Panic Reveal Release Date for the Playdate Handheld Console in Their Playdate Update 2021

Panic, the team behind the upcoming Playdate handheld gaming platform, have held a Playdate Update ahead of E3 2021.

The video contains flashing images, so if you're sensitive to those, don't watch it.

Christa from Panic came on to talk about how progress has been during the pandemic. However, that hasn't put a damper on things!

Cabel, Panic co-founder came on and showed off the Playdate Stereo Dock - that's right, an additional piece of hardware for you to buy. It charges the Playdate while docked, is a stereo bluetooth speaker, and uses the Poolsuite FM app, an online radio station app for the Playdate. It also holds pens - including the Playdate ballpoint pen. It's coming soon, after the launch of the Playdate itself.

Another member of the team, Arisa, came on to tell us that Season 1 will have more games than previously announced. Twice as many, in fact, with 24 games being released two at a time, every week for 12 weeks! Here's the list, in alphabetical order:

• Battleship Godios
• Boogie Loops
• Casula Birder
• Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure
• DemonQuest 85
• Echoic Memory
• Executive Gold DX
• Flipper Lifter
• Forrest Byrnes: Up In Smoke
• Hyper Meteor
• Lost Your Marbles
• Omaze
• Pick Pack Pup
• Questy Chest
• Ratcheteer
• Reel Steal
• Sasquatchers
• Saturday Edition
• Snak
• Spellcorked
• WhiteWater WipeOut (the launch title)
• Zipper

The team also announced that Sweet Baby Inc, developer of Lost Your Marbles, will work with new and marginalised developers on new games. There are two teams led by Sweet Baby Inc., but made up entirely of new developers.

Lucas Pope, developer of Return of the Obra Dinn, then announced that he is working on a game and showed off some of it. Titled Mars After Midnight, it will have you as doorman answering the door to monsters trying to get in.

Keeping things interesting, they showed off some of the games currently in development, that you can expect to be part of future seasons. They showed off:

• Recommendation Dog
• Mars After Midnight
• Widget Satchel II: Return of Sprocket
• Oxy Con Brio
• Daily Driver
• Date of Life
• Faraway Fairway
• Getting There
• Robot Fishing
• DirectDrive
• Playmaker

Almost finally, Playdate Pulp, a tool to create games in your web browser for the Playdate was announced. It's designed to be very user friendly, even for people who can't code. No word on being able to share them with others, though.

Cabel finished things off by coming back to announce the price and pre-order date. The Playdate will cost $179, which includes the Season 1 games. You can start placing your pre-orders in July, though he didn't give an exact date.