Yars Rising is the next chapter in one of Atari’s most iconic series

From the developers of Shantae

Marco Wutz | Apr 17, 2024

Atari / WayForward

Atari has revealed that it teamed up with WayForward Technologies, the studio behind Shantae and River City Girls, to develop the next chapter of the storyline begun in Yars’ Revenge many years ago – it was the best-selling first-party title for the Atari 2600 back in the day and its legacy is still alive and kicking.

Yars Rising will be released “in late 2024” for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. It’s described as a modern side-scrolling Metroidvania adventure with lots of platforming action, but also stealth and combat elements as well as retro-inspired minigames.

Players take control of the young hacker Emi Kimura and must infiltrate a shady corporation called Qotech at the behest of a mysterious patron. On the way, Emi will get to test her skills, overcoming challenges thanks to her hacking abilities and slowly unraveling the layered web of intrigues to be found in this sci-fi mystery.

Oh, and it somehow involves aliens? You go and figure that out by yourself.

Yars Rising screenshot showing a minigame.

This screen will look familiar to players of Yars' Revenge. / Atari / WayForward

“Wayforward’s proven story-telling and world-building powers made them a perfect choice for reimagining one of Atari’s most enduring game franchises,” commented Wade Rosen, Atari’s CEO and chairman. “I am confident that fans are going to enjoy this new, dynamic chapter in the Yars storyline: Yars Rising.”

You can check out the Yars Rising announcement trailer on YouTube.

Published Apr 17, 2024

MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg