# Tides of Tomorrow (video game)
**Tides of Tomorrow** is a narrative adventure video game developed by the French studio DigixArt and published by [THQ Nordic](https://www.edgepedia.org/thq-nordic), released on April 22, 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S[1](https://thqnordic.com/news/shifting-tides-of-tomorrow-gets-new-release-date-in-april). Set on a flooded ocean planet ruined by plastic pollution, it is built around an asynchronous multiplayer system called Story-Link, in which each player follows the recorded journey of another real player and the world state reflects that player's choices[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532). The developers describe the setting as "plasticpunk"[3](https://www.metacritic.com/game/tides-of-tomorrow/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer / publisher | DigixArt (creators of Road 96) / THQ Nordic[1](https://thqnordic.com/news/shifting-tides-of-tomorrow-gets-new-release-date-in-april) |
| Release | April 22, 2026, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, delayed from February 24, 2026[1](https://thqnordic.com/news/shifting-tides-of-tomorrow-gets-new-release-date-in-april) |
| Defining mechanic | Online Story-Link: you select another player's recorded journey to follow, and their choices shape your world[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532) |
| Premise | You play a Tidewalker, an amnesiac sea nomad infected with Plastemia, a disease caused by microplastic pollution[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532) |
| Reception | Metascore 71 from 34 critic reviews; user score 6.8 from 49 ratings[3](https://www.metacritic.com/game/tides-of-tomorrow/) |
| Length | About 10.5 hours for the main story, 16 hours for completionist play (HowLongToBeat)[4](https://www.gog.com/en/game/tides_of_tomorrow) |
| Rating | ESRB M for Mature 17+, with Blood, Strong Language, and Violence[5](https://www.esrb.org/ratings/40958/tides-of-tomorrow/) |
## Premise and setting
The game takes place centuries after a massive flood destroyed most of civilization, leaving scattered communities on a harsh ocean world[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532). The player character is one of the Tidewalkers, a mysterious community of sea nomads who awaken from suspended animation beneath the waves with no memory of their past[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532) • [6](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/tides-of-tomorrow-review/). Every Tidewalker is infected with Plastemia, a disease caused by an ancient poison, microplastic pollution; without a cure, the character slowly turns into plastic[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532). A wiki FAQ describes the condition as tracked on a 0–100 meter that rises through exposure to contaminated zones and is managed through medicine, faction treatments, and trait choices[7](https://tidesoftomorrow.wiki/faq/).
Three main factions occupy the islands: the Reclaimers, everyday survivors who scavenge their way through the impending doom; the Marauders, who control medicine and trade and battle one another for power; and the Mystics, a mysterious group who worship old-world technology[4](https://www.gog.com/en/game/tides_of_tomorrow) • [8](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/tides-of-tomorrow-is-a-watery-plastic-apocalypse-take-on-fallout-thats-more-about-story-choices-than-rpg-numbers/). Islands are themed around these communities and include market towns, floating pleasure districts, abandoned research bases, and religious sites on coral[6](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/tides-of-tomorrow-review/).
## The Story-Link system
Before a playthrough begins, the player selects a Story-Link: the recorded journey of another real player, who may be a stranger, a friend, a streamer, or a DigixArt team member[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532) • [4](https://www.gog.com/en/game/tides_of_tomorrow). The choices of that predecessor, which faction they allied with, which characters they let die, and which resources they hoarded, are loaded into the new run's starting state[9](https://www.gamebrief.net/blog/tides-of-tomorrow-review). The followed player can be changed between levels[6](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/tides-of-tomorrow-review/).
An "asynchronous vision" system shows echoes of the predecessor's actions as ghosts, translucent figures that reveal the direction they took, their emotional state, and sometimes a gesture toward an interactable object[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532) • [10](https://tidesoftomorrow.wiki/guide/story-link-system/). Non-player characters also remember what the previous player did and talk about it; for example, a player who stole from an important NPC leaves that character hostile to all Tidewalkers, forcing the follower to sneak instead of being welcomed[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532). Levels can change drastically depending on the last player's actions, such as a place crawling with guards or completely clear[11](https://steamcommunity.com/app/2678080/discussions/0/809100396253683763/).
