Panic, the company behind the adorable Playdate handheld, is holding an event next week to share some updates on new games and the device’s upcoming storefront. The update — called Playdate Update — will be 13 minutes long and take place on March 7th at 12PM ET. The company says that it “will be focusing on some new games coming very soon to the handheld,” along with Catalog, an upcoming storefront for new releases.
Playdate first started shipping handhelds last April (though not everywhere), and Panic says that more than 25,000 units have been shipped to date. At launch, the device came bundled with a season of games from notable developers like Zach Gage and Keita Takahashi, but Playdate owners could also sideload games released through platforms like Itch.io. Catalog is meant to be a way to make it easier to find and purchase new titles; it’s described as “Panic’s own curated, on-device and web browser storefront for Playdate software.” It’s not clear yet when it might be available.
We’ll likely hear more about Catalog’s release timing next week during the event. You’ll be able to check out the presentation on YouTube.