The free-to-play phenomenon shows no signs of abating, with SEGA announcing that it will publish Spiral Knights. A cooperative online action game for up to four players, Spiral Knights takes place in a world known as Clockworks. As the brief announcement trailer demonstrates, players will not only have to cope with marauding enemies, but also with environments jam packed with steampunk inspired puzzles.

According to its publisher, this fantasy themed romp “skips the stereotypical level grind” and offers “classic console-style adventuring”. Given that Spiral Knights is, at least for the moment, a PC exclusive, one question immediately comes to mind. Are a great many PC gamers actually looking for a console experience?

Spiral Knights is in development at Three Rings, the American studio responsible for popular 2003 release Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates. A closed beta test is currently in progress, with the full game set to go live on Monday 4 April 2011.