After years of speculation and silence, Clockwork Revolution has finally re-emerged in a big way, and it’s making a bold impression. Revealed with an extended new trailer during the Xbox Games Showcase 2025, this ambitious first-person RPG from inXile Entertainment is drawing comparisons to genre heavyweights like BioShock and Fallout, but with a distinct identity all its own. Set in a sprawling, steampunk-inspired metropolis called Avalon, Clockwork Revolution blends time-travel mechanics, explosive FPS combat, and deep roleplaying systems into a package that looks like one of the most promising Xbox exclusives in years. Whether you’re a longtime RPG fan or just here for the BioShock vibes, our comprehensive look at the latest Clockwork Revolution news will get you up to speed on one of the most anticipated games on the horizon.
Players will take on the role of a rebel armed with the power to travel through time using a mysterious device called the Chronometer. Your decisions in the past have real consequences in the present, dramatically shaping Avalon’s future in a world where industrial elites exploit time itself to stay in power. It’s a concept packed with potential, not just for action-packed gameplay, but for storytelling with weight and consequence.
While we still don’t have a firm release date, the latest trailer confirms a 2026 launch window and gives us our best look yet at the game’s weapons, factions, enemies, and moral choices. With rich worldbuilding, fully customizable characters, and a dynamic narrative, Clockwork Revolution is shaping up to be a true next-gen RPG.
In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about Clockwork Revolution: from release plans and platform support to gameplay systems, story details, and the developers behind the project.
Clockwork Revolution News: Release Window
The latest Clockwork Revolution news out of the Xbox Games Showcase 2025 finally gave us a release window: 2026. Although an exact date wasn’t provided, the confirmation that the game won’t arrive in 2025 helps set expectations. Based on the development pace and trailer quality, many fans believe it could launch in the second half of 2026.
Platforms and Game Pass Launch
As expected, Clockwork Revolution will release on PC and Xbox Series X|S. As an Xbox Game Studios title, it’s also confirmed to launch day one on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. There’s no word yet on a PlayStation 5 version. While Microsoft has released some titles on rival consoles recently, Clockwork Revolution will likely maintain at least a timed exclusivity for Xbox platforms. There’s also speculation about a Switch 2 version, especially with Nintendo’s next-gen console already on the market, but nothing is confirmed yet.
First Look at Clockwork Revolution’s World
Every new bit of Clockwork Revolution news reinforces Avalon’s role as a central character in its own right. This alternate-history Victorian city features floating trains, robot assistants, and elite industrialists who’ve enhanced themselves with ornate mechanical limbs. Players explore Avalon as a rebel with a Chronometer, a powerful device enabling time travel.
Changing events in the past will lead to significant and often unpredictable changes in the present. These gameplay-altering butterfly effects are at the heart of Clockwork Revolution’s identity.
Time-Bending Gameplay and Combat Mechanics
The Clockwork Revolution news that truly got fans talking involves the game’s innovative time-based combat system. Combat is fast-paced and strategic, letting players mix traditional firearms with powerful Chronometer-based abilities.
You can freeze enemies in time, rewind events, or even recall bullets back into your gun. One scene from the trailer shows the protagonist tossing a stopwatch-like device at an enemy’s feet, launching them into the air, followed by an explosive shot. It’s a system that goes beyond what we’ve seen in similar games like BioShock Infinite.
Weapons are also fully customizable. You can swap out barrels, stocks, and other parts to tailor guns to your playstyle. Whether it’s a long-range rifle that fires incendiary rounds or a shock grenade launcher for crowd control, the game allows players to experiment with different combat strategies and elemental effects.
RPG Systems and Character Customization
Unlike many first-person shooters, Clockwork Revolution features deep RPG mechanics. P Recent Clockwork Revolution news confirmed that players will create their own unique protagonist, customizing everything from appearance, yes, even mustaches, to personal background and traits.
During one character creation segment in the trailer, a robot police officer scans the player as a member of the Rotten Row Hooligans while another character describes their features, suggesting that even character creation is deeply embedded in the world-building.
The RPG elements go beyond visuals. Your character will have attributes like agility, social, and technical stats, which will influence both combat and narrative progression. Traits such as “Street Stalker” and “Scrap Savvy” are reminiscent of Fallout’s perk system, suggesting multiple playstyles and dialogue checks.
