Game Art Pioneers is rebooting DISTORTION and will open public pre-alpha testing on October 30, 2026, at Moscow International Video Game Week. The Russian studio, founded in 2021, is making an early build of the story-driven action role-playing game for PC public so players can influence the outcome before full production begins. Registration opens the same day, and the event runs through November 1, 2026. The game’s release date remains to be announced.
The restart is a complete rebuild from the ground up rather than a patch, a single-system pivot, or a content delay. Full production on the updated project has not begun yet. Game Art Pioneers said the restart happened because the team had no final vision for what the game should be. Shattered notes earlier reporting tied the project to a budget of more than $100 million.
A pre-alpha is an early, unfinished build of a game, typically released before feature completion. Shattered says the feedback window is the cheapest moment to change course. The studio plans to integrate player feedback and market analytics into the game before full production begins.
Gleb Kadomtsev, Director of Development at Game Art Pioneers, called the current build raw and said the team wants players to share their thoughts on it before full production starts. Shattered reports that Kadomtsev framed the next step around players. “Now we are ready and want to give players an opportunity to share their thoughts,” Kadomtsev said.
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