Announced in May this year, Shade Protocol caught the eye with its gorgeous visuals, but also some interesting sounding mechanics.
Although it’s not coming until 2026, we thought it’d be nice to sit down and speak to Shade Protocol Studio Head and Game Director, Kendall Quinones, to talk about announcing a game a year ahead of time, the resurgence of the Metroidvania, speed-running, and how to balance difficulty with fun.
The Metroidvania genre seems to have gone from almost invisible to a massive comeback. Why do you think this is, and have you always loved the genre?
It’s definitely a crazy time for the genre! I believe that part of the huge success Metroidvanias have experienced in the last decade comes from the quality bar being raised so high by games we’ve grown to love and remember dearly. While we’re trying to make something new and refreshing in the space, we admire and learn from the achievements of those that came before us.
I personally am a big fan of exploring a fantastical non-linear world, from Metroidvanias to MMOs and open-world RPGs. However, I feel that “wanting to make a Metroidvania” was never the inspiration; we wanted to make a game that felt expansive and full of wonder, and that brought us to the genre. To me, this is the right motivation; make a game the way it wants and needs to be made, and no matter what make sure you innovate wherever you land.
The trailer shows off the way the Dawn and Shade ideas, how prevalent will these be throughout the game?
They really change how you think in the middle of a fight—or even just moving through a tough area. DAWN leans into agility and control, while SHADE is pure destructive power that comes with real risk. So you’re constantly making moment-to-moment calls: “Do I keep my cool, or go all in?” That tension adds so much depth to how it feels to play.
We’re not ready to reveal everything these Modes can do just yet, but one thing we’re super conscious of is avoiding systems that feel like extra baggage. The Modes aren’t there just to add complexity—they’re tools for solving problems in different ways. Zura’s Instruments behave uniquely depending on the Mode she’s in, so one might help you dodge and counter more effectively, while the other might let you smash through obstacles or tear through enemies.
At its core, the DAWN/SHADE mechanic represents Zura’s internal conflict—learning to survive by embracing the very thing she was created to destroy.
Is combat melee only? Will there be any ranged attacks?
Zura gains an incredibly diverse skill set through the various Instruments the player gets to acquire. While there’s more we want to save for later, I can share that right now we’ve revealed five Instruments which all serve important purposes. The Shield and Axe are primarily melee focused, while the Spear and Chakram are very powerful at mid to long range. The Katana covers various gaps in the tool kit by engaging at various ranges and moving things around. Lots to do and combinations to make!
While we want players to be highly rewarded for closing the gap between themselves and some of our spectacular Bosses and enemies, we’re making sure there are enough ranged options to better control the battlefield. Take for example Zura’s Shield; she can throw it at enemies and have it bounce between them, making you feel like a marvellous superhero! More to come, we’re excited to share in due time!
Platforming looks like it could involve puzzle solving with the throwable spear. Have you got lots of secrets in SHADE Protocol?
Yes, lots of secrets and places to find and explore! While we are not aiming to make a “puzzle/precision platformer”, we definitely want the players to have many ways to interact with their environment and reach places they might think they can’t initially. The Spear lets you jump on it and use it as a trampoline, the Chakram creates two-way portals, the Katana cuts the world and moves both pieces around, and more.
But what if the skills of these Instruments could be combined? What if you could create a portal with your Chakram, and then throw the Spear through it… Well I’ve said enough for now, lots more to show soon!
Can you explain the “Protocols” system, please? It sort of reminds us, in theory, of a game (long forgotten) called Remember Me, are we on the right lines for that?
Interesting reference! It’s definitely very different from that, and while I can’t tell you too much about it just yet, I can assure you it’s currently my favourite system in the entire game!
Protocols is our core character customization system. Zura will find other Replicas throughout her journey, and she can replicate their code to learn unique combat styles and exploration techniques. The Protocol system delivers the expansive build diversity and player expression focus that games with huge talent trees aim for, but in an incredibly intuitive and concise way.
Having a hard time with areas full of many swarming enemies? Switch into the Codebreaker Protocol set to hack and turn them to your side! A boss hits too hard and you could use a more defensive approach? Try the Lightbringer Protocol set to focus on your Shield, Block, and Parry mechanics for the fight! But the sky is the limit; you’re in control. Swap parts of the Protocols for others, and create unique ones quickly and intuitively!
