A seven-person team made up of former DICE and Halo developers is putting bio-engineered dogs to work on hostile alien planets. Octopus Panic revealed GRAVHOUNDS during gamescom Opening Night Live, with the one to four player co-op action builder entering Early Access on November 2, 2026.
GRAVHOUNDS drops players onto dangerous planets as canine workers tasked with gathering valuable materials while surviving increasingly aggressive alien swarms. The basic idea is to build up an operation using turrets, generators, fabricators, and pipeline networks, grab as much as possible, then extract before the situation gets completely out of control. Staying longer means better rewards, but it also gives the swarm more time to become increasingly dangerous.
Each Gravhound also comes equipped with a Grav Beam that can fling objects around the battlefield or send enemies flying. Players can boost in any direction, hover, and quickly move around during fights, while upgrades and abilities unlocked during each shift can be stacked to change how a run plays out. The whole thing is designed around physics-driven chaos, whether you’re playing alone or coordinating with three other people.
Octopus Panic is self-funded and self-publishing GRAVHOUNDS, with development led by Josh Holmes, who served as Creative Director on Halo 4 and was previously head of what is now Halo Studios. The studio was founded by veterans of both 343 Industries and DICE, with the team saying its small size lets everyone stay directly involved with development and react more quickly to player feedback during Early Access.
GRAVHOUNDS enters Early Access on November 2 for XBOX Series X|S and PC and will be available day one with Game Pass. Anyone at gamescom can also play it this week at the XBOX booth in Hall 7, with another look planned during the XBOX @ gamescom livestream on August 26.
