Polish studio The Astronauts, founded by ex-developers of Painkiller and Bulletstorm, has presented an updated development plan for the fantasy role-playing shooter Witchfire, which is in early access.
Image source: The Astronauts
In October, the authors promised to release updates every two months, but they couldn’t keep up the pace: because they decided to focus only on large additions, and the already released patches also require effort and attention.
The progress of Witchfire development compared to last fall is as follows:
- Three of the planned six regions (there were two);
- Three of at least six bosses (there were two);
- 41 of at least 46 enemy types (up from 22);
- 15 of at least 31 weapons (up from seven);
- 18 of at least 24 magical items (up from nine);
- 15 of at least 20 spells (up from nine).
Each next Witchfire update will include a set of new equipment
Currently, The Astronauts is working on reworking the stat system, the final region (Witch Mountain), improving alchemy, disasters, evacuation, research and prophecies, adding melee weapons, quests and a certain secret function.
Finally, the developers plan to tell a dramatic and dark story in Witchfire. Some of its passages (in the spirit of Souls games) are already in place, but the team is “aiming for something more.”
The list of planned features is preliminary and may change over time.
The Astronauts also presented an updated development schedule for Witchfire:
- Soon – launch of early access on Steam. The release will be celebrated with a small surprise (will also be available on the Epic Games Store);
- End of 2024 – small experimental patch with a new arena;
- January-February 2025 – major update with the largest map to date, additional enemies and minions (bosses), as well as spiders;
- Mid-2025 – another major update. It will introduce players to the final region (not counting Witch Mountain);
- End of 2025 – full release. Only on PC or even on consoles, the team has not yet decided.
Witchfire Early Access started on September 20, 2023 on EGS. Gamers take on the role of an altar turned witch hunter. The project mixed elements of Souls games, evacuation shooters and roguelikes.