Underwater city-builder Life Below announced for PC

Kasedo Games, the publisher behind Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus, Ixion, and other strategy hits, has picked up Megapop’s upcoming city-builder Life Below, which will come to PC in 2026.

Instead of constructing a bustling trade metropolis or a hardened colony for the survivors of an apocalypse, Life Below has players resurrect sub-aquatic ecosystems and nourish entire coral reefs — a little bit like Terra Nil.

Players will have to ensure that their reefs have the right environment to thrive and must keep an eye on the biodiversity of their coral colonies to make them more resilient to humankind’s destructive ways. These challenges manifest themselves in disasters like heatwaves, acidity, garbage clouds, and massive jellyfish migrations.

“Coral is dying and ecosystems are collapsing. The voice of nature tasks the player, as guardian Thalassa, to protect the Heart of the Reef and reignite life in the deep. By channeling its energy and growing new coral structures, she must bring life back to the underwater world before it's too late,” the official synopsis reads. Rhianna Pratchett (Mirror’s Edge, Tomb Raider) has written Life Below’s narrative elements.

“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Kasedo Games. As fans of IXION, we know Kasedo’s background of nurturing innovative titles”, commented Jørgen Tharaldsen, CEO of Megapop, in a press release. “We’ve been incredibly lucky and we’re grateful to be supported by our publishing partner Kasedo, as well as Creative Europe, the Norwegian Film Institute and Viken Filmcentre with funding to allow us to make Life Below what we envisaged.”

Lise Hagen Lie, the game director, added: “We are hoping all players can have fun playing Life Below, in a chill but also strategic setting where you can get quickly into the world but need to think and use every aspect in the reef to reach the goal — a stable reef.” 

“We want this game to be about hope, about what can be, and about how we’re all connected, not doom and gloom,” she continued. “In the real world, life below water is struggling, and a key part of solving that will be for more people to know, care and appreciate problems facing the environment. So while I hope players will find the game a fun and interesting strategic challenge, I also hope that they feel hopeful for the future of life underwater.”

Life Below will take part in Steam Next Fest with a free demo from June 9 to 16, 2025.

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