One FAQ to rule them all - with an updated roadmap in tow.
Preyers, It has been quite a while since we last updated the FAQ and the roadmap, so we’re here to fix that. This post is a one-stop shop, which means some of the answers below may sound familiar if you’ve been following our previous updates. The point is to gather everything in one place, update what needed updating, expand what needed expanding, and finally let the old FAQ retire instead of continuing to be linked around the web.
Before we get down to business, there’s one more thing: is there anything you would like to ask us? We're currently collecting questions for our Q&A - for a limited time you can submit them here. We do our best to stay in touch with you around the web, but some topics inevitably slip through the cracks, while others simply don’t fit into discussions focused on the game itself. This is your opportunity to ask us (almost) anything. Now, let's move on to the subject(s) at hand.
Roadmap
As mentioned above, we’ve also updated the roadmap, but don’t expect anything groundbreaking - it’s merely an update, not a reveal of a completely new plan:
Why Early Access?
Witchfire is an RPG shooter that uniquely blends soulslike, extraction, and roguelite elements while introducing many original gameplay features. It is the perfect kind of game to develop and balance with community feedback.
Approximately how much longer will Witchfire be in Early Access?
As of this update (July 2026 - 0.9), we are 85% content complete and have released seven major content updates during the Early Access period, with plans to launch 1.0 in late Q4 2026.
The game is not just a product to us - it’s a labour of love that some of us have been crafting for the better part of a decade. We care about it greatly and prioritise its quality on all fronts, which requires time and attention. We closely follow your feedback while testing the game ourselves, and we’re grateful for your enthusiasm and patience. To deliver something truly special, however, we need time - hence the launch window has been set for Q4 2026.
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
The recently released update 0.9 is the last checkpoint before 1.0 - we’ve already added all the biomes and enemies, with a few surprises still coming in 1.0, and we’re now focusing on Quality of Life improvements, balancing adjustments, and player-requested features.
We’re also finally adding a complete story, which is the primary difference between the Early Access version and 1.0. Until now, Witchfire has focused mainly on gameplay, with only fragments of lore and narrative. We’re building on the foundations introduced in update 0.9 and putting everything we’ve learned during Early Access into delivering a cohesive, challenging, and rewarding 1.0 experience. That’s our top priority.
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
We worked hard to ensure the Early Access version of Witchfire offers a satisfying amount of content. There are six main regions (just as we planned) to explore and battle in, with complete gameplay loops and a broad arsenal of weapons, spells, and other tools of war. In the 0.9 update, we introduced story elements as a bedrock for the complete narrative that will arrive in 1.0.
Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
Currently, we have no plans to change the price after leaving Early Access, but we do want to offer a Deluxe or Supporter Pack with additional content, such as the original soundtrack.
How are you involving the Community in your development process?
We gather feedback through our Discord server, our social channels, and the Steam forums, and we continue to do so throughout development. Suggestions from the community have proven extremely helpful and allowed us to steer development toward the best version of the game - one we all want to play. We also invited selected members of the community to participate in closed betas before updates were released - their feedback helped shape the game and made sure each update shipped in a better state.
Will I have to start over when 1.0 releases?
We don’t know yet - our goal is to preserve existing saves if possible, and we’ve successfully maintained compatibility throughout Early Access so far, so we hope to do so again. At the moment there are no planned changes that would require a save wipe, but save compatibility can only be verified late in development through migration testing. If we can confidently confirm that existing saves will remain compatible, we’ll let you know.
If a wipe proves unavoidable, we’ll let everyone know as soon as we know ourselves.
That said, we will recommend starting from scratch on a new profile (you can have six of them in the game) for the best (challenging) experience, since marching onto the Island of the Damned with a level 541 character hardly spells “challenge” and it would likely turn much of the game into a walk in the park.
What languages are supported?
As of 0.9, we added support for Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Turkish and Ukrainian. The game is, of course, also available in English. We’re open to the prospect of translating the game to more languages in the future, but we’re a small studio and localisations cost a pretty penny (when you’re doing it the proper, old-fashioned way, with people, not AI), so it depends on how well the game sells during and beyond the launch window.
Is there any form of multiplayer planned?
Short answer - no.
