrids.
Mechanically, the game functions as a highly systemic immersive sim with an interconnected, Metroidvania-style level layout. You are given complete agency over how to handle hostile encounters and environmental hazards, with options ranging from total stealth and utilizing shadows to direct, high-action combat. The station’s complex security systems, including deadly automated turrets, can either be avoided entirely or actively hacked to turn them against incoming mutant forces. Furthermore, your janitor can acquire Mutamods – genetic alterations that grant supernatural abilities like mind control or shadow-lurking tentacles—though installing these upgrades carries permanent, unpredictable physiological side effects.
Retrospace‘s gameplay loop is anchored by a persistent central hub area that provides a safe reprieve from the station’s horrors, as well as a distinct death-and-rebirth loop. Because you play as a expendable worker, the ship’s onboard systems will continuously print fresh clones of your character upon death. However, this cloning process comes with structural degenerations, requiring you to track down your previous corpse to reclaim lost equipment and deal with shifting, unpredictable physical defects with every subsequent lifecycle.
