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Press release:
La Rochelle, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France – Oct. 20, 2026 – Kiwi Boing, a playful 3D platformer about a flightless Kiwi who gets everywhere anyway, ricochets onto consoles and PC via Steam as well as Epic Games Store on day one in Q4 2027. A demo for the debut title from AARISE, a team of industry veterans who previously developed Empire of the Ants while at Tower Five, will also be playable at the French Pavilion during Paris Games Week.

Help a flightless bird return home after their holiday-bound plane plummets into a gorgeous archipelago. Explore vibrant hand-crafted islands filled with peculiar residents and collect scattered plane parts to reconstruct the only way out of paradise. Befriend eccentric locals, from brotherly Parrots to peaceful pirates-turned-tour operators. Perform odd jobs nobody else wants as the only Kiwi fit for the job. This wasn’t part of the plan, but you might as well enjoy your stay.

Wall jump, air dash, and plant the Kiwi’s beak into walls to spring into the air, bouncing across the islands with chained together movesets. Collect coins and hidden packages for cosmetic items, complete challenges to gain plane parts, or ace them to unlock additional gadget fragments for traversal upgrades. Turns out the islands are full of stuff, so go off the beaten path and reward that insatiable curiosity. Did we mention there’s a banger samba, slack-key guitar, and even a mock-epic orchestra soundtrack?

Avoid traps with stylish moves to propel the Kiwi through a tropical pirate resort, beach bar, fort and a lighthouse. We said flightless, not immovable. Kiwi Boing’s world is brought to life through a vibrant, modeling clay aesthetic made possible by the studio’s own terrain tool, creating a cheerfully inviting environment where shapes seamlessly blend into one another.

“Following the dissolution of our previous studio, we were uncertain if we would ever have the opportunity to work together again, ” said Olivier Lambert, CEO of AARISE. “We’re proud of what we built with Empire of the Ants, so when the opportunity arose to collaborate once more and create something meaningful, it was a no-brainer. We’re beyond grateful to enter this new chapter together.”

Kiwi Boing bounces onto PC and consoles in Q4 2027, in a premium and microtransaction-free experience. For more information, visit Kiwi Boing’s and AARISE’s official websites, the AARISE YouTube channel, follow Kiwi Boing across Instagram and TikTok, wishlist on Steam and connect with the team via Discord.

About AARISE

AARISE is an independent studio with a dozen team members based in La Rochelle, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. Prior to the studio’s debut title, Kiwi Boing, the development team worked together to ship Empire of the Ants worldwide. After the previous studio closed, the team joined forces once more to create AARISE in March of 2026. Within six months, the new studio raised enough private and public funds to fully develop Kiwi Boing.