VHOLUME (2026) Launches Tomorrow – And I Haven’t Wanted to Buy a Game This Badly in a Long Time

There are games you play for a few minutes and think, yeah, that’s pretty cool.

Then there are games that make you close the demo and immediately start checking the calendar.

VHOLUME is the second kind for me.

The full game launches tomorrow, August 21, 2026, on Steam, and right now it is still not available to buy. There is a free demo, though, and after spending some time with it, I honestly can’t remember the last time I had such a strong urge to buy a game on its release day.

That’s a strange feeling these days.

We’ve got more games than anyone could possibly play, huge releases arriving every week, and Steam’s wishlist getting longer and longer. Usually I can happily wait for a sale.

With VHOLUME?

I’m probably not waiting.

This Is Parkour First, Everything Else Second

The easiest way to explain VHOLUME is probably to say: imagine the movement from Mirror’s Edge and Dying Light, take away the zombies and guns, and build an entire game around the feeling of simply moving through a place.

But even that doesn’t quite explain it.

The parkour feels like the actual reason the game exists.

Running, jumping, sliding, climbing and keeping your momentum going aren’t things you occasionally do between the “real” parts of the game. They are the real parts. The levels are built around finding a line through the environment and figuring out how to keep yourself moving.

And that’s where the demo got me.

At first you’re just trying to understand the controls. Then you start noticing that you can approach the same section differently. You miss a jump, lose your momentum, and suddenly you’re thinking about how you could have approached it better.

Then you try again.

And again.

And somewhere along the way you’re no longer simply trying to reach the other side of the level. You’re trying to find the good route.

That’s the stuff I love in games.

It Reminded Me Why I Loved Mirror’s Edge

There’s obviously going to be a lot of comparison with Mirror’s Edge, and honestly, I don’t think VHOLUME is trying to hide from it.

But the feeling is different.

Where Mirror’s Edge gave us a clean, almost futuristic world built around speed, VHOLUME goes somewhere much more uncomfortable. The game takes place in a brutalist city, with huge concrete structures and an atmosphere that feels lonely rather than exciting. PC Gamer described it as a “melancholic first-person parkour adventure,” which is probably one of the better descriptions I’ve seen for it.

There aren’t neon signs screaming at you to look here.

There is concrete.

A lot of concrete.

And somehow it looks incredible.

The Graphics Are Honestly Astonishing

This is probably the part I wasn’t expecting to appreciate as much as I did.

VHOLUME has a very specific visual identity. The brutalist architecture gives the whole game this enormous sense of scale, while the lighting and environments make even an empty building feel like there should be a story hiding somewhere behind it.

It’s not trying to make everything pretty.

And that’s exactly why it works.

The city feels cold, massive and slightly depressing in a way that fits the movement perfectly. You’re this tiny person running through structures that look like they were built for something much bigger than you.

It makes you want to keep going just to see what is around the next corner.

There Is More Than Just Racing From A to B

One thing I appreciated about the demo is that VHOLUME doesn’t treat its levels like simple obstacle courses.

There are shortcuts to discover, different routes to experiment with, and reasons to replay sections once you’ve become more comfortable with the movement. The game also includes multiplayer and ghost runs, giving you another reason to return and chase better times.

And I can already imagine the rabbit hole this could become.

You finish a level.

Then you notice someone else’s ghost took a completely different route.

You follow it.

You find a shortcut.

Then someone beats your time.

And suddenly you’re spending another hour on a level you thought you’d already finished.

Classic.

Tomorrow Is The Real Test

Of course, there’s an important distinction here.

I’ve played the demo. I haven’t played the full game yet.

So I’m not going to pretend I know whether VHOLUME delivers from beginning to end. The full release could surprise me in either direction.

But the demo has done exactly what a good demo should do.

It made me want more.

The full game is scheduled to launch on Steam on August 21, with the demo currently available for anyone who wants to get a feel for the movement before jumping in.

And for me, that’s enough to make tomorrow interesting.

I Haven’t Wanted To Buy A Game On Day One Like This In A Long Time

This is probably the most personal part of the whole thing.

I don’t buy many games on release day anymore.

Usually there’s a little voice in my head saying, wait a few weeks. Let the patches arrive. See what people think. Maybe it’ll be cheaper later.

VHOLUME has somehow managed to shut that voice up.

After playing the demo, I genuinely want to see where this goes. I want to learn the movement properly. I want to see the rest of that strange concrete city. I want to find out how far the developers can take the parkour when the demo is no longer holding back.

And maybe most importantly, I want to experience that feeling again—the one where you play something for the first time and immediately think:

“Oh. I really like this.”

VHOLUME launches tomorrow.

I’ve already got Steam open.

Vholume requirements