DON’T NOD Announces Aphelion Release Date
DON’T NOD has announced that Aphelion, a new cinematic action-adventure set on a frozen alien world, will release on April 28, 2026 for PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5. It will be an Xbox Play Anywhere title and available day one on Game Pass.
The game follows ESA astronauts Ariane Montclair and Thomas Cross, part of the fictional Hope 01 mission, stranded on Persephone, a vast frozen world defined by deadly weather and constantly shifting terrain. The two share an unresolved personal history, and that fractured relationship becomes central to the story as they fight to survive. Exploration is tools-based, with a pathfinder, oxygen tank, grappling hook, and more at your disposal as you traverse the terrain and investigate a strange reality-bending phenomenon threatening the crew. The game also features stealth sequences alongside its traversal gameplay.
DON’T NOD developed Aphelion in collaboration with the actual European Space Agency, which grounds the game’s depiction of space exploration in real science. The ESA connection carries into the cosmetics as well, with mission patches that reference the collaboration appearing in the Day One Edition bonus content.
A new trailer is out today featuring a voiceover from Thomas, voiced by Eric Geynes, that opens with a sense of hope before gradually shifting into something more unsettling as Persephone reveals itself.
The Standard Edition runs $29.99 on Steam and $34.99 on consoles. Steam and Xbox players get a 10% launch discount during the release window. Console players can pre-order now for 10% off the Day One Edition, though the PlayStation discount is limited to PS+ subscribers.
The Day One Edition includes the game and a cosmetics pack with two spacesuit variants and six backpack accessories, three stickers and three keychains referencing the ESA collaboration and DON’T NOD’s own Jusant and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.
A PS5 retail Pioneer Edition is also available to pre-order now, releasing July 2. It includes everything in the Day One Edition plus a digital artbook, the original soundtrack, and an exclusive Hope-01 mission patch sticker created with the ESA.