Offline play is supported: players without a good connection can use pre-recorded journeys from DigixArt developers as their Story-Link source[10](https://tidesoftomorrow.wiki/guide/story-link-system/), and a [Steam](https://www.edgepedia.org/steam-service) discussion describes 10 premade bot accounts with different choice traits, such as a "cooperative" bot that leaves behind plenty of resources[12](https://steamcommunity.com/app/2678080/discussions/0/561409854000997834/).
## Gameplay
Tides of Tomorrow is a first-person, narrative-driven experience with stealth, platforming, nautical combat, and puzzle challenges, but its central hook is playing the entire game on another player's heels[13](https://gameinformer.com/review/tides-of-tomorrow/an-effective-ripple-effect). The player travels the ocean by boat, gathering resources to improve survival chances[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532) • [4](https://www.gog.com/en/game/tides_of_tomorrow). Combat is limited, described by GamesRadar as a handful of ship-based battles and a boxing match fought through dialogue options[8](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/tides-of-tomorrow-is-a-watery-plastic-apocalypse-take-on-fallout-thats-more-about-story-choices-than-rpg-numbers/). Each chapter is split into bite-sized episodes across individual islands, giving the game an episodic, theme-park-like structure[6](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/tides-of-tomorrow-review/).
## Development
DigixArt, the Montpellier-based studio behind Road 96, conceived the system from a single-player feature in Road 96 in which players finishing a run could leave unused money to benefit their next run; game director Adrien Poncet described the question as what if several different players followed one another, doing things for the next person[14](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/has-tides-of-tomorrow-cracked-the-narrative-multiplayer-formula-). The team wanted to say something about the climate crisis, and Poncet said this led to the game's weird setting[14](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/has-tides-of-tomorrow-cracked-the-narrative-multiplayer-formula-).
The asynchronous system was tested in a "prototext" built in [Unreal Engine](https://www.edgepedia.org/unreal-engine), which generated quantitative data on how often asynchronous choices triggered in another player's session; choices rated "enjoyable" and "clearly understandable" by playtesters entered production[14](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/has-tides-of-tomorrow-cracked-the-narrative-multiplayer-formula-). Producer Kevin Bard said pre-production focused on technical groundwork such as first-person animation, boat physics, and online networking, and that a prototyped seamless island-to-island travel system without loading screens was cut in favor of loading screens to keep the team focused on the asynchronous system[14](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/has-tides-of-tomorrow-cracked-the-narrative-multiplayer-formula-). Technically, the game embraces [Unreal Engine 5](https://www.edgepedia.org/unreal-engine-5)'s modern rendering pipeline, with Nanite, Lumen, and Virtual Shadow Maps enabled on almost every platform from PC down to [Steam Deck](https://www.edgepedia.org/steam-deck), which does not get Virtual Shadow Maps[15](https://80.lv/articles/how-tides-of-tomorrow-s-story-link-system-lets-players-shape-each-other-s-stories).
The game was originally announced for February 24, 2026[2](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532). In January 2026, DigixArt and THQ Nordic moved the release to April 22, 2026, after feedback from a playable demo and a closed beta indicated more time was needed to respond to player input[1](https://thqnordic.com/news/shifting-tides-of-tomorrow-gets-new-release-date-in-april).
## Reception
Tides of Tomorrow received mixed or average reviews from critics. On Metacritic it holds a Metascore of 71 based on 34 critic reviews, with 47% positive, 47% mixed, and 6% negative, and a user score of 6.8 from 49 ratings[3](https://www.metacritic.com/game/tides-of-tomorrow/). Individual outlet scores included 95 from Digital Chumps, 80 from GamesRadar+ and Gamesurf, and 70 from Edge Magazine and Gaming Boulevard[3](https://www.metacritic.com/game/tides-of-tomorrow/); GOG's aggregated critic listing shows 7/10 from IGN, 90/100 from GamingTrend, and 8.5/10 from CGMagazine[4](https://www.gog.com/en/game/tides_of_tomorrow).
