New Escape from Duckov demo arrives on May 29th

After reaching the fourth place among the most played demos at Steam Next Fest, Escape from Duckov returns with a new playable demo between May 29 and July 1, 2025. The title, developed by the independent studio Team Soda and published by Bilibili, is a solo extraction shooter in a top-down view, with a strong comedic and avian theme.

Described as a satire of contemporary “mil-sims”, the game replaces soldiers and mercenaries with ducks, chickens, seagulls, pigeons, and armed geese with knives, pistols, rifles, and other cartoonish violence instruments. The mechanics are inspired by titles like Escape from Tarkov, but simplified to create a more accessible and single-player focused experience.

In the core structure of Escape from Duckov, the player participates in missions on open maps filled with rival factions, collecting resources and weapons to later return to their hideout — a sort of underground base — and upgrade the arsenal or shelter infrastructure.

"Escape from Duckov is a complete parody of the extraction shooter genre, but with a lot of mechanical depth behind the visual humor," stated the Team Soda studio in the announcement of the new demo.

Unlike the first demo, which was exclusive to Steam, this new version will also be available via Epic Games Store, signaling the game's multi-platform release plans still in 2025. The demo will include new weapons, improvements to the progression system, and refined AI for enemy birds — who now also use flanking and patrolling tactics.

Despite the comedic tone, the game has already been praised by the community for presenting functional tactical systems, persistent inventory, and risk and reward mechanics similar to the big names in the genre. The hand-drawn aesthetic, with exaggerated animations and a soundtrack full of synthesizers, reinforces the contrast between the light visual style and the strategic gameplay.

Escape from Duckov still does not have a confirmed official release date, but the studio reiterated that the full title will arrive “still in 2025”. In the meantime, interested parties can add the game to their wishlist on both Steam and Epic Games Store.