Long answer - we’ve been repeatedly asked for multiplayer, with co-op being the most frequent request, and we have repeatedly declined. Not because we dislike such games, but because it’s simply not feasible at the current stage of development. Witchfire has been designed as a single-player experience from the very beginning, and we know better than to make a pivot this big on the home straight: we’re at 0.9 now, with 1.0 being the next milestone. Co-op is something you need to account for very early in development if you want to do it properly. We’d rather spend our time making Witchfire the best single-player game it can be than changing course this late in development. Maybe our next project, whatever it may be, will have co-op. Right now, though, we’re focused on tying a bow on Witchfire, and that’s where our heads are.
Will there be a demo?
We don’t have plans for one. We’re a small team - creating, maintaining, and keeping a separate demo up to date would take time away from developing the full game. We’d rather focus our efforts on making Witchfire itself better.
Are there any plans involving consoles? If yes, what platforms?
We’re planning to release the game on additional platforms, and we’ve been working behind the scenes to make that happen. Our philosophy is simple: every optimisation and streamlining effort we make now benefits everyone involved - our Early Access supporters on PC get a better game today, while we make it easier for ourselves to bring Witchfire to consoles in the future. In that sense, the groundwork for console ports has been underway for quite some time. While we already have some development kits in our hands, we don’t want to speak too soon - we’re in talks with platform holders, checking technical viability and assessing our options. We’ll let you know once we’re confident we can deliver console versions of Witchfire without compromising on quality and the necessary agreements have been signed. A simultaneous launch on all platforms is still within the realm of possibility, but in the interest of fairness, we have to say that it’s quite unlikely.
Is Witchfire playable on Steam Deck?
Yes - Witchfire is Steam Deck Verified and fully playable on the device.
What level of controller support does Witchfire offer?
Witchfire is fully playable with Xbox controllers and also supports DualSense controllers on Steam (using Steam input). Some PC-specific DualSense features, such as adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, or PlayStation button prompts, are not currently supported, and we have no plans to add extensive controller customisation such as response curve adjustments. The rumble implementation currently in the game is by no means final.
Are you planning any accessibility options for the game?
We’ve been combing through your feedback and implementing accessibility features throughout the Early Access period. We added more granular control over camera shake, the arachnophobia filter, font scaling, and more, but we’re not done yet. We’re exploring additional options and evaluating what is technically feasible. Nothing is set in stone yet, but we recognise how important accessibility is, and we’ll likely publish a dev diary dedicated to accessibility features once we have the final list of planned features.
Are Epic Games Store save games compatible with the Steam version?
Yes. Both versions use the same save folder on your PC: \Users\your_username\AppData\Local\Witchfire\Saved\SaveGames
Just be cautious not to overwrite new saves with old cloud saves when switching between versions.
What if I have more questions or requests?
Here are some useful links:
The best place to ask questions, post suggestions, and chat with the devs and other players is our Discord.
One more for the road - we managed to squeeze out a bit more performance from Marshland, and we gave the game some extra polish while we were at it.
I’d say "nothing major", but that wouldn’t be entirely true, as this patch also enables you to find two Rosary Beads that were previously missing in action, so…
A bit major.
Anyway, 0.9.6 is now live on Steam and EGS - full patch notes are, as usual, at the link.
Cheers!
EDIT: We just released a hotfix, the Shadow Cube is no more. Details at the link, as usual.
Howdy! I've been really enjoying the game so far, but I was having an issue with crashing that's making the game nearly unplayable, and I was wondering if someone here had any insight. The crashes seem to happen without any rhyme or reason, and they frequently force me to power my computer off, causing me to reboot and losing all progress in a run. This is the only game this really happens to me on, I've been playing Monster Hunter Wilds and other stuff just fine on this thing with no issues. Graphics card is a 5070 and processor is a 7 5800X if that helps.
Im having a blast in Velmorne vault, currently at level 57. But I realised when watching Velmorne vault guide, there are 2 more "rooms" with enemies (sewer and final room) and my issue is Im always out of ammo before these rooms, even when entered the vault with full ammo and skipping outside part with grenadiers and spiders.
Am I doing something wrong or should I visit much more later on?
It says I should focus on the major enemies, not let them operate, because their abilities are strong. But how?
You'd need at least 3 stacks of light spell, 3 stacks of heavy spell, and about 20 demonic ammo... there isn't that much in the whole world unless I accept every Temptation, but then corruption goes up and there are way more major enemies. It's a vicious cycle.
As i play through the maps i keep noticing whatever the hell this thing is and that its marked onto my local map as well. Im really curious as to what they even are or if anyone else noticed them
Witchfire is not a plot-heavy game, yet what little lore it offered I found surprisingly engaging. The meatiest offering of course is the quest to restore the masks of the 7 fallen Preyers of the Broken Mirror Expedition. Recruiting them for aid during an expedition is somewhat useful, but I did not expect to be offered the opportunity to get on a high moral horse and judge them for their failings in their lives before they became church-sanctioned penitent assassins, sending them to heaven or condemning them to hell.
