Witchfire is a first person shooter focused on challenge and mastery, it’s accessible and there are many roads to the ultimate victory but you’ll still need to prove your witch-hunting skills if you’re after all of its secrets.

During the 300 years of European witch hunts that started in the 15th century, tens of thousands of women, men and children lost their lives due to superstition, politics and profit.

But that’s our history and our world.

In the world of Witchfire, witches are real.

And you are the punishing hand of the Church.

That’s the core idea behind the game, even if things are not as black-and-white as one might think.

In Witchfire, a deadly war rages between powerful witches and the Church. In this alternate reality, witches are very real and very dangerous— but so is the witch hunter. Armed by Vatican sorcerers, players wield an ungodly array of guns and forbidden magic as they combat dark terrors on behalf of their shadowy benefactors.

Built in the Unreal Engine 4, Witchfire boasts AAA graphics made by an indie team of only nine people. Players explore gorgeous, semi open-world levels, featuring advanced photogrammetry and post-processing that create an immersive and realistic dark fantasy world.

Initially announced at the 2017 Game Awards, reintroduced at Summer Game Fest 2022, Witchfire is getting delayed until early 2023.

The Astronauts announced that 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. 

“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.”

Chmielarz confirmed he is confident in the 2023 release target, adding that high quality gameplay was more important to the team than a 2022 launch date.

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.”

Witchfire uses the photogrammetry tech The Astronauts previously used in The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. This tech allows the devs to 3D scan real-life objects – even entire buildings! – and use them as digital assets in our games for unparalleled visual quality, and natural, organic look and feel. The Astronauts believe we can push the tech even further, with new tools, hardware, and all the experience we gathered during the development of their first game and can’t wait to bring you along on the ride.

Witchfire will launch into Early Access (Epic Games Store) in 2023.