While I really want to save more of the surprise for later, know that our goal at this time is to try and have around 64 unique combinations at launch. While this number is constantly in flux, we want those Protocol combinations to feel special and game-altering enough to make the system the best we can and allow crazy builds to emerge from the creative minds of our players!
Furthermore, can you reveal a bit more about how you “recode enemies”, as this sounds fascinating!
In SHADE Protocol, enemies are made of two core parts; their physical body and their “code”. Through various methods, Instruments, Protocols and more, Zura is able to interact with either or both of these states. Enemies can be destroyed by breaking their physical body, or they can be disabled by disassembling their code. There are many ways to do much more than that; injecting mind-controlling code into enemies, disabling functions that allow them to do certain attacks, or pushing their code out of their bodies (yes, sounds just as awesome as it’ll look!)
We aim to have these as intuitive and controllable attacks and actions; SHADE Protocol aims to be a game that is easy to pick up but hard to master. The skill ceiling of Zura’s power is very high, allowing lots of different playstyles and supporting both the casual player and the hardcore speed-runner and challenge seeker.
The game is coming in 2026, were you worried about announcing it this far in advance?
There’s much we are still figuring out, and to our small studio honesty is the best policy. Our goal is to deliver the game sometime late 2026 and we’re working really hard to make that a reality. We also want to be respectful of other titles that have been in production and have key dates that they’ve planned for a long time, so we will do our best to pick a release date that helps the genre and allows us to support our fellow indies.
I’m not particularly scared of the 2026 date, but I also want to make sure we stay connected and honest with our fast-growing community with constant updates (we are very active on our Discord server). Things can change, but our goal will always be to release the best game we can in a reasonable window of time to honour the support and love of our fans.
You mentioned in your reveal it’s a love letter to titles that came before, are there any specific titles you can list as influential to you?
It’s hard not to see the loving inspiration we get from titles like Megaman X, Valkyrie Profile, Transistor, Final Fantasy Tactics, Clair Obscur, Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, Blasphemous and more. It is critical to us to make something fresh and unique, but never at the expense of the parts of the genre that players have come to love and expect; our innovations will come through expanding on those components versus rejecting them.
There is so much more I’d love to say, and many titles I’d love to work with to create memorable content for our players, but in the interest of protecting the fantasy that our community deserves to enjoy I’ll keep some of our plans to myself for now!
SHADE Protocol pulls on the strings of nostalgia in a way that feels right; an homage to those incredibly games that made us fall in love with this medium in the first place.
Given that the game can be “broken in half”, will SHADE Protocol appeal to speed-runners, as well?
Yes! One of our core goals is to support speed-runners “out of the box”, doing what we can to give them the right tools to do what they love without friction. This means much more than just adding some timers to the game. We want to design our world in a way that allows for “sequence breaking” without breaking the core rules of the game or having to glitch your way to faster runs. Things like our World Cut are thoughtfully being designed to give a lot of room for creative applications.
I’m excited (and honestly slightly scared) of what the great minds in the speed-running community will do with SHADE Protocol’s expansive Instrument skill set!
How hard is it to balance the intricate mechanics with difficulty, so it’s not too hard for everyone?
It’s incredibly hard! I think sometimes studios unintentionally minimize this challenge; the truth is that it’s insanely complicated to make a game that welcomes a wide variety of players without designing for it from the very beginning. Our goal is to look at difficulty and balance as a factor of fun, not as the one and only objective. The more fun the game is for our player base, the better. Difficulty is a core component of players feeling invested and also rewarded by their achievements, so we have many thoughts on how to attack this as we continue developing the game.
While I do not want to confirm anything before we do more testing and gather further community feedback, at this time we want to design the core experience as a well balanced, sufficiently difficult journey that respects our player’s time. We are not a “soulslike” title, but neither are we an arcade game. As the main game designer, my personal goal is for the game to get progressively more difficult while giving the players the right tools to solve combat and exploration problems with enough creativity to welcome their playstyles.
Anything you’d like to say to your audience?
First and foremost, thank you! The reception of SHADE Protocol has been absolutely insane; we have received more wishlists in these first two weeks since our reveal that many games get in their entire lifespan. It feels surreal, the sheer love that the community is showing us fuels our team and we’re working really hard to make you all proud!
While we are a small indie studio, we’re scrappy and love a challenge. The trust you’ve put in us means the world to us. If you’d like to follow our development journey and be part of this fantastic dream, come check out our Discord and various social media accounts. You can find them all here.