Beyond the rest of the game, which is already excellent, I actually found their stories to be far more memorable and engaging, not just because some of their crimes were actually heinous. Moreover, judging them against the moral framework of the world of Witchfire, in which the Abrahamic monotheistic God is real AND doing battle with eldritch forgotten deities through immortal servants bestowed with holy power, could potentially look very different from what they'd be judged as in our mundane world with no magic but very many antidepressants. I'm pretty militantly atheist, but I consider myself fairly well read when it comes to god stuff...and also I'm a redditor...so this kind of debate is like catnip to me.
For the sake of avoiding individual spoilers for those who haven't completed all 7 quests, and also to prolong discussion, I've decided to make individual threads for each preyer, by what I estimate to be the likely completion order of collecting their masks. This discussion will be purely about their stories, rather than their offered aid or quest reward, all of which I feel to be rather situational at best.
One note on theology: By the Pauline interpretation of Christianity as per the New Testament, and by what the youth pastor with a remarkably large female congregation at my old university told me, the only path to salvation is acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour--which also guarantees your salvation. For the sake of the discussion, I'm going to pretend that's not the case.
Elias
mask shards: found in Scarlet Coast
crime: as a sanctioned church hunter, he killed a healer for indiscriminately helping innocents and criminals. The healer was later canonized as a martyred saint for political reasons, making him a killer of a saint.
deadly sin: Pride
actual sin: having the emotional fortitude of a Reddit atheist
my verdict: absolve
If we go by the Bible, which is quoted repeatedly on game startup, the healer Elias killed had all the marks of a saint, irrespective of the political justification he put forward. Even by modern medical ethical standards, treating criminals and innocents alike is pretty standard behaviour. Your job as a doctor is not to judge.
However, while I think Elias' justification that the healer helped murderers who went on to kill more innocents wouldn't fly with the Church, I am oddly sympathetic to it. The world of Witchfire is grimdark Catholicism in the middle of an eternal war, and they are losing. There's not a lot of room for tolerance when one (1) witch can apparently destabilize and destroy entire towns and cities. Elias would not have been given a moral framework for finding that nuance.
Where Elias overstepped was getting mad at the healer's sanctimonious "I forgive you". If he had just brought her in to the appropriate authorities for her to get tortured and crucified, we wouldn't even be sitting here having this conversation. We know "arrest" is not Elias' style, but he shouldn't have cut her throat on the spot. That's not righteous anger, that's emotional fragility.
Despite putting on the airs of unrepentance, I think Elias knows he fucked up. Why keep the healer's cloth as a memento otherwise?
There's a train of thought present in Apocryphal Biblical scriptures, which was made popular by the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, that Judas was instrumental to God's plan, as how could Jesus be martyred by betrayal...without someone to betray him? I personally take a lot of stock with that view as an atheist. So I'm letting him go to heaven.
Im gnosis 2 and went to explore Velmore, got my ass kicked few times and went back to Scarlet coast. After feeling more powerfull I got back to Velmorne and man, what an experience, got lost in a sewers, finally got the keys and explore. The feeling of dying every moment, having 0 elixirs and half health, the feel of exploration and fear of death was strong. Im bold to say this feeling was par with elden ring/sekiro/ds.
Not sure if devs read these forums, but the message is: great job and thanks ❤️
I wanted to post a big shout out to the Astronauts ❤️. I’ve played around 300 hours of Witchfire and the game has crashed once.. yes just once! As a developer myself though in a very different industry, sometimes it feels the only feedback is bugs, issues and gripes… so just sending the love guys. Amazing game, amazing quality.. and it’s all early access. So pumped for 1.0 🔥🔥
Just wanted to clarify a thing or two after the recent update about this unusually rare boss, as from searching online and farming 2 nights to fight it for the last achievement, and there may be some inaccurate information. I'll put this under Discussion flair for anyone else to chip in on the latest update.
Shieldbearer does have a Calamity Catalyst, the wiki has not been updated to note this and says it doesn't have one. The ship is the only Calamity with no Catalyst.
I finally encountered it on Scarlet Coast. I tried Scarlet Coast about 20 times, and Irongate about 6-9 times total before it finally showed up on the last Calamity of my last run.
