Founded by industry veterans responsible for iconic franchises including Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft and World of Warcraft, the Bonfire team draws on the expertise and design principles honed on those titles to craft an innovative new PvP game.

While players will find familiar ideas and concepts in Arkheron, it isn’t about combining genres - it’s about creating something entirely new; a dynamic, fast-paced PvP gameplay experience set in a dark and foreboding world.

This is Arkheron - a dark, surreal dimension constructed from emotionally-charged memories of the living world. All here are anchored to the Tower by the grip of a past they can’t quite remember; driven to do whatever it takes to find answers and escape the destructive Abyss. 

In this fast-paced, dynamic PvP game, teams of three battle to ascend a mysterious Tower built from fragments of their life before. Here, items are the heroes - each one imbued with powerful abilities that shape how you fight, adapt, and outplay other teams. Build your strategy and identity on the fly by looting and combining items in real time, creating unique builds throughout every match. What you choose to carry defines not only what you can do, but who you can become.

Fight your way up the Tower in a series of one-team-takes-all showdowns in Ascension mode. Battle monsters, challenge rival teams and seize control of beacons floor by floor to ascend before time runs out. With each successful Ascension, the player pool shrinks, culminating in a final 3v3 showdown at the summit to claim victory before the Tower resets and a new cycle begin.

In the Tower, memories take shape as powerful weapons and abilities called Relics. Every Relic you pick up has the potential to shift how you play, letting you adapt your strategy on the fly. You can chase a full set of four matching Relics to transform into an Eternal and unlock a game-changing fifth ability. Or, discover your own playstyle: Mix and match Relics from different sets, swap them out as you find new ones and create a “shattered” build that’s uniquely yours, gaining set bonuses and custom synergies along the way. The choice is always yours - and it can change at any moment.

• Relics, imbued with powerful memories, offer dynamic abilities that can instantly redefine your capabilities. Each new Relic you claim brings you the chance to master its unique powers and abilities, but you keep them only as long as you carry that Relic with you.
• Some Relics belong to a set tied to an Eternal. Collect all four Relics to transform into that Eternal and gain a powerful fifth ability. The tradeoff is that transformation locks your playstyle for the remainder of the match.
• Adaptation breeds opportunity. Create a "shattered" build by mixing and matching Relics from different sets, adapting your strategy with every pickup. Unlock set bonuses and discover surprising combinations that fit your unique playstyle.

Arkheron’s isometric free-aim action keeps you locked into the fight; swiveling the camera to line up kill shots while dodging and striking at close range. The tight view makes combat strategic, fast-paced and intimate. Immersive audio heightens the pulse-pounding tension; you hear the danger before you see it, turning subtle sounds and music cues into vital keys for survival.

Charged emotions of the past create a world in constant flux. These shifting, distorted memories reshape the Tower and everything in it, as the haunting histories of the Eternals gradually unfold over time. This evolving narrative will add new layers of depth to the world around you as you fight to ascend as the Tower once again.

Players can sign up now on Steam for the upcoming playtest weekend, with queues for the main game mode open from the following times:

North America, South America and surrounding island countries:

• Friday Sep 19 || 11:00am - 11pm PDT
• Saturday Sep 20 || 11:00am - 11pm PDT
• Sunday Sep 21 || 11:00am - 11pm PDT

Europe, Russia, EMEA, and Africa:

• Friday Sep 19 || 5pm - 11pm CEST
• Saturday Sep 20 || 11:00am - 11pm  CEST
• Sunday Sep 21 || 11:00am - 11pm  CEST

Most of Asia as well as Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific:

• Saturday Sep 20 || 11:00am - 1am (Sun) KST
• Sunday Sep 21 || 11:00am - 1am (Mon) KST
• Monday Sep 22 || 6pm - 1am (Tue) KST

These are the minimum and recommended specs for the upcoming Alpha Playtests:

Recommended:

• Windows 10 or later
• Intel i5-9600K
• Nvidia RTX 2070 8GB VRAM
• 16GB RAM
• SSD 25Gb

Minimum:

• Windows 10 or later
• Intel i5-7600K
• Nvidia GTX 1060 6Gb VRAM
• 16GB RAM
• SSD 25Gb

Bonfire Studios CEO Rob Pardo provides insight into the team’s approach to playtesting

Welcome to the Arkheron Alpha!

