Witchfire
Witchfire Adds Open-World Combat; Release Date Moved to 2023
Posted October 12, 2022The Astronauts announced today that their dark fantasy shooter, Witchfire, is now on track for release in early 2023. Initially slated to launch to Early Access on the Epic Games Store in Q4 of 2022, the shift in schedule is due to an upgrade to Witchfire’s combat system from arena-style to open-world fighting.
Creative Director and Co-Founder, Adrian Chmielarz shared further details in a Witchfire Wednesday blog post:
Creative Director and Co-Founder, Adrian Chmielarz shared further details in a Witchfire Wednesday blog post:
“The feature is now 95% implemented. It makes the game better. It is kind of hard for me to imagine the player did not have that freedom before. Sure, you can still be trapped by the witch in this or that spot, and some doors will be closed until you find a key, and it might be too dangerous to enter areas closer to the boss before you are ready– but the world is wide open for you to explore in almost any order, and you can both push forward and retreat as you please.”
From the creators of Painkiller and Bulletstorm, Witchfire is a first-person shooter set in a grimdark fantasy world. First announced in the 2017 Game Awards, and re-revealed in Summer Game Fest 2022, it will be the second release for The Astronauts, following the BAFTA award-winning title, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. The Astronauts assure fans that the highly anticipated title will be worth the wait: Witchfire boasts AAA Unreal Engine graphics with photogrammetry effects to create an immersive fantasy world, and gripping first-person gunplay— now with open-world combat environments.
Chmielarz hinted there’s more Witchfire content to look forward to in October:
“Last but not least, expect something nice in a week or two. Let’s call it Witchfire Halloween Week. It won’t be any gameplay footage or stream or such, but if you are interested in the story and the world and great 2D art, it’s going to be a treat.”
Stay tuned for more details on an official Early Access release date. For more information about Witchfire, head to The Astronauts website, wishlist the game on the Epic Games Store, follow the team on Facebook, or join the conversation on Twitter.
About The Astronauts
In 2012, the original founders of People Can Fly and the creative leads behind Painkiller and Bulletstorm started a new independent studio. They named it The Astronauts to emphasize the idea of visiting unknown worlds and taking risky but exciting new directions— which explains why their first game, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, was a weird fiction horror, and the second, Witchfire, is a dark fantasy first-person shooter.
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