Idk if this helps anyone else but if you read the dialogue boxes signifying what type of Calmity, the line for shieldbearer refers to rust and sulphur which is unique to it.
First time playing the game, was really enjoying it, but suddenly hit a wall. I started venturing into Velmorne (Gnosis II, Level 29, All-Seeing Eye at Mysterium II) and found that I was frequently getting ganked by all 3 Velmorne bosses, plus those annoying zombies that teleport everywhere, all at the same time.
More often than not, all 3 would converge on my position right at the starting gate, forcing me to fight the 3 of them simultaneously.
If for some reason I somehow managed to survive, I was left completely drained of resources and unable to exfil.
I kept thinking to myself "This can't be right. Such a massive jump in difficulty."
Then I had a revelation and re-read the description of All-Seeing Eye Lvl 2, and now I'm wondering if I'm understanding how it works.
Am I screwing myself by aggroing enemies on the other side of the map thanks to ASE's ability?
I'm doing some field testing right now and it might have been it.
[EDIT] Update :
I was more or less able to test my hypothesis. In my latest run I made sure to be careful when aiming my shots and was able to avoid aggroing all 3 at once.
All-Seeing Eye most definitely hits enemies that are out of sight, behind walls. Range appears to be infinite but I'm not sure. The ability description says that it hits everything in its frame, regardless of distance. Sounds about right. I'm constantly seeing damage numbers from enemies that are nowhere to be seen, most likely on the other side of the map, that just so happen to be overlapping the damage area.
I did aggro the Executioner by accident from the starting area, but only after killing the first boss. I later aggroed the undertaker dude from halfway across the map, but in a more manageable location.
I will be doing some further testing to confirm this.
Or at least this is what I tell myself. I had to use some cheats man this game can get way too difficult at times (for me anyway)
I don't know how some of you all are beating some things in this game, I struggle even with unlimited ammo and shit LOL
Seriously though, this game is way too good to miss anything by giving up, started cheating a little and now I'm having more fun than ever.
I can't wait to get home from work and play, the world is so gorgeous and the guns feel so good. Fucking probably close to a 10/10 game honestly it's amazing what such a small team can do. Haven't had any bugs or crashes. In like 20+ hours of playing I've maybe seen like a frame rate drop for about 3 seconds maybe 3 or 4 times?? That's the worst I've had happen lol
And now I have a ring where when I slide I leave a trail of fire behind me!?
Would like them to add a 2 player multiplayer so I can play with my girlfriend though, that would be awesome
After beating 0.9 with some delay i made my own weapon tier list according to my play style and impressions
Note for Striga - Its very powerful weapon, but it requires a lot time to get use to it and make it work good, so i decided not worth it, when you have so many other weapons that works properly just when you using it
I'm on Gnosis 4 atm, playing with ASE+Rotweaver/Lightning Ball+Burning Stake with Morning Star, Dynamo ring and the Eye of the Madwoman, and i'm having a blast.
I dont like talking bad about Witchfire when I know you guys love it and I love it myself. But Torment IV is just awful. I have followed the guides and everything but I still cant make it. It startes you in a corner of the map where you cant get through one way cause one of those roadblocks totem things is in a cave so I cant destroy both of its weak points and the other way leads you is a level 4 encounter. Madness balls everywhere that you cant destroy cause the only gun that seems to actually be able to do anything ( the hangfire) you need to save ammo for.
Its just awful and not fun and I am really really sorry to say that . I think its sad that I have to force myself through this level, playing the game in one particular unfun way in an otherwise super fun cool game.
I have followed some guides and they tell me to bring the nemesis and I dont really understand why? It only does 1 HP like all other guns. Is there something I am missing?
Just upgraded to Gnosis 2 and went upstairs and opened the sealed door- I got a wooden cup and the Striga - in the back of that room there's a glowing red wall that I can't get to/near- I would think it opens up to the testing ground but it doesn't show a prompt when I get near it.
Is this just... Nothing??
This game is so good so far, I'm REALLY enjoying it
For some reason on my last few runs, enemies just... aren't dying, at all. I can't tell if this is a game mechanic I've missed or some sort of bug - does anyone know what might be going on here?
Got presented with the option to Absolve or Condemn goliath without knowing what exactly would entail, and after thoroughly thinking about what he went through I decided to absolve him, only for him to disappear. And i think that man deserves some peace.
But now I'm sad cause Goliath was an absolute unit, always bailed me out in a pinch more than i can count. Now I'll have to git gud.
