As a true road-like, your car is your only companion. Based out of an abandoned garage, you’ll be repairing, upgrading, and outfitting it to stay safe from all the dangers that surround you each excursion into the Zone. Together, the two of you will drive deep into the surreal woods of the Pacific Northwest, chase long forgotten mysteries, and encounter strange and dangerous anomalies all as you make your way to the heart of the Olympic Exclusion Zone.

 Life inside the wall is extremely dangerous, you’ll have to rely on a trusty station wagon when you venture out from the old auto shop. Be sure to fill up on gas before you head out on each trip into the Zone: letting your tank run dry out there is a good way to meet a bad end. Explore twisted landscapes and long-abandoned facilities as you scrap and scrounge for resources to keep your car running long enough to make a safe return. Make it back in one piece and use your haul of collected materials to repair and upgrade your wagon before you head back out for more.

You’ll encounter all sorts of strange Anomalies, most of which aren’t too friendly. There are warped towers that arc out heavy bolts of electricity at anything that accidentally wanders too close, and underground hunks of metal ripping across the ground, shredding both earth and your tires. When collecting supplies you’ll want to stay close to your car, one of those menacing flying junk piles could sneak away with it without you noticing. You’ll need to closely observe and understand these Anomalies to figure out what you need to build to survive the next encounter. Kit out your car with gear to resist their attempts at ending your runs, and upgrade car panels from bare sheet metal all the way up to specialized armor plates that protect against the worst of the Zone’s elements.

When it comes to modifying your car, it’s not just about the fortifications. Add new racks to your car and strap them down with extra gear for the road: fuel tanks, wind-power generators, and automatic parking brakes. You’ll want every little edge you can get when you’re out in the Zone. Everyone needs extra space to store their junk on the roof rack, but you can also mount a controllable spotlight, a lightning rod to keep your battery charged when it gets a little extra stormy, or classified gadgets based on the experimental tech you find out on your runs.

Developer Ironwood Studios announced their partnership with Kepler Interactive to publish their debut, Pacific Drive. Set to release later this year, the studio also debuted a new behind-the-scenes look at the making of their driving survival adventure during the Future Games Show earlier today.

In the latest video, Ironwood Studio Head and Pacific Drive Creative Director, Alexander Dracott, discusses how a life-long passion for road tripping around the Pacific Northwest planted the seed for the game. Join Alex and other members of the Ironwood team as they detail their creative process for making Pacific Drive’s unique first-person, run-based driving survival gameplay. 

Speaking about their partnership with Kepler Interactive, Dracott said: "We’re incredibly excited to share that we've partnered with Kepler Interactive to release Pacific Drive. Their unique approach to how they work with developers is a great fit for Ironwood Studios and we’re looking forward to sharing more together soon." 

As you chart the Zone, each expedition brings you deeper and deeper behind the walls. Your journeys will take you across challenging terrain, each area home to its own suite of nightmarish Anomalies. With these new risks come new rewards: certain resources can only be found in dangerous places. Just make sure your car is equipped for the task: if you’re heading into the muck of the marshes, you’ll want to change to some wheels that can handle mud and water. If you’ve got to cross an eternally-dark valley, some roof-mounted lights to illuminate the way forward are going to be pretty important. And if you’re like me, maybe you find yourself getting caught by lightning a few times too often – a high-tech engine upgrade solves that ‘can’t get out of here fast enough’ problem pretty quick.

Zone Storms are sweeping cataclysmic maelstroms that rip apart the map, re-shaping the wilderness, and doing massive damage to anything (or anyone) caught out in them. Radiation is a common concern while trundling through the forest but once a full-force Zone Storm hits, it’s better to try and outrun it completely than to be blasting through the trees, hoping your car holds up as you watch your dashboard melt to pieces around you. Keep that gas pedal floored and the car pointed at the Gateway—each successful return is one step closer to escaping the Zone.

Scavenge resources, explore abandoned facilities, upgrade your garage and your ride — then go deeper into the wilderness to solve the mysteries and urban legends of the Zone. The utopian hope of strange new technologies might be gone, but their remnants still linger.

Key Features

• First person, run-based driving survival gameplay
• Form a unique bond with a fully customizable car that develops its own quirks and personality 
• Tense driving from behind the wheel, with moments of vulnerability when you step out to gather resources and make repairs
• From your upgradeable garage, each repeatable trip into the Zone is unique and randomized 
• Systems driven gameplay that allows for player freedom, creativity, and experimentation
• Unravel a long-forgotten mystery of the Olympic Exclusion Zone as you explore a surreal and anomaly filled version of the Pacific Northwest
• Original score by Wilbert Roget, II, as well as a licensed soundtrack featuring local Pacific Northwest bands

Pacific Drive will be released on PS5 and PC (Steam/Epic Games Store) in 2023.