Story and Narrative Choices
At the heart of Clockwork Revolution lies a richly woven story about power, rebellion, and rewriting history. You begin as a lowborn citizen from the slums who finds themselves in possession of advanced time-manipulating tech. Your antagonist, Lady Ironwood, uses similar technology to bend Avalon’s history to her will, creating a divide between the wealthy elite and the struggling working class.
One of the most exciting aspects of the game’s narrative is how your choices in the past ripple into the future. As you alter timelines, whole districts of Avalon may change in response, socially, economically, and politically. These aren’t just aesthetic changes; they will affect quests, NPCs, faction allegiances, and available paths through the story.
Dialogue options and moral decisions, such as sparing or executing key characters, will shape not only your personal journey but the fate of Avalon itself. The world will respond to your actions, for better or worse, giving players a sense of real agency.
Factions, Worldbuilding, and Themes
From what we’ve seen in the trailers, Avalon is home to multiple factions, each with their own motives and ideologies. Some deal with class struggle, others with the ethics of robotic servitude. The game appears to explore themes of oppression, revolution, technology, and historical revisionism.
The robot characters in particular hint at larger societal questions: Are they simply tools, or sentient beings with their own identities and rights? These philosophical questions are part of what elevates Clockwork Revolution from a basic shooter to a thought-provoking RPG.
The game also promises a non-linear structure, allowing you to approach missions and storylines in multiple ways. You might align with different factions, discover hidden story branches, or alter the world in unforeseen ways, all depending on how you use your time-traveling glove.
A Love Letter to Arcanum and Steampunk Fans
Despite all the BioShock comparisons, Clockwork Revolution has a lineage that stretches back even further. Project director Chad Moore has cited Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, a cult classic RPG from 2001, as one of its key inspirations. Moore previously worked on Arcanum and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, and describes this new game as “the love child” of those titles.
Like Arcanum, Clockwork Revolution blends Victorian steampunk with high fantasy, layered character development, and nonlinear storytelling. Players who fondly remember that earlier game will likely recognize similar design philosophies, albeit now in a fully modern, first-person shooter form.
Development and Team Behind the Game
InXile Entertainment, the developer of Clockwork Revolution, is known for its work on the Wasteland series, one of the spiritual ancestors of Fallout. This marks inXile’s first project under Xbox Game Studios with a high-end AAA budget and a fully 3D engine.
Game director Chad Moore and principal designer Jason Anderson both have deep roots in RPG design and worldbuilding. Their prior work on Arcanum suggests they are particularly well-suited to deliver a rich, mechanically dense, and narratively flexible steampunk RPG.
Trailers and Footage Highlights
There are currently two main trailers for Clockwork Revolution. The original 2023 reveal trailer was more of a mood-setting teaser, showcasing the setting and giving us a taste of the steampunk world, its authoritarian rule, and the implications of time travel.
The 2025 gameplay trailer, however, is where the game truly revealed its hand. It showcased combat, time powers, dialogue systems, and faction interactions, all wrapped in cinematic storytelling. A talking doll, animated characters, dramatic action set pieces, and character creation scenes all contribute to a better sense of what playing the game will feel like.
Final Thoughts
With its ambitious time manipulation mechanics, immersive steampunk setting, and deep RPG systems, Clockwork Revolution is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting upcoming titles for Xbox and PC. While it still lacks a firm release date, everything we’ve seen so far, from character customization and faction dynamics to weapon crafting and time travel, suggests that this will be a landmark RPG shooter when it launches in 2026.
As more updates roll out, you can be sure to find all the latest Clockwork Revolution news right here.
Read the news recap of the latest trends in video game industry via Gamerative.
FAQs
Will Clockwork Revolution support mods or user-generated content?
As of now, inXile Entertainment hasn’t confirmed whether Clockwork Revolution will offer modding tools or support for user-generated content. However, given the studio’s history with PC-friendly RPGs and the creative potential of the time-travel mechanic, many fans are hopeful that modding could be supported post-launch or through official toolsets.
Is Clockwork Revolution a single-player game or will it include multiplayer elements?
Clockwork Revolution is confirmed to be a single-player experience, focused entirely on narrative depth, character progression, and immersive worldbuilding. There are currently no announced multiplayer or co-op features, and the game is being designed around solo play to maximize story and player choice impact.
Will Clockwork Revolution feature voice acting for the protagonist?
This has not yet been officially confirmed. While the trailers showcase full voice acting for NPCs, inXile has not specified whether the player character will be fully voiced or silent. Given the depth of customization and roleplaying options, it’s possible the game may opt for a silent protagonist to preserve player immersion.
