Developer Plot Twist, creators of The Last Case of Benedict Fox, dropped one of the most innovative concepts of the Xbox Partner Preview on November 20, 2025. Erosion combines open-world exploration, roguelite dungeon crawling, and a unique time-shifting mechanic where death doesn’t reset your progress but instead hurls you ten years into the future. This creates cascading consequences where that peaceful farm you visited becomes a cultist compound, helpful shopkeepers age into powerful merchants, and entire factions rise or fall based on decades of accumulated decisions. Set in a voxel-based post-apocalyptic Wild West being consumed by a mysterious sentient structure called the Pillar, you fight through fully destructible dungeons collecting weapons and abilities in a desperate race to save your kidnapped daughter before time itself steals her away forever. Launching into Early Access Spring 2026 for Xbox Series X and S, PC via Steam and Microsoft Store, and day one on Xbox Game Pass, with a full release across PlayStation 5 and additional platforms later in 2026.
The Time-Shifting Hook
Erosion’s central mechanic revolves around death not functioning as a simple reset but as temporal progression. When you die in a dungeon run, you respawn in the overworld ten years later. This isn’t just a narrative flourish but a systemic change affecting every NPC, faction, and location you’ve encountered. Characters age visibly, relationships evolve without your input, alliances shift based on power vacuums created by your absence, and entire regions transform based on who gained control while you were gone.
The reveal trailer showcased this concept through example. A peaceful farm you might visit early becomes a cultist compound worshipping the Great Ol’ Rooster after several death cycles pass. That helpful store owner who gave you a discount? They’ve built a commercial empire spanning multiple settlements. Enemies you left alive have recruited followers and fortified their positions. Friends who relied on your protection have either perished or found new allies.
This creates urgency beyond typical roguelite death penalties. You’re not just losing progress or resources, you’re literally losing time in the race to save your daughter. Each death brings her ten years closer to being consumed by the Pillar permanently. The ticking clock forces difficult decisions about whether to explore thoroughly and risk dying, or rush toward your objective potentially unprepared.
Plot Twist CEO Tomasz Gawlikowski explained that this mechanic lends unique emotional depth to the story and action. Saving your daughter becomes more emotional when every death makes her older, potentially changing her personality, memories, or even making her unrecognizable by the time you finally succeed. The game asks whether you can save someone who’s fundamentally different from when they were taken.
The Pillar and Setting
The game takes place in a distant future where civilization faces extinction from the Pillar, a mysterious sentient rock formation consuming everything piece by piece. This entity functions both as environmental threat and the source of procedurally generated dungeons you must descend into repeatedly. The Pillar’s dungeons contain the path to saving your daughter, but also represent the greatest danger to your temporal budget.
The post-apocalyptic Wild West aesthetic blends frontier iconography with sci-fi elements. You traverse deserts in customizable hover-vehicles that look like futuristic cars combined with Old West wagons. Settlements feature saloons and trading posts alongside advanced technology. The voxel art style creates a distinctive visual identity that’s simultaneously blocky and detailed, allowing for the full environmental destruction that defines combat encounters.
This isn’t a sprawling Skyrim-sized open world but rather a curated space where every location serves narrative or mechanical purpose. The isometric perspective provides tactical overview of combat scenarios while maintaining the ability to explore three-dimensional spaces. Think Hades’ room-based structure expanded into interconnected regions rather than true open-world sandbox.
Combat and Build Variety
Combat follows twin-stick shooter conventions with roguelite progression systems. You collect over 100 weapons ranging from ritual bows that draw power from your blood, to homing smart guns, to the legendary Ebony Rooster that shoots bouncy eggs. Each weapon has distinct properties encouraging experimentation across multiple runs to discover synergies.
The skill and modifier system allows creating absurd combinations through over 100 different perks. Examples shown include commanding an army of cats that attack enemies, deploying orbital turrets that rain fire from above, and cloning yourself to multiply damage output. The trailer emphasized build possibilities are endless, suggesting a deep customization system where players can break the game through creative perk stacking.
Destructible voxel environments mean cover is temporary and collateral damage is guaranteed. You can blow up walls to create new paths, turn entire locations into rubble through sustained firefights, and flip poker tables in saloons because why not. The physics-driven destruction meets bullet-hell combat creating emergent chaos where battles reshape the battlefield dynamically.
Boss encounters punctuate dungeon runs, testing mastery of your current build. While specific bosses weren’t detailed, expect multi-phase fights with attack patterns requiring movement mastery and smart ability usage rather than simple damage checks.
Quests and World Reactivity
Between dungeon runs, you explore the open world completing quests that unlock permanent upgrades and reshape future timelines. These aren’t simple fetch quests but narrative-driven scenarios where choices create branching outcomes that echo across decades. Help a struggling merchant and they might become a powerful ally ten deaths later. Betray a faction and they’ll remember, growing stronger specifically to oppose you.
