The Kazakhstani-developed game Critical Shift will be available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

The Kazakh studio Rhinotales Studio, a resident of Astana Hub, has announced Critical Shift — a turn-based tactical RPG thriller. The game is aimed at an international audience and will be released this year on PC, Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Players will lead a squad of elite agents and venture into a classified research complex hidden beneath the Arctic ice. The goal is to uncover dangerous secrets, overcome internal conflicts, and survive in an environment of constant threat. The developers promise no randomness: everything will depend on strategy, planning, and player decisions. The game features over 30 handcrafted levels with different routes, traps, biomes, and opportunities for manipulation among competing factions.

The game's scenario was written by Guilty Three — the author of the popular web novel Shadow Slave, which is among the most-read science fiction stories on the Webnovel platform and regularly appears in global charts. He managed to bring into the game the same atmosphere of anxious anticipation and inner tension that has earned him millions of readers. The story unfolds gradually through missions, dialogues, and player choices.

Critical Shift serves as an example of how Kazakh teams are expanding beyond the local market by creating products for an international audience. Such projects demonstrate the potential of domestic game development and reflect the growth of the country's technological ecosystem.

Rhinotales Studio is an independent Kazakh studio specializing in narrative-driven games with a focus on tactics and atmosphere. The team works on projects with international potential, emphasizing deep storytelling and gameplay mechanics. Critical Shift is the studio's largest release. More details are available on the official game website.

Source: Astana Hub