Foamstars is Square Enix’s bubbly new party shooter

Foam rules everything around me

Square Enix showed up twice for today’s PlayStation Showcase. Once, for the anticipated RPG Final Fantasy XVI. And the other time, for the reveal of something a little different: a sudsy new shooter called Foamstars.

Foamstars is a new 4v4 shooter where players fight it out using foam. It looks bright and colorful, with some energetic vibes behind it all. Here’s the trailer from today’s PlayStation Showcase:

As producer Kosuke Okatani explains on the PlayStation Blog, foam is used as both a projectile and a piece of terrain. Foam seems to stick in place, creating walls that can also be used for movement.

Splatoon comparisons seem easy enough to make. But where Splatoon paints the level, the foam of  Foamstars seems to build up and form new terrain all its own. The same kind of territory control-focused party shooter, but with a different angle on it.

Don’t pop the bubble

Not many more details were shared today, other than Foamstars is currently planned for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. More information is expected sometime in the future, and no release date was confirmed today.

I’m curious to see what Square Enix will do, even if I tend to have a bit of skepticism and concern when it comes to any new game that looks like a live-service project these days. It’s rough out there for a new shooter, but at least Foamstars looks a bit different compared to the more bullets-and-explosions blasters you might see elsewhere.

We’ll see how the Foamstars rise or fall as Square Enix shares more info about the new game.