Today, The Astronauts officially confirmed that its grimdark fantasy first-person shooter Witchfire will be launching into Early Access on PC on Sept. 20, 2023.
Accompanying the announcement was a brand-new trailer showcasing the eerie gothic shooter in action. Go ahead and check out the latest footage down below:
From the same studio who brought us 2014’s critically acclaimed and BAFTA award-winning The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Witchfire looks set to be the Souls-like FPS that you never thought you needed.
Featuring no cutscenes and myriad roguelike elements, players step into the shoes of a Preyer — a witch hunter armed to the teeth with powerful sorceries sanctioned by the Vatican, as well as enough hot lead to start a new pencil company.
Visually, the atmospheric shooter uses the Unreal Engine and looks really impressive, especially for such a small team (the developer numbers just ten). Plus, the studio has gone on record to describe the game as much closer in style to the Souls formula than other FPS’ like DOOM.
The last few trailers were very combat focused and I think gave the wrong impression that Witchfire is a non-stop action fest. It is not. Sure, some fights will be incredibly intense, but there are also periods of quiet exploration, planning, thinking. It is much closer to Souls in that regard rather than, say, Doom. So that’s why the beginning of this new trailer is a little slower.
Adrian Chmielarz, Creative Director and Co-Founder of The Astronauts
Right now, there’s no news on whether the game will be coming to consoles, though it’s worth noting that the Polish developer’s debut title did release on PC first and then made its way to other platforms in the future. Whether the same will happen with Witchfire is unclear at the moment.
Witchfire launches into Early Access on PC on Sept. 20, 2023.
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