The Escapists 3

The Escapists 3 is Team17's new prison break sandbox. The series moves its gameplay into a fully three-dimensional world. As an inmate, players watch guard routines, complete jobs, acquire items and look for weaknesses in the prisons in order to prepare an escape alone or with others.

As in the previous games, the appeal comes from the interplay of rules and improvisation. Whoever shows up for roll call avoids attention. Whoever breaks out of the routine can craft tools, use a disguise or look for an alternative route to the exit. No fixed escape route is prescribed.

Team17 announced The Escapists 3 on Oct 8, 2026 at the Triple-i Initiative Showcase. The studio names 2027 as the planned release year for PC and current consoles. Steam does not yet list a specific month or day; the PC version can only be wishlisted there for now.

This is the third main instalment, not a remake of the older prison sandbox or an expansion pack for The Escapists 2.

Native versions are announced for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2. The Windows version can already be wishlisted on Steam. The Xbox Store confirms native Xbox Series support as well as Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning the Xbox purchase should also apply on a supported Windows PC.

An Xbox One, PS4 or Switch 1 version has not been announced. Backward compatibility with older Escapists games is no proof of a native version of the third game.

Compared with the two-dimensional presentation of earlier parts, the 3D sandbox opens up new ways of moving. Team17 names digging under walls, climbing over obstacles, sneaking, fighting and disguising yourself as components of possible escape plans.

Players must observe daily routines and patrols, complete job-specific tasks and gain advantages through their own decisions. The presentation has changed, but the core remains a sandbox in which several solutions to the same prison should be possible.

Team17 announces five standalone prisons with different guard routines, characters, secrets and escape routes. Getting past the outer boundary does not necessarily mean you have reached your goal. Beyond the prison, the publisher mentions further obstacles, including forests, ravines, catacombs and dangerous waters.

The escape is not supposed to come down to the right door or the right tunnel. The environments may require further stages of the plan. How long the individual prisons are cannot yet be reliably estimated from the announcement.

Over 120 items and weapons can reportedly be collected, traded or crafted. Players search cells, trade with other inmates and earn money through work. Tools, disguises and equipment can be made from materials you find.

Items form the basis for very different escape routes. However, Team17 has not yet published a full list of all recipes or a guarantee that every object will be available in every prison.

Prisoners earn experience points, which unlock new abilities and gameplay options. Progression is also meant to matter between prisons. Team17 also describes ways to customise your own cell.

Progression may support different playstyles, such as direct confrontation or stealthy approaches. More detailed talent trees, unlock costs or permanent stats have not been published so far.

The Escapists 3 can be played alone. Locally, two people in split-screen are planned. Through online co-op, up to four players can team up, divide tasks and coordinate the individual stages of the escape.

Crossplay features for online multiplayer have also been announced on the Xbox Store. The Steam feature overview additionally lists online PvP and split-screen PvP. Which specific game modes will be available at launch and which platform pairs can play together remains open based on the first store descriptions.

Team17 has not yet published the final PC system requirements. On Steam, CPU, RAM, graphics and required storage are still marked as "TBD". Exact performance on consoles has not been documented yet either.

In its current version, the Steam store page lists only English as a supported interface language. No firm commitment to further translations has been made there yet.