Bloober Team Announces Onyx: The Dark Grip as a Nintendo Switch 2 Exclusive

Bloober Team subsidiary Broken Mirror Games has announced Onyx: The Dark Grip, a 2.5D dark adventure game slated to launch exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2 next year. Revealed during a recent Nintendo Direct, the title draws inspiration from classic hardware features found on the Wii, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Vita. According to Bloober Team senior brand manager Dawid Podgorski, the project has been in development for three years.

Set in a small, isolated town modeled after the real-world Polish town of Bieruń during a relentless winter, the game introduces a unique premise. Players take on the role of a god-like creature guiding a regular human named Holden. Holden remains unaware that he is possessed, feeling only a compulsion to move forward. The narrative and atmosphere are influenced by properties such as Eternal Darkness, Silent Hill, Inside, Resident Evil 2, and True Detective: Night Country, with a musical score composed by Jan Borysewicz and recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Onyx: The Dark Grip heavily utilizes console-specific gestures and mechanics. Players use god-like powers to manipulate reality, touching the screen with both thumbs to act as an electrical conductor for a generator, and blowing into the microphone to warm Holden up when he faces extreme cold. When psychological terror afflicts Holden, moths cover the screen that players must swipe away. Additional mechanics include reading NPC minds, using a spell to communicate with corpses, throwing fireballs via screen swipes, and crushing emerging enemies by tilting the console to use the built-in gyroscope.

In related Nintendo Switch 2 software news, developer Shift Up announced that its upcoming port of Stellar Blade will include a toggle for frame generation at release. Following feedback from the game's Complete Edition demo regarding visual artifacts and input lag, players will have the option to adjust the feature. Additionally, Ubisoft launched a new sale on the Nintendo eShop celebrating its 40th anniversary, offering discounts on titles such as Assassin's Creed Shadows, The Rogue Prince of Persia, and Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition until October 8, 2026.