The game tracks your decisions across time jumps, creating a living history where actions compound rather than resetting. This persistent world state distinguishes Erosion from traditional roguelites where each run starts fresh. Your version of the wasteland becomes unique based on accumulated choices across dozens of death cycles.
Side stories provide opportunities to dive deeper into character arcs and faction politics. These optional narratives flesh out the world while offering rewards that make subsequent dungeon runs more manageable. Completionists can pursue every storyline while speedrunners might ignore them entirely, creating different playstyle approaches.
Customizable Vehicles
Traversing the wasteland happens via customizable hover-vehicles that function as both transportation and mobile bases. While details remain sparse, the trailer showed futuristic cars racing across desert landscapes, suggesting vehicle upgrades and personalization options. Expect functional modifications affecting speed, durability, and storage alongside cosmetic customization.
Vehicles might also serve as safe zones between dungeons where you manage inventory, plan your next move, and access persistent upgrades. This mobile hub concept keeps players grounded in the world rather than teleporting to abstract menus.
Plot Twist’s Development Background
Plot Twist previously created The Last Case of Benedict Fox, a metroidvania detective mystery published in 2023. That game received mixed reviews praising its atmospheric presentation and narrative ambition while criticizing combat feel and progression pacing. The studio clearly learned from that experience, pivoting to different genre conventions for Erosion while maintaining their commitment to story-driven independent titles.
CEO Tomasz Gawlikowski founded Plot Twist with the intention of making narrative-focused games fueled by compelling gameplay. Erosion’s time-shifting mechanic represents exactly that philosophy, where the systems serve emotional storytelling rather than existing as separate elements. The urgency to save your daughter before she ages beyond recognition creates investment that pure mechanics can’t achieve alone.
Publisher Lyrical Games provides support and funding, though this appears to be their first major project. The partnership with Xbox for Game Pass day one launch ensures financial stability during Early Access development, reducing pressure to rush features or compromise vision for short-term revenue.
Early Access Plans
Erosion launches into Early Access exclusively on Xbox Series X and S plus PC via Steam and Microsoft Store in Spring 2026. This limited platform approach allows Plot Twist to gather feedback and iterate before the full release later in 2026 that adds PlayStation 5 support.
Early Access typically indicates the core loop is complete but content volume or balance needs refinement. Expect the time-shifting mechanic, dungeon crawling, and basic world reactivity functional at launch with additional weapons, skills, quests, and biomes added throughout the Early Access period based on player feedback.
Day one Xbox Game Pass availability means Xbox ecosystem players get immediate access without purchase. This exposure to millions of subscribers provides valuable testing population while allowing Plot Twist to gauge interest before committing to specific post-launch content directions.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Erosion release?
Erosion launches in Early Access in Spring 2026 for Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store. The full release including PlayStation 5 arrives later in 2026.
Who is developing Erosion?
Plot Twist, the studio behind The Last Case of Benedict Fox, is developing Erosion with publishing support from Lyrical Games.
What happens when you die in Erosion?
Death sends you ten years into the future instead of simply restarting. The world ages, characters get older, factions evolve, and your daughter gets closer to being consumed permanently by the Pillar.
Is Erosion on Xbox Game Pass?
Yes, Erosion will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass for console, PC, and cloud gaming when it launches into Early Access in Spring 2026.
What type of game is Erosion?
Erosion is an isometric open-world roguelike action game with twin-stick shooter combat, fully destructible voxel environments, and a unique time-shifting mechanic where every death advances the timeline by ten years.
Is Erosion coming to PlayStation?
Yes, PlayStation 5 is confirmed for the full release later in 2026 after the Spring 2026 Early Access period on Xbox and PC.
How many weapons are in Erosion?
The game features over 100 weapons and skills with endless build possibilities through synergies and modifiers, ranging from blood-powered ritual bows to guns that shoot bouncy eggs.
Conclusion
Erosion’s time-shifting death mechanic represents genuine innovation in a genre crowded with Hades clones. Where most roguelites treat death as simple progress reset, Plot Twist created systemic consequences that compound across runs while serving emotional narrative about racing against time to save someone you love. Whether the execution matches the ambition won’t be clear until Spring 2026 Early Access, but the concept alone makes Erosion one of the most interesting announcements from Xbox Partner Preview. For roguelite fans tired of the same loop with different art styles, or anyone intrigued by games that use mechanics to enhance storytelling rather than treat narrative as window dressing, wishlist this immediately. Just remember: every death costs you ten years, so play carefully unless you want to save a stranger who happens to share your daughter’s name.