If hauling out the trash feels like you’re barely moving the needle, why not go big and declutter the whole planet? Sounds about right? Then Clean Up Earth might be your thing—and soon you’ll be able to try it in a playable demo.

You might know developer Magic Pockets from the My Universe series; they also made Dolphin Spirit: Ocean Mission. This time, the French studio is once again handing you the eco-hero cape. In Clean Up Earth, you’ll be hoovering up junk with high-tech gear—apparently saving the planet is a job for sci-fi sanitation crews now.

Whether that’s thrilling or just filler is something you can test yourself when the playable demo lands on September 18, initially on PC via Steam. The date’s no accident, by the way: World Cleanup Day follows two days later on September 20. The full release is pencilled in for Q1 2026.

All heart, no hook?

Look, I’m totally on board with the message behind Clean Up Earth. But watching the announcement trailer (scroll down a bit), I started to worry. Sure, the cutesy first-person trash-sucking might remind you of Slime Rancher, and the 6-player co-op mode (alongside a standard single-player) is a solid call.

But seriously: why do the heroes look like choir kids with TikTok haircuts? Isn't cleaning up the world also a job for people with a little edge? Sadly, the gameplay shown in the trailer feels about as bland as the plastic protagonists. Besides sucking up garbage in pretty low-poly landscapes, not much else seems to be going on. At least for now.

Kickstarter campaign aims to add more gameplay

One of my first thoughts while watching the trailer was: where are the eco-villains? The shady corporations tossing bribes that instantly turn into trash? The “we’ll be long gone” tourists who leave both their brains and their bottles on tropical beaches?

Well, turns out those may show up after a successful Kickstarter campaign. It’s on the way—and its success won’t just decide which new mechanics make the cut, but also whether the game hits consoles at all.

Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’m still on the fence. There’s just no strong reason to invest yet. But hey, maybe Clean Up Earth will surprise us in the end and give us more to believe in than a turbocharged vacuum.