There’s a moment in every independent game’s lifecycle when the late-night whiteboard sessions, endless bouts of coffee, and sleepless coding marathons lead to something tangible – an actual glimpse of the game that players will soon hold in their hands.
For underDOGS Studio and their much-anticipated adventure, Mukti, that moment arrived on May 21, 2025, with the unveiling of the game’s first gameplay trailer. It’s a milestone that showcases how a small India-based game studio, backed by Sony’s India Hero Project, is daring to tackle one of humanity’s darkest scourges – human trafficking.
What is Mukti all about?
At its core, Mukti is a first-person narrative adventure. You slip into the shoes of Arya, a young woman on a mission to find her missing grandfather within the hallowed halls of his sprawling museum. It’s a setting that perfectly mirrors the game’s thematic underpinnings: peeling back layers of history to reveal buried, harrowing truths. The museum serves as both sanctuary and labyrinth, guiding players through exhibits of forgotten stories throughout the expanse of Mukti, according to the mind behind it.
Also read: GTA 6 set to release in May 2026 and here are 5 interesting facts we know about it
“The idea for Mukti came from a mix of curiosity and frustration,” explains underDOGS Studio founder and CEO Vaibhav Chavan. “We at underDOGS have always been drawn to telling grounded, meaningful stories through games and human trafficking is one of those dark realities that rarely gets explored in our medium, especially in an Indian context.” Chavan’s words underscore the studio’s commitment to authenticity – even as they navigate a medium more accustomed to dragons and dungeons than modern-day horrors.
Mukti’s evolution from a concept scribbled on a developer’s notebook to a polished trailer owes much to Sony’s India Hero Project. Launched to spotlight homegrown talent and stories, the initiative provided underDOGS not just with funding but also access to Sony’s production pipelines and technical expertise.
“Sony’s support goes far beyond just funding,” Chavan shares. “It’s about access to world-class expertise across tech, hardware, art, production and marketing. Every interaction with their internal teams feels like a masterclass, and we’re learning something new every single day.” It’s a partnership that has allowed the studio to bake in next-gen features – like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers for the PS5’s DualSense controller – without losing sight of the game’s narrative heart.
Made for PS5 as well as PC
Under the hood, Mukti is built to harness the full might of the PS5 and PS5 Pro, boasting stunning 4K environments and emotionally driven sequences. But the studio didn’t stop at visuals, as they’ve tuned their use of the DualSense controller to heighten emotional resonance.
Imagine the subtle thrum of the haptic motors as Arya traces her fingers across a dusty exhibit, or the progressive resistance of the adaptive triggers as you pry open a locked case. “Whether you’re pushing open a heavy door, flipping a switch or pulling an object with resistance, the tension adds a real sense of physicality and weight to your actions,” Chavan explains. “With DualSense, we’re not just telling the story – we’re letting players touch it.”
Also read: Best Gaming PC Under ₹50,000 in May 2025 – CPU, GPU, Motherboard, RAM, Storage, PSU, and Cabinet
On the PC side, underDOGS has laid out thoughtful minimum and recommended specs to ensure Mukti remains accessible without sacrificing its atmosphere. From an Intel Core i5-9400F paired with a GTX 1650 to a sizzling Core i7-12700K driving an RTX 4060 Ti, the game scales performance to hit a smooth 30 fps cap across the board – a deliberate choice to maintain its cinematic tone while welcoming players on entry-level hardware.
From history books to survivor voices
One of Mukti’s greatest strengths lies in its rigorous research and cultural authenticity. underDOGS didn’t simply pluck a museum off the internet, they actually designed a fictional space inspired by landmarks like Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, consulting architectural texts such as Claude Batley’s Indian Architecture to nail structural nuances.
Beyond bricks and mortar, the team poured over real-world data on human trafficking, poring through articles, reports, and survivor testimonies. “The story Mukti tells is a fictional one based on the experiences of real people, some of whom we managed to meet and listen to,” Chavan notes. This dedication ensures that while Mukti delivers a compelling gameplay experience, it does so without trivializing its subject matter.
A central challenge for any culturally rooted title is ensuring its themes resonate with a worldwide audience. underDOGS tackled this by leaning on universal motifs – freedom, resilience, and justice – while peppering in environmental storytelling, visual cues, and subtle translations to convey India’s unique textures. The result is a narrative that feels distinctly Indian yet universally human, inviting players from São Paulo to Singapore to see the world through Arya’s eyes.
Ultimately, Chavan envisions Mukti’s impact extending well beyond the console or PC. Plans for transmedia tie-ins – exhibitions, panel discussions, and educational partnerships – are already in the works. “Mukti doesn’t end when the game does. If it can open even one door to understanding or action, then it’s already doing what it was meant to,” he says. It’s a lofty goal, but one that reflects the studio’s belief in games as catalysts for conversation and change.
A new chapter for Indian Indie Games
underDOGS Studio’s journey with Mukti underscores a broader shift in the Indian gaming landscape. No longer are homegrown developers confined to small mobile titles or karaoke simulators. By blending compelling narratives, technical prowess, and cultural authenticity, studios like underDOGS are staking their claim on the global stage.
What’s more, in a medium driven by dragons and distant galaxies, Mukti’s grounded, human-scale story reminds us of the power of games to unearth truths, provoke empathy, and, above all, tell voices that deserve to be heard. Can’t wait to try the game out when it launches… soon.
Also read: DOOM: The Dark Ages on PC: A Performance Deep Dive
Follow Us
Jayesh Shinde
Executive Editor at Digit. Technology journalist since Jan 2008, with stints at Indiatimes.com and PCWorld.in. Enthusiastic dad, reluctant traveler, weekend gamer, LOTR nerd, pseudo bon vivant. View Full Profile
