The Beat is a “gay-themed investigative thriller” debuting later this year

Melbourne developer Up Multimedia have announced their next will be “a gay 3D turn-based narrative adventure where you play as a closeted cop investigating a murder in the local gay scene”. The game is called The Beat. If you haven’t heard of Up Multimedia before, they’ve previously worked on other games with a gay focus such as My Ex-Boyfriend the Space Tyrant and Escape from Pleasure Planet.

The Beat is looking to continue that trend when it releases onto Steam Early Access at an undisclosed date later this year. You can check out the Early Access trailer below.

There’s certainly some peculiarities happening within the trailer, with even the art style taking on a warped and almost dream-like aesthetic. The Beat is a fully rendered 3D game unlike Up Media’s previous work. It’s been described as an investigative thriller where you have 7 days and 7 nights to save a life. The game is inspired by true historical events and uses locations based on real world places. It even uses motion capture technology to animate character models.

“We’re excited for everyone to finally see what we’ve been working on for the last 18 months,” said Luke Miller, producer at Up Multimedia. “It’s a big change from our previous game (Escape from Pleasure Planet) but the heart is the same – games with a gay world view.”

“Using some cutting edge tech we’re trying to make something a bit rougher, a bit rawer, and a bit more glam.”

The Beat is being produced with the assistance of Film Victoria. It will be made available for Windows, Mac and Linux.