Whitethorn Games held its first Winter Showcase recently, in which it revealed more information about its upcoming games and ports, as well as its partnership with other studios. The publisher has several cozy, pleasant titles launching this year. It also kept up a running throughline of accessibility during the show, in partnership with Safe in Our World, Take This and ID@Xbox. Almost every announcement featured some focus on accessibility — something other games shows could stand to emulate.
One of the biggest announcements was the release date of Botany Manor, a cozy adventure game from Balloon Studios. It launches on April 9 on PC, Xbox (including Game Pass) and Switch. Other upcoming titles include pixel-art title Magical Delicacy, which launches sometime this year; deity-befriending sim Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island, which launches in summer; and Skate Fish, a mobile title in which you impress fish into taking the bait, launches on March 28.
Other announcements include new platform releases for Lake, which launches on February 15 on Switch; Wytchwood, which is out for iOS and Android now. In addition to games, Whitethorn has partnered with North Star Games on its unannounced first title. It’s also partnered with Pancake Games on the latter’s upcoming game, Slime Heroes.
With almost every game that was announced, Whitethorn’s Chief Accessibility Officer Britt Dye spoke about its accessibility features, such as audio and visual effect toggles and difficulty customization. Access Ability’s Laura Kate Dale also made a guest appearance during the show and discussed the benefits of discussing accessibility features far ahead of release. Lisa Mior, Whitethorn’s director of communications, said on Xbox Wire, “We are dedicated to making sure that as many players as possible can enjoy their gaming experience.”