Indie 2D Cyber-Fantasy Metroidvania Announces Kickstarter Campaign, New Trailer

Metroidvanias continue to be a popular video game genre, and a new title, called SHADE Protocol will be finding its place among that group sometime soon. A new trailer has been shown, as part of The Game Awards, which also confirmed a Kickstarter campaign that will begin in Spring 2026.

SHADE Protocol is a 2D cyber-fantasy Metroidvania game, in which melee combat, code, and music collide to overcome obstacles, change the environment, and battle enemies.

The game's influences include Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Hollow Knight, Mega Man, and Shadow of the Colossus.

The game is currently being developed by five people and has over 60,000 wishlists on Steam since the game was announced. "Since revealing SHADE Protocol a few months ago, the game has become one of the most wishlisted games in the world, showing us that we have something special in our hands," said game director Kendall Quinones.

The trailer features common Metroidvania elements, like platforming and side-scrolling combat. A unique gameplay mechanic, though, is the ability to cut the game world in half, affecting enemies, environments, and more.

Players will be able to switch between two different forms throughout the game: DAWN and SHADE forms. Using Protocols, players will be able to encode their own playstyles, according to the developers.

The game will also feature a parry system and several musical weapons, made out of code, which will let Zura, the main character, edit the world her.

The Kickstarter campaign is aiming to raise money for console ports, development acceleration, additional content, music composers, and more.

SHADE Protocol does not currently have a release date, but is set to release on Steam and possibly console. The Kickstarter campaign will begin in Spring 2026.