A powerful standalone single-player experience, Aphelion blends gripping exploration and traversal, environmental storytelling, and tense stealth gameplay.

By 2060, Earth will be uninhabitable. The discovery of a 9th planet – Persephone – at the edge of the solar system, is humanity's best hope. The European Space Agency is dispatching the Hope 01 scientific mission, consisting of 2 of their accomplished astronauts, Ariane and Thomas. Their mission: to survey the planet and determine whether humanity can prosper anew here.

Your adventure begins in chaos, as the crash landing of their ship scatters them across the planet, launching them on a desperate quest to find one another. As astronaut Ariane Montclair, players must brave harsh landscapes, master survival tools, and navigate reality-bending phenomena on a desperate mission to reunite with her wounded partner, Thomas Cross.

Aphelion is a cinematic third-person action/adventure set on the planet Persephone, an uncharted, frozen world. Stranded and isolated, you must survive the truly unknown, find each other, and complete the mission. Traverse stunning alien landscapes, avoid lurking threats, and discover the haunting secrets buried beneath the ice.

French developer and publisher DON’T NOD announced that Aphelion, will release on April 28th, 2026 for PC (Steam), Xbox Series X|S, and PS5, and will be an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and available day one on Game Pass.

The Standard Edition of the game will cost 29.99€/$ on Steam and 34.99€/$ on consoles. There will be a 10% launch discount for Steam and Xbox players during the release window as well.

The new trailer showcases the beauty of Persephone in a striking juxtaposition as Thomas (voiced by Eric Geynes) delivers a voiceover full of promise and hope, while the footage gradually shifts in tone to introduce a growing sense of unease and foreboding.

Xbox and PlayStation players can pre-order now to get the Day One Edition at 10% off on both platforms (only for PS+ users on PlayStation). The Day One Edition contains the game and a cosmetics pack with 2 spacesuit variants and 6 backpack accessories: 3 stickers and 3 keychains. The stickers and keychains reference the ESA collaboration and fan-favorite DON’T NOD games, Jusant and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.

The PlayStation 5 retail edition, named Pioneer Edition, is already available to pre-order and will be released July 2nd. As well as the game and the contents of the Day One Edition (spacesuit variants and backpack accessories), this edition will contain a digital artbook, the original soundtrack, and an exclusive Hope-01 mission patch sticker created in collaboration with the European Space Agency – the same patch that Ariane and Thomas wear on their spacesuits in-game.

Aphelion is developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), grounding its depiction of space exploration in real scientific knowledge and humanistic values. Ariane and Thomas are both ESA astronauts, part of the fictional Hope 01 mission. This collaboration weaves authentic elements of space science into the emotional core of the game. 

Explore the surreal beauty of Persephone, a vast frozen world shaped by deadly weather and ever-changing terrain. Armed only with your explorational tools – pathfinder, oxygen tank, grappling hook, and more – you must face the unknown, traverse treacherous terrain, and gather clues about the strange, reality-bending phenomenon threatening your existence. 

Helpless on the edge of the solar system, the Hope 01 crew faces a brutal new world and the echoes of a complicated past. Ariane Montclair and Thomas Cross share a deep connection, a relationship left unresolved by the demands of their careers and their mission. Facing overwhelming odds, their fractured bond becomes a lifeline as they grasp in the dark for one another.

Key Features: 

• A realistic depiction of space exploration
• An emotional drama on an alien world
• Cinematic action-adventure with gripping traversal gameplay
• Tools-based exploration and survival
• Tense and exciting stealth-based sequences

Aphelion is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam) on April 28, 2026.