Procedurally generated detective sim Shadows of Doubt leaves Steam Early Access in September

Shadows of Doubt, the procedurally generated first-person detective sim from developer ColePowered Games, is leaving early access on Steam on September 26, with a release date for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S the same day.

Shadows of Doubt launched in early access on Steam in April of last year. Players are tasked with taking on the role of a private investigator, exploring an open-world sci-fi city and conducting investigations. The goal is to complete enough investigations that they can hang up their trilby and retire.

It’s the procedural generation at the game’s heart that makes it so much fun; everything from the simulated city and the daily routines of its citizens to the murders and odd jobs players can perform is different with every playthrough. And it comes with an immersive, sim-like level of freedom that allows players to hack, lock-pick, shimmy, snoop, explore, break in, interrogate, and more to solve these unscripted cases.

“The biggest (mystery) now haunting my mind,” wrote former Eurogamer editor Martin Robinson in 2020, “is how this is possible? This is a work of staggering ambition and no small amount of artistry, presenting an evocative, fully-functioning cityscape for you to explore, complete with various intricate systems to aid your investigation. I’ve played for 20 minutes and I’m simply baffled.”

Shadows of Doubt has continued to grow during its Early Access development – ​​last September saw the arrival of infidelity investigations, for example – and there’s even more in the works for the 1.0 release. ColePowered Games is promising a “major update that would make any private investigator quiver with fearlessness,” with more details expected “in the coming weeks.”

Shadows of Doubt makes its debut on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on September 26, the same day it leaves early access on Steam. ColePowered Games reports that the Steam price will increase from $19.99 USD to $24.99 on August 23, a few days before the full release, so if you’ve been eyeing a purchase you might want to do so soon.