Reviewers praised the originality of the Story-Link concept. GamesRadar+ called it a unique, vibrant journey and compared the structure to a well-crafted theme park ride[6](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/tides-of-tomorrow-review/), and Gaming Boulevard wrote that it introduces one of the most interesting gameplay mechanics in years while noting a repetitive gameplay loop and a story lacking some depth[3](https://www.metacritic.com/game/tides-of-tomorrow/). Common criticisms included world environments that look similar across regions[16](https://insider-gaming.com/reviews/tides-of-tomorrow/), basic mini-games[17](https://somanygames.co.uk/review/tides-of-tomorrow/), ludonarrative dissonance[18](https://www.metacritic.com/game/tides-of-tomorrow/critic-reviews/?platform=pc), and a breakneck narrative pace[19](https://tryhardguides.com/tides-of-tomorrow-review/). The system also requires an internet connection for live matching, and during the review period one outlet found the pool of available Story-Link partners limited[20](https://pixelsinorbit.com/reviews/tides-of-tomorrow-review-digixart-narrative-adventure-2026).
## References
1. [Shifting: Tides of Tomorrow Gets New Release Date in April, THQ Nordic](https://thqnordic.com/news/shifting-tides-of-tomorrow-gets-new-release-date-in-april)
2. [Tides of Tomorrow reimagines multiplayer storytelling, out Feb 24 2026 on PS5, PlayStation.Blog](https://blog.playstation.com/?p=405532)
3. [Tides of Tomorrow Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/game/tides-of-tomorrow/)
4. [Tides of Tomorrow, GOG.com](https://www.gog.com/en/game/tides_of_tomorrow)
5. [Tides of Tomorrow, ESRB](https://www.esrb.org/ratings/40958/tides-of-tomorrow/)
6. [Tides of Tomorrow review, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/tides-of-tomorrow-review/)
7. [FAQ, Tides of Tomorrow Wiki](https://tidesoftomorrow.wiki/faq/)
8. [Tides of Tomorrow is a watery, plastic apocalypse take on Fallout, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/tides-of-tomorrow-is-a-watery-plastic-apocalypse-take-on-fallout-thats-more-about-story-choices-than-rpg-numbers/)
9. [Tides of Tomorrow Review: Story-Link Changes Everything, GameBrief](https://www.gamebrief.net/blog/tides-of-tomorrow-review)
10. [Tides of Tomorrow Story-Link System Guide, Tides of Tomorrow Wiki](https://tidesoftomorrow.wiki/guide/story-link-system/)
11. [Is it a multiplayer game?, Steam Community discussion](https://steamcommunity.com/app/2678080/discussions/0/809100396253683763/)
12. [Specific gameplay mechanics, Steam Community discussion](https://steamcommunity.com/app/2678080/discussions/0/561409854000997834/)
13. [Tides of Tomorrow Review: An Effective Ripple Effect, Game Informer](https://gameinformer.com/review/tides-of-tomorrow/an-effective-ripple-effect)
14. [Has Tides of Tomorrow cracked the narrative multiplayer formula?, Game Developer](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/has-tides-of-tomorrow-cracked-the-narrative-multiplayer-formula-)
15. [How Tides of Tomorrow's Story-Link System Lets Players Shape Stories, 80.lv](https://80.lv/articles/how-tides-of-tomorrow-s-story-link-system-lets-players-shape-each-other-s-stories)
16. [Tides of Tomorrow Review, Insider Gaming](https://insider-gaming.com/reviews/tides-of-tomorrow/)
17. [Tides of Tomorrow Review, So Many Games](https://somanygames.co.uk/review/tides-of-tomorrow/)
18. [Tides of Tomorrow critic reviews (PC), Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/game/tides-of-tomorrow/critic-reviews/?platform=pc)
19. [Tides of Tomorrow Review, Looper via Try Hard Guides](https://tryhardguides.com/tides-of-tomorrow-review/)
20. [Tides of Tomorrow Review, Pixels in Orbit](https://pixelsinorbit.com/reviews/tides-of-tomorrow-review-digixart-narrative-adventure-2026)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Video games and digital play › Games and gameplay › Individual game titles › Individual PC and computer-platform game titles › Adventure and narrative titles*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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