Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel News

Hey Jotunnslayers!

💥 It's finally here 💥

The long-awaited Jotunnslayer PUBLIC DEMO is OUT and ready for you to dive into right now!

This huge milestone in our game’s development has been achieved thanks to your support and the incredibly valuable feedback you shared with us during the playtest phase.

As promised, the demo includes many of the improvements you requested, along with even more fun content for hours to play!

WHAT'S NEW IN THE PUBLIC DEMO?

- UX/UI changes and improvements
- New icons and updated visuals with a fresh makeover
- Tons of optimization work
- Bug fixes
- Skill evolutions
- And that new hero...

THE DARK SEERESS



Jump into the Jotunnslayer PUBLIC DEMO here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2820820/Jotunnslayer_Hordes_of_Hel/

and catch some vibe from the OFFICIAL DEMO TRAILER: https://youtu.be/4CBRUq0PGqY


FEEDBACK FEEDBACK FEEDBACK

Don`t forget that your feedback is more important than ever! We invite you to share all your suggestions, long comments, and ideas on Discord.


Tweaking and polishing are still ongoing—let’s make this the best it can be together!
Hit it now! Share your impressions and happy slaying!

Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel Dev Team

Hey Jotunnslayers!

It's been a while since our last dev blog, and that's because we've been busy fixing, rethinking, designing, redesigning and improving Jotunnslayer based on your incessant waves of invaluable playtest feedback—thank you so much for that once again!

Today, we want to update you on the progress we've made in response to some of the topics you've frequently mentioned, as well as the current status of the build. So, in this episode of the Jotunnslayer Dev Blog #6, let's scratch the surface of the following:


Screen Shake - It's worth mentioning again that the screen shake issue has been addressed and the option to turn it off or reduce its visibility in the game will be available in the demo version. We've implemented a screen shake intensity slider, allowing you to adjust it from 0% to 200%.

Gameplay Mechanics - Based on your feedback, skill evolves have been added to the game. That being said, every skill now has its ultimate level. Since we are currently focused on refining the system architecture, some additional skills and items are on hold for now. We completely understand how eager you all are for new builds and content, and we promise that we are committed to delivering them over time. Rest assured, we have big plans for this game!

New Class Releases - We’re hard at work on the public demo, which will introduce a new character, the Seeress. Following that, two additional classes will be available in Early Access, with more classes to be added in future updates.

THE DARK SEERESS







New God Releases - New gods are definitely in our plans. While they won’t be implemented in the upcoming demo due to our current workload, they will be available in later versions and updates.

Quest Diversity - Even though other priorities have taken precedence for now and our team has been producing new content at a certain pace, we’ll definitely make quests more diverse in the Early Access version.

How about the UI/UX? Has it undergone any changes?

The GUI has been completely reworked, and the new version will be featured in the public demo. It’s sleeker and designed to allow for seamless addition of new content in the future. We’re eager to hear what you think of it!

Virtues (formerly Temple) UI BEFORE



Virtues UI AFTER











—-


In the second part, we want to share some exciting news that you might have been expecting:

Cologne, Jotunnslayer is coming to Gamescom!

If you’re planning to attend, be sure to drop by our booth at the

Indie Arena Booth, Hall 10.2, Booth F010g-E019f
August 21 - 25
Gamescom, Cologne

Let’s take this opportunity to meet, chat, and, of course, try out the exclusive Gamescom build of Jotunnslayer with plenty of new content!

Plus, beware—you might leave our booth sporting some Viking-style temporary tattoos!




We hope to see you there!
All you Vikings, feel free to keep leaving us questions in the Q&A thread on Discord.
More news (and some face reveals) is on the way!
Cheers!

Hey Jotunnslayers!

We've got some really cool news today!

We don't want to limit you to just our feedback forms after the playtest build—we want to hear your questions in free form, too!

That's why we're launching a Q&A thread on Discord , where you can drop all your questions for the dev team behind Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel anytime!







We'll gather your questions and prepare a video episode where you'll get to see our faces for the first time and hear directly from us about our plans, thoughts, and anything else you want to know.

So simply put… COME AND ASK!

Based on the volume of questions in this initial round, we'll prepare a video where our dev hero will cover your questions firsthand. And if not all the questions are addressed in the first Q&A dev episode, no worries—we'll do another one soon after.

Thanks for being here and unselfishly sharing your ideas and suggestions, helping us refine Jotunnslayer into an experience you won't want to leave.

See you in the Q&A dev sessions!
Cheers!

Hey Survivors!

Thank you so much for participating in the Jotunnslayer playtest and for the incredible feedback you've shared so far. Like we already mentioned multiple times, your input is invaluable at this stage of development. Remember, our next milestone is a polished and fine-tuned public demo, so your help during this playtest phase is crucial!

WE HEAR YOU!

While we've received plenty of praise for the overall experience in Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel, we want to share our future development direction, focusing on common feedback themes that we aim to improve.

Content Variety

We want more variety, too!

Have in mind that the playtest offered just a small glimpse of what's to come - one character and a single level. On the other hand, the Early Access release will feature a much larger pool of content, including more characters, weapons, gods, map and modifiers. We’ll also continue adding even more content periodically after the EA release.

Character Building

We're constantly improving character builds, but despite our efforts to ensure multiple viable options for each class, some ideas may not have hit the mark. In that sense, our next step is to analyze which builds are most popular, which skills are underused, and how we can enhance variety.

Impact of Skill Choices

We’re introducing evolved versions of each skill at level 4 to provide exciting goals and reward players for specializing their builds.

Challenge and Difficulty

Using analytics, we'll identify difficulty spikes and uneventful moments in players' runs to ensure a smoother and more engaging experience.


ANYTHING IMPROVED IN THE MEANTIME?

Absolutely! While focusing on new content and fine-tuning gameplay mechanics, we are making several technical improvements:

New Video and Controls Settings:

- Framerate cap
- Screen shake intensity
- Controller vibration intensity
- Key bindings





Better PS4 controller support
Enhanced support for ultra-wide screen resolutions

Performance optimizations:
- Ice shader optimization
- VFX pooling and culling improvements
- Decal renderer optimization
- Multiple bug fixes


THE ULTIMATE GOAL

Our core vision with Jotunnslayer focuses on a strong, polished game experience built around action roguelike and survivor genre pillars. But no worries, we also see vast opportunities for improvement and exploration. With our current ritual/event system, there's ample space to develop unique map mechanics, rituals, and bosses, making Jotunnslayer truly stand out is what we all strive for.


REQUEST YOUR SPOT IN THE PLAYTEST

The playtest period has been extended until further notice.

Sign up now to secure your spot!

Help us shape the future of Jotunnslayer. The feedback form is at the end of the playtest—please don't skip it!


If you haven’t already, join our awesome community of Survivors on Discord.

Thanks for helping us out!
Until the upcoming improvements, keep on slaying!
Cheers!

Hey Survivors!

Thrilling news today, just like we promised!

To celebrate all the feedback we've collected from this playtest and the incredible engagement from our growing and amazing community, we've decided to grant access to everyone who has requested a spot in this closed playtest.

No more waiting lists – everyone gets in!

The only thing we ask is for you to provide us with your feedback. You can fill out the form at the end of the build or send your thoughts directly on Discord.

Please don't forget to do that for us!

If you haven't already, sign up for the playtest and join our growing horde of survivors on Discord and help us build Jotunnslayer together!

Cheers to opening the gates of the Norse underworld to all of you survivors!
Never stop slaying!

The Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel Team