Indie gaming studio Masala Games’ Detective Dotson will be released on Xbox. The mystery adventure game will be available for Xbox Series X|S (Xbox Series X and S) but a specific release date has not been announced as of now.
This marks the first time Masala Games will have its game accessible for Xbox players. The game has received a grant under the ID@Xbox Developer Acceleration Program, which is meant to support “underrepresented” game developers so they can bring their ideas and projects to Xbox.
Detective Dotson features an Indian setting, environment and characters. Players take control of Dotson, an aspiring Hindi cinema star turned detective determined to find his father’s killers. Players can utitlise the protagonist’s detective abilities to gather clues, wear disguises and interact with other characters to find information.
Based in the city of Ahmedabad, Masala Games has previously developed the word-finding game Word Mess, targeted at all ages and available on Apple’s App Store. Detective Dotson was announced by the developer earlier this year. The game can be wishlisted on Steam, where a free demo is also available.
The pixel-art styled game is the creative vision of Masala Games founder and CEO Shalin Shodhan. Shodhan is a former EA (Electronic Arts) alumni (Spore) and Pixar artist (Toy Story 3, Brave, Inside Out). In its Xbox launch announcement video, Masala Games has said: “India is shockingly underrepresented in video game culture and Shalin is on a journey to change that with his team.”
Developed in Unity, Detective Dotson can be played solo or also in couch-co op mode with friends and family. The game features an original soundtrack created by Nikhil Rao of Delhi-based rock band Indian Ocean.
While the game’s release is under wraps, its Steam page has mentioned Q4 of 2024 as the estimated date of its launch.
