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Bonfire Studios, founded by Rob Pardo (formerly of Blizzard Entertainment), has developed Arkheron. The game integrates elements from Diablo, Dark Souls, and PUBG to create a unique team-based PvPvE experience.
Pardo’s development team plays the game daily, gathering feedback and delivering improvements. They have been testing with a small community since last year, and are now launching their first public playtest on Steam from September 19-21.
Arkheron is set in a top-down view like Diablo but uses a free-aim camera system for precise aiming. This ensures both melee and ranged combatants can engage effectively without losing sight of targets. The game mode, Ascension Royale, involves fifteen teams competing to ascend a mysterious tower filled with Echoes—souls who died with unfinished business. Teams fight in a dungeon-like setting until only one remains.
In each match, players start with bare fists and must loot items from treasure chests, monster drops, quests, or by defeating opponents. After gearing up, the Abyssal Storm sweeps across levels, leaving beacons as safe zones. With fewer beacons than teams, securing your own beacon is crucial to avoid elimination. The final showdown occurs on the fourth floor.
Items are key in Arkheron; each has unique abilities, such as stuns or invisibility. Players can collect up to two set bonuses from Eternal Relics and transform into Eternals for additional abilities. However, this prevents returning to Echo form until the next match. Bonfire plans to narrate Arkheron through Eternals’ perspectives.
Matches last 25 minutes with teams choosing drop zones like in PUBG. A roaming Fury can disrupt fights; a skilled player defeated an entire team using it effectively. Despite non-competitive elements, Arkheron is primarily designed for competitive PvP. The public playtest is on PC, with full releases planned for PS5 and Xbox Series S|X.
The game supports both mouse and keyboard and controllers equally.