It’s been a long road to get here. Making games is incredibly hard, and I have enormous respect for every team that perseveres through the journey to put something into players’ hands. Anyone that has built a game knows how messy it gets. Ideas that seem great on paper fall apart in practice, and you spend months chasing something you can only feel once it’s finally in your hands. 

One example for us was combat. It’s the soul of Arkheron, but it didn’t come easy. We tried one model, then another, then another, and every time we thought maybe we were close, it still didn’t feel right. But the team persevered. Not because it was easy, but because they believed in the game we were making. They believed in each other. 

We tore down and rebuilt the combat four separate times before we finally found the right version. After the long road, what we have now is something rare; a game that looks familiar at a glance, but when you play, you realize it’s authentically unique.

Once we had a representative game, one of the most important things we did was start a ritual that continues to this day: Every morning, first thing, the team sits down to play Arkheron. Afterward we gather, talk about what worked, what didn’t, and what we want to change. Then we spend the day making adjustments. By the next morning, we’re playing a new build. 

There’s something powerful about working that way. Instead of debating design documents or speculating about what might be fun months down the line, we get to feel the results of our decisions immediately. It’s the experience of playing a game you already enjoy, making it better, and then playing the improved version the very next day. That process cuts through all theorycrafting - either something is fun or it’s not. 

That daily loop of playing and improving became the heartbeat of our development. It also shaped how we thought about opening the doors to others.

At first, it was just us. As we playtested Arkheron internally, something rare happened. The team fell in love with the game. That might sound obvious, but for experienced developers it isn’t. Many of us have been through projects where the work is meaningful, but the daily playtests feel like a chore. With Arkheron it was different. People didn’t want to miss a session. They got frustrated if servers went down on a holiday. They grumbled when a playtest was canceled. 

That’s when you know you’ve found something that is special. It’s when a group of veteran developers can’t stop playing their own game. 

After that, we began expanding the circle. Friends and family joined our sessions. Later, we brought in highly skilled players who could stress-test the game in competitive play and push Arkheron in ways we never could have on our own. 

Earlier this year, we ran a private playtest tied to a small teaser announcement. Because Arkheron doesn’t sit neatly in a genre box, we wanted to bring in players from all kinds of competitive backgrounds. It was a wide net, and it gave us valuable lessons. Not only about the kinds of players who felt most at home in Arkheron, but also about what it feels like to operate the game like a live service.

Now we’re ready to take the next step. This weekend, we’ll be expanding the circle again and welcoming thousands of new players into Arkheron for the Alpha.

We want to set expectations for the Alpha clearly - Arkheron has a steep learning curve, and onboarding is still early. We are working on ways to improve it, including videos, tutorials, and social matchmaking, but there’s still a lot of work ahead of us. You’ll also see an early version of bots in the game this weekend, but right now their main role is to give newer players a bit of breathing room in their matches and to help smooth out requeue times when the player population is low.

Matchmaking is in an early state as well; what you’ll be playing this weekend is essentially our first prototype. With only a weekend of play, it will get a little better as more matches are played, but you should expect to run into games with players of mismatched skill as we work on tuning and improving it.

Playtesting is how we make Arkheron better. It’s how we’ll continue to play the game to make the game, listen to our community and let the fun guide us toward launch.

For some of you, the rough edges may feel too sharp right now. That’s okay. We will keep working, and we hope you will give it another chance down the road. Some of you might even try it and realize Arkheron is simply not for you. That’s okay too. There are so many great games out there, and every player should spend their time with the ones they truly love.

But maybe you’ll connect with Arkheron right away. You’ll find yourself drawn into the combat, experimenting with builds and fighting alongside your team to reach the top of the Tower. If that happens, we want your help to make Arkheron better. Tell us what is exciting, or where we miss the mark. Your feedback is how we will turn this into a game that lasts.

On behalf of the Arkheron team, thank you for joining us on our journey. We hope you feel what we feel every day when we sit down to play: the passion, the fun, and the belief that Arkheron can become something truly special.

We cannot wait to ascend the Tower with you!

-Rob

Building on last week’s reveal of a partnership with HYBE IM to publish Arkheron in Korea and Japan, Bonfire also secured new investments from Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund and Altos Ventures, among others, which will fuel the remaining development of Arkheron as the team readies it for global launch.

As Bonfire continues its work on Arkheron, the studio is growing, with open roles on its Engineering, Art, Audio and Publishing teams. Interested candidates can learn more and apply on the Bonfire website.

Arkheron is in development for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam).