Supernatural shooter ‘Witchfire’ confirms Early Access release date

Dark fantasy shooter Witchfire will be launching in Early Access this year, a new trailer at Summer Game Fest has revealed.

Though it was last slated to launch in early 2023, developer The Astronauts has confirmed that Witchfire will launch in Early Access on September 20.

The shooter will be available on PC via the Epic Games Store, and a trailer shared today (June 8) showcases the mix of weaponry that will be available to players — from lever-action riflers and crossbows, to “forbidden pagan magic”.

You can check out the latest Witchfire trailer below.

Described as a “dark fantasy roguelite shooter,” Witchfire follows a witch hunter who has been granted access to forbidden magic in order to fight a powerful witch and her army.

Speaking to Epic Games News, Adrian Chmielarz, The Astronauts’ co-founder and creative director, shared that Witchfire‘s latest trailer aims to showcase more of the game outside of its action sequences.

“The last few trailers were very combat focused and I think gave the wrong impression that Witchfire is a non-stop action fest,” shared Cmielarz. “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 [Dark] Souls in that regard rather than, say, Doom,” they added. “So that’s why the beginning of this new trailer is a little slower. We might slow down even more when there’s finally time for the launch trailer.”

While The Astronauts is best known for its debut mystery-horror The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter, Chmielarz and the studio’s co-founders also created People Can Fly — the developer behind first-person shooters Painkiller and Bulletstorm.

Last year, Chmielarz explained that Witchfire was taking longer to make than anticipated because it had been redesigned into a “semi-open world”.

In other gaming news, Paradox Interactive has shared new screenshots for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, with more news set to arrive in September.