The Keeper Shall Awaken
If you were alarmed by an enormous ear-blistering chorus of cheers echoing around your neighborhood this morning, our apologies for the disturbance! That was because earlier today at the Xbox Showcase we announced that our next game will be Keeper, and we have a trailer to prove it!
A story told without words, Keeper is a third-person atmospheric adventure filled with exploration, puzzle solving, and unexpected departures from reality. It’s from Lee Petty, who folks around these parts should already know as the creative lead behind Stacking, Headlander, and RAD.
Even better, it’s coming really soon — Keeper will launch on October 17, 2025 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, Xbox Cloud, Steam, and will be playable on day one Game Pass. You can Wishlist it now!
What is Keeper?
Hopefully you’ve watched the trailer by now, if not, you'll find it above. I helped to break it down in this Xbox Wire article, so let’s borrow those words back from them for a second so we can answer the question on everyone’s lips — at least partially anyway — What is Keeper?
Keeper is set in a post-human world, after our time on the earth has long since passed.
We open on an island, where, in the shadow of a distant mountain peak, there stands a relic from a long-lost time. Although its purpose in this world has long been forgotten, we instantly recognize it as a Lighthouse.
After eons of lying dormant, the Lighthouse unexpectedly moves. It shudders and shakes, and tumbles to the ground, its ancient masonry cracking apart. But then something even stranger occurs… its broken pieces of rubble reassemble, and it stands up once more – but now on newly formed legs. It has awakened.
As the Lighthouse stumbles clumsily and learns to walk, it finds itself taken with a mysterious sense of purpose and, finding its footing, sets off toward the center of the island, toward the mountain.
It has stood alone for countless years, but now the Lighthouse finds companionship in a curious and spirited seabird, who encounters the Lighthouse while seeking refuge from a creeping malevolent presence spreading throughout the isle. The Lighthouse discovers that its bright beam of light is able to affect the flora and fauna, and even seems to ward off the withering tendrils spreading throughout the world around it.
Meanwhile the bird proves to be a useful and dexterous ally, able to interact with strange and ancient mechanisms. Together, these two unlikely friends set off on an epic adventure, an odyssey of mystifying metamorphosis, and a journey that will take them into realms beyond understanding.
The latest game from Lee Petty
The Creative Lead behind Keeper is Lee Petty, who joined Double Fine many moons ago as the Art Director for Brütal Legend. Along with lending his talents to Broken Age, and Psychonauts 2, Lee has been Creative Lead on numerous projects including the matryoshka doll—themed puzzle adventure Stacking, shag—carpeted, sci—fi side-scroller, Headlander, and neon—colored, post—post—apocalyptic roguelike, RAD.
I tried to sit down with Lee to ask him to share some words for this blog of ours and he said
“OMG Spaff! You can’t just show up at my door in the middle of the night to wake me up for blog quotes”
to which I said
“yes, of course, my liege”
as I walked away backwards with my head bowed, trying not to make eye contact, as is our custom.
But, dear reader, I already know some of it... I know that Keeper has roots which stem back to the pandemic, and the lockdowns which kept us all socially distanced from one another. I know that unique situation had Lee's mind pondering loneliness, isolation, companionship, and the very fate of humanity.
I know that the game's visual style is inspired by a myriad of things, among them visionary film makers and surrealist painters.
I know that anyone who wants to learn a little more about the genesis of Keeper should read the aforementioned piece on Xbox Wire, because I wrote a lot more about it there.
I know that you should stay tuned to our various frequencies, as we'll be sure to dive more into the world of Keeper and the team behind it over the coming weeks and months.
Ultimately, Keeper is about the unexpected. It’s a reality—bending experience full of surprise, absurdity and delight, in which you’ll never know quite what will happen next. It’s atmospheric, and at times psychedelic and surreal. We have high hopes that you will enjoy our strange, otherworldly tale.
We’re mainly excited that we no longer have to keeper-secret. OK, OK. I’ll get my coat.
Please wishlist Keeper today on the Microsoft Store or Steam. We'll be back soon with more fun, we promise!
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An old and crumbling Lighthouse stands upright on four strange, tendril-esque legs, Its customary beam of light shines into a hazy orange-green sky. It looks alive somehow, walking towards us but arching backwards, as if unsteady. Beneath its legs we see twisted shapes resembling cars and other remnants of a long forgotten civilization.
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A walking Lighthouse shrinks back against a red-brown cliff wall as it traverses a ledge which looks down to a spooky feeling green-yellow swampland far below. Its beam of light points towards a part of the ledge ahead of it which seems to be crumbling away.
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A mountain dominates the scene through a brooding, tumultuous, and stormy sky, which is filled with red-pink clouds. The top of the mountain is glowing with a powerful bright light that almost feels like an explosion, or an eruption, A strong beam of light is shooting upwards from the body of water far below into the center of the flaring peak above.
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A walking Lighthouse stands center frame in an overgrown jungle-like canyon, covered in vines and bushy green trees. Beams of sunlight break through the canopy far above shining onto ancient looking stone effigies of unrecognizable figures with cog or clock-like features.
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A Lighthouse walks out of a cave and into a field of long green grass under a bright blue sky, a green seabird perched on its roof. A large flock of seagulls are flying up into the sky, presumably disturbed by the arrival of this unlikely pair of friends.
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A Lighthouse walks across dunes and through the hazy fog of a sandstorm. behind it a bulky organic shape looms large. It appears to be a giant creature of some sort, a walking landmass made from spiraling mollusk shells and what appear to be chimneys and telegraph poles.
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A closeup of a Lighthouse with its big Fresnel lens staring out like a big eyeball, which even seems to have eyebrows. A green seabird is perched on the front of the Lighthouse staring into its lens as though they were face to face. A pair of unlikely friends.
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A Lighthouse stands in a tree-filled ravine with a snowy mountain peak looming large in the distance, under purple-blue skies. The Lighthouse appears to be walking towards the mountain, as a green seabird soars overhead in the same direction.
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A painterly scene of pastel green and purple hues showing a mountainous craggy ledge against a pink-blue sky. The rock face is strange and surreal, almost alien. A walking Lighthouse illuminates an old dead tree with its beam of light, which seems to be making the plants around it glow pink. Meanwhile a large green seabird takes a bath in a nearby pool of water.
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A closeup of the back of a Lighthouse with a green seabird perched on its roof. They are in a blue cave covered in surreal organic markings, and the lighthouse is shining a beam of light through a portal-esque entryway which is surrounded by glowing eyes.
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An old red and white striped Lighthouse is cast in silhouette against a hazy green-orange sunset. The Lighthouse is clearly abandoned, its masonry is cracked, its starting to fall apart. In the distance strange rock formations puncture the skyline like alien tentacles reaching skyward. A green seabird is perched on the Lighthouse roof.
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