Q-Games is working on two fronts: it handled cloud rendering research and development for ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE, released October 2, 2026, and it announced PixelJunk Monsters 3, a new numbered entry in its tower defense series, with no release date set.
Q-Games announced PixelJunk Monsters 3 on August 27, 2026, during the Future Game Show at Gamescom 2026. The game is a new numbered entry in the tower defense series that began with the 2007 PS3 original and has sold over one million copies across platforms including PSP, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It returns to the hand-drawn art style of the original, now rendered in 4K resolution, and keeps the series' gameplay of controlling the forest guardian Tikiman, running around the field, building towers while dancing, and defending the base from waves of monsters. New are roguelike elements, along with new towers, enemies, and boss battles. Online and local co-op support up to two players. A free playtest ran from September 4 at 10:00 AM to September 9 at 10:00 AM, open only to members of the official Q-Games Discord server QGamesForever, for the PC version. The game is scheduled for release on Steam with no release date announced.
On October 4, 2026, Q-Games announced it was in charge of research and development for Cloudly, the rendering technology supporting the sky and clouds in ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE. The Kyoto studio said Cloudly renders a sky spanning 10,000 square kilometers and produces light streaming through gaps in clouds, shadows cast on clouds by aircraft, multi-layered cloud structures, and contrails. Sunlight bouncing off the canopy is part of the same system. Those elements also work as in-game signs, which Q-Games says feed into dogfight gameplay by giving pilots clues about the situation around them. The game launched on October 2. It is on sale for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with a PS5 copy listed at 8,667 yen.
Across both stories, the studio's own PixelJunk lineage and its technical work for another publisher's flight game sit side by side. Q-Games is known for the PixelJunk series and Dreams of Another. CEO and founder Dylan Cuthbert worked on the Game Boy title X and the Super Famicom title Star Fox at Nintendo, and later on Star Fox Command and Star Fox 64 3D.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself
sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every
fact links the story it came from.
Oct 4
Q-Games announced it was in charge of research and development for Cloudly, the rendering technology that supports the sky and clouds in ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE. The Kyoto studio said Cloudly renders a sky spanning 10,000 square kilometers. It produces light streaming through gaps in clouds, shadows cast on clouds by aircraft, multi-layered cloud structures, and contrails. Sunlight bouncing off the canopy is part of the same system. Those elements also work as in-game signs, which Q-Games says feed into dogfight gameplay by giving pilots clues about the situation around them. The game launched on October 2. It is on sale for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with a PS5 copy listed at 8,667 yen. Q-Games is known for the PixelJunk series and Dreams of Another. CEO and founder Dylan Cuthbert worked on the Game Boy title X and the Super Famicom title Star Fox at Nintendo, and later on Star Fox Command and Star Fox 64 3D.
Aug 27
Q-Games announced PixelJunk Monsters 3 on August 27, 2026, during the Future Game Show at Gamescom 2026. The game is a new numbered entry in the tower defense series that began with the 2007 PS3 original and has sold over one million copies across platforms including PSP, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, and PC. PixelJunk Monsters 3 returns to the hand-drawn art style of the original, now rendered in 4K resolution. It keeps the series' signature gameplay, where players control the forest guardian Tikiman, run around the field, build towers while dancing, and defend the base from waves of monsters. New to this installment are roguelike elements, which the developer says add strategic depth and replayability. The game also introduces new towers, enemies, and boss battles, and supports online and local co-op for up to two players. A free playtest runs from September 4 at 10:00 AM to September 9 at 10:00 AM, open only to members of the official Q-Games Discord server QGamesForever. The playtest is for the PC version, and the game is scheduled for release on Steam with no release date yet announced. The announcement trailer was shown at the Future Game Show at Gamescom 2026.