Swimming Scorpions

Swimming Scorpions is an independent video game development studio based in Wrocław, Poland, developing and self-publishing PC games. Its work combines action, stealth and simulation with strongly defined fictional settings, narrative atmosphere and intensive audiovisual design. Cold War imagery, Eastern Bloc environments, dieselpunk machinery and grimdark worldbuilding feature across its projects.

The studio made its public game debut at Gamescom in August 2020 with the announcement and first gameplay trailer for Petrol Blood. This stealth-and-chase driving action game takes place in an alternate version of 1980s Eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain. Its satirical totalitarian setting provides the backdrop for high-speed stunt driving, vehicular combat and boss battles.

Petrol Blood follows two protagonists with different vehicles and roles: a rebellious punk rocker driving armed custom cars, and an elite secret agent operating an undercover spy car. Public alpha material and playable demos followed on itch.io in 2022. The project remains in development, with Swimming Scorpions identified as both developer and publisher.

From driving action to cockpit horror

In 2026, the studio unveiled Engine of Sin, a first-person grimdark mech simulator described by its developers as “cockpit horror.” The game places the player inside the confined command deck of a colossal walking war machine, combining mechanical operation with psychological tension.

As the last surviving crew member, the player must manage power distribution, route fuel to reactors, calibrate heavy weapons and fight enormous Kaiju while resisting the machine’s corrupting influence. Its stated inspirations include Adeptus Titanicus, Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade, Doom and MechWarrior 2. These influences inform a game centred on operating a threatening machine from within, rather than viewing it from an external perspective.

Both projects target PC audiences through digital distribution. Swimming Scorpions’ development capabilities encompass game design, programming, narrative writing, concept development and 2D/3D art, with Unity identified as its game engine.