Melbourne-based developer Reuben Games has announced that Dead Static Drive will be released on Xbox Series X|S and PC on November 5.

With an elevator pitch like Grand Theft Cthulhu, Aussie indie title Dead Static Drive was always going to get some positive attention. An isometric survival horror game with a strong focus on vehicles and on-foot combat/exploration, you can certainly see where the Grand Theft comes into play, and the Lovecraftian threats that the player faces during their dystopian 1980s road trip speak to the Cthulhu aspect of the equation.

The team at Reuben Games has been almost radio silent for a long while, save for a confirmation that the game would be coming to Xbox Game Pass and a brief announcement that its 2024 release date was being pushed back to Q1 2025. Now, after what feels like an eternity of waiting, we can expect to begin our Lovecratian trip across the US in just over a week. The announcement came via a press release on the developer’s website, alongside the following description of the game:

“Described as ‘Grand Theft Cthulhu,’ Dead Static Drive is a stylised survival-horror experience set in a nightmare-soaked version of 1980s America. Players take on the role of Hearst, a wayward traveller following a cryptic letter through gas stations, diners, and decaying suburbs.”

You can watch the Dead Static Drive teaser trailer here:

Studio head Mike Blackney spoke to us back in 2019 as part of our Made In Australia coverage, back when the studio went by Team Fanclub. Blackney talked about the game’s long development, which began back in 2014, when he was a college lecturer, before things kicked into gear full-time in 2017. “If you want the date I started, it’s 2014, but keeping in mind that I was a lecturer at a tertiary college for a great deal of the development, and I had a daughter near the start of development, so I’ve had large blocks of time where I couldn’t actively work full-time. Now, luckily, I work on the game full-time and have the finances and support to do that, as well as a small but incredible team backing me.”

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It’s wild to think that the game is so close after waiting so long. We are all very eager to get our hands on Dead Static Drive, so stay tuned for more coverage.

Have you been waiting to play Dead Static Drive as long as we have? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.