During today's Thunderful Games showcase — yet another one to add to the pile of exciting Direct-likes containing games news straight from the publisher — we saw the announcement of a new game from Image & Form, which is half of Thunderful's development wing and one of its founding studios.
Image & Form are the Swedish developers of the SteamWorld series, from Steamworld Dig and SteamWorld Dig 2 to SteamWorld Heist and SteamWorld Quest. Now, they're expanding on the SteamWorld... world, with their upcoming game SteamWorld Headhunter.

The teaser above is about all we know about the game so far, plus the description Thunderful provided:
"Taking the series in a fresh direction, SteamWorld Headhunter is a stylised and colourful, third-person co-op action adventure with a head-popping twist.
While maintaining the style and charm that’s helped make SteamWorld such a beloved franchise, this move into 3D represents a brand new approach to the series.
Thunderful are excited to share more about their vision for this internally developed title soon."
It's a fresh new approach for the studio, whose games have traditionally been 2D and more concerned with going up and down than forwards, and it'll be interesting to see where the SteamWorld series goes from here.
As for whether or not it'll come to Switch, we remain hopeful, as Image & Form have been longstanding Nintendo developers, making games for the DS, 3DS, and Wii U as well as the Nintendo Switch.
What are your thoughts on the Headhunter teaser trailer? What kind of game are you hoping for? Let us know in the comments!
Comments 25
The Steamworld games have always done so well on Nintendo Platforms so I would be surprised if it didn't come to Switch.
I would very much like to know more! Those graphics are good, but hopefully not TOO good for our Lil Switch
Dig 1&2 and Heist are some of the finest games ever
@Thoughts I loved Tower Defense, but it is as hard as any story you've ever heard of it. I never have beaten it but it was darn good
SteamWorld Dig 2 is also free for 24 hours on PC from GOG and Steam.
Edit: I should clarify this means that it is free to keep forever but there is only a 24 hour window to claim it.
Giving me big Strangers Wrath vibes from the trailer!
Really excited to learn more, love image and form!
Excited to see what this is about!
I'm all for more Steamworld, Switch or Steam otherwise. Literally feels like a jack of all trades indie franchise that I'm all in for.
SteamWorld Headhunters seems interesting, but I want a legit 2D Metroidvania SteamWorld Dig 3.
More SteamWorld is always good. Let's hope this one is also Switchbound! In the meantime, I need to get around to grabbing SteamWorld Quest soon....
Oh, and SteamWorld Dig 2 is free on Steam and GOG until 11 AM EST tomorrow morning. As of this writing, it's my favorite of the bunch.
@nessisonett "Giving me big Strangers Wrath vibes from the trailer!"
I didn't even watch the trailer and I was thinking "Strangers Wrath" just from the description and it being a 3D game following previous 2D games.
Well to be fair I wasn't think "Strangers Wrath" b/c I couldn't recall the name of it, I was thinking - this sounds like that 3D bounty hunter Oddworld spinoff - but I know that's the game I meant. 😂
This doesn't look like a sequel to SteamWorld Dig at all. Am I missing something? Is Image & Form calling it a sequel to SteamWorld Dig?
I think it's a sequel in that it's their next game in the franchise, but it's not a direct sequel to SteamWorld Dig
Oh how easily people forgot Steamworld Tower Defense.
Got SWDig2 on Switch and 3DS. Love this series
Been playing through Dig 1 and 2, its really good, not sure about this tho
As a Steamworld ambassador I REALLY look forward to discussing this game with image and form 😁
@RobbySuave "Headhunter is a stylised and colourful 3rd person co-op action adventure that directly follows the earth-shattering events of SteamWorld Dig 2."
In the timeline, it feels like a prequel to Heist, or at least, one part of the journey there
@BionicDodo
Thanks for the heads up.
I have just claimed it free on Steam.
Wake me up when heist 2 is announced.
Heist is the only game I 100%'d twice. Anything with similar mechanics is an auto-buy for me. Dig 1 & 2 are nice, but didn't hit the spot like Heist did.
Would love to see a 3D version of Heist! Would be like a steampunk Valkyria Chronicles!
@Thoughts Wow, i had no idea that existed. 3DS was the 1st handheld console i cared to own, only because of the 3d, so i guess that's why i missed it. That sucks it's not available on 3ds, I'd love to try it.
@aSmilingMan there's a game that seems to copy heist i keep seeing on sale on switch, i think it's "there will be blood", or something like that. Have you played this? I'm curious if it's worth getting. I see user reviews on metacritic, but not much else. They complained about the platforming segments it has, but the look of it seems similar besides those portions.
@twztid13 ha! I had no idea that existed. I watched some of the gameplay and I don't think it quite hits the mark for me. Seems to be a tad clunkier and without the squad dynamics that is a big part of the appeal for me. Thank you for pointing this to me! Flew under my radar until your post!
@aSmilingMan yeah, I don't think it would be for me either, but it goes in sale for like $3.50 or so often, so i almost snagged it just because, but all of the games I've bought on eShop for 80+% off have been duds that i haven't played more than 1 time when i first got it. Those steep sales kinda scare me away these days, cuz it makes me think there has to be something wrong with games that they sell that cheap, lol. There probably are good ones, just not in the genres i like, & since i can't see prices for games I've already bought (in the eShop on the console), I can't see how much of a discount games i like get, to judge accordingly. Oh well, i may give in 1 day, but not while I'm broke, since if i bought all those games on sale, it would add up to a game i know is good, probably.
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