Blood Reaver News

[h2]Hey Cultists, [/h2][p]Today, during the Horror Game Awards Showcase, we announced that we're recruiting for the next phase of the playtest.

Here's our brand-new trailer:[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h3]Help us make the final touches and share your crucial feedback before we enter Early Access. We're opening sign-ups to a Steam Playtest slated for late 2025.[/h3][p][/p][p]So far we've been running a very limited closed beta via Discord, however going forward we will begin to use the new Playtest feature on Steam to open is up wider in the coming months. You'll find the Sign up button on the Blood Reaver store page. [/p][p]*signing up to Playtest does not guarantee access. We will select participants based on a range of criteria to make sure we get the most diverse and meaningful feedback possible. If you do not get selected for the first Playtest you may still be eligible for future rounds.[/p][p][/p][h3]What is Blood Reaver?[/h3]

• [p]A Dark-fantasy, Round-based FPS for 1-4 players[/p]
• [p]Harness forbidden magic and weaponry to shoot, blast and slice your way through endless hordes of demons.[/p]
• [p]Upgrade your arsenal and survive long enough to discover the ancient secrets of the gods of hell.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]What will you be playtesting?[/h3][p]This Playtest (or series of Playtests, to be decided) is a way for us to learn more about our general audience and which parts of our creation spark the highest highs as well as lowest lows.[/p]

• [p]Combat.[/p]
• [p]Progression.[/p]
• [p]Level design.[/p]
• [p]Cameras.[/p]
• [p]Overall QOL.[/p]

[p]Basically, the meat and bones of the game. But how does it feel when played over longer periods? What weapons get people excited and which ones get left behind? Are there elements of our levels players love more than others, or obstacles that are more annoying than fun?

We want to know and not everyone will join a Discord to tell us. Of course, we'd love it if you did![/p][p][/p][h3]When is it happening?[/h3][p]We're aiming to host the first playtest towards the end of 2025 and will keep you posted on the community hub. Anything can happen in gamedev and we want to make sure the build you test has all the appropriate bells and whistles that could use feedback.[/p][p][/p][h3][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/h3]

[h2]Hey Cultists, [/h2][p]Since Avcon, we've been hard at work to bring the Closed access playtest a new update which overhauls and adds more content to pivotal systems (if you don't have access to the live playtest, read till end of post for more info there). While this update contains no new additions to our first map, we'll be rolling out another update later this year with a significant focus on new level content.[/p][h3]New Abilities [/h3][p]Currently in the playtest, only 3 abilities have been available to use. This update will bring 5 new ones (with some small visual updates to the older ones). All of the abilities below will be unlocked from the time of the update so that everyone can experiment with what's new. [/p][p]Utilities [/p]

• [p]Time Splitter: Split time using a haunted watch that slows demons.[/p]
• [p]Bartov's Writ: Enchant yourself with a madman's ambition and push your weapons to their limits.[/p]
• [p]Blood Splicer: Mix your blood to gain a demon's ferocity, increasing your reaction time and agility.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Lethals [/p]

• [p]Demon's Fang: Torn from a feral demon's maw, use this fang-like blade to turn your blood into a lethal weapon.[/p]
• [p]Centrifuse: An invention that combines demonic blood and gunpowder into a powerful bomb![/p]
• [p]Calcifer's Flame: A strange flame trapped within the confines of ornate glass. Beware its ethereal power or be burned.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Ultimate [/p]

• [p]The Guardian: A magnificent weapon that unleashes a ceaseless torrent of bullets infused with blood at hordes of enemies, they say one of these is equivalent to a whole other reaver.[/p]
• [p]Sanguine Reaper: A final swan song from a great inventor, mow down the endless assault of demonic forces with this deadly tool, just be wary that it doesn't gain a mind of its own.[/p]

[p]These names are not final, so please, if any aren't hitting, let us know by giving a suggestion in our Discord server![/p][p]In addition to the new abilities, the system itself has received a minor update in that you can now have 2 different utilities equipped at the same time (which you can toggle between using the D-Pad for controller and \[G] for Keyboard and mouse). We hope this allows for more loadout diversity. [/p][h3]UI Updates[/h3][p]As we prepare for the push to give players access to multiplayer, we've updated the menus to reflect this. When starting up the game, you'll be able to preview how we're structuring lobbies and what you may be able to do while waiting for your friends to pick their equipment (though multiplayer is still on the way). While mentioning that, you can now select your loadout from the lobby menu and select which abilities you want in each session, along with some descriptions of what they do. Use this to find the playstyle that suits you the best.[/p][p][/p][h3]When is this going to be available?[/h3][p]We know that other games have delayed their releases due to Silksong coming out today, but regardless, we've decided to update Blood Reaver right now! So if you're one of the unfortunate few still having issues with Steam's servers, why not give Blood Reaver another go?[/p][p]We would love to hear your thoughts on the new systems. If you havn't already had the chance to dive into the playtest we drop keys in our Discord server every few week![/p]

[h2]Hey Reavers![/h2]

The holidays are over and we’re in full swing, with this next piece we feel we’ve teased enough of what’s to come, so we’re handing the mic to one of our artists whose tirelessly spent their time working on our “1 BILLION” modular assets to bring the world of Blood Reaver to life.

[h2]Snapping Together[/h2]

"I’m Jackson Smith, an Environment Artist for Blood Reaver who had the pleasure of making the ruins/buildings that make up the environment of our first map. Believe it or not, these buildings are built out of a 300+ piece modular set that I was working on over my initial 5 months on the project. I’ll never forget being told, “We will start you off with a quick on-boarding task, say about 19 pieces to start and we can move you onto some props” by our Lead Artist Flynn only to see it quickly balloon into the single biggest asset list on the project. Nevertheless, I dug my heels in and got to work!"



"As mentioned, the modular set includes over 300+ pieces. These include a variety of different walls, trimmings, rails, pillars, doorways and many other necessary parts of what makes a building. One of the biggest criteria given to me by our Producer Euan, was that he wanted to be able to have the buildings look destroyed. This was by far the hardest part of the task as well as the reason why there are so many pieces to the modular set. Each asset I made needed to have a destroyed variation of itself, some even had 4-5 different variations to give the level designers maximum creativity and variety when it came to destruction within the environment. Sometimes, they yearned for a little too much creative freedom. However, with Euan demanding our Technical Artist Ben to rig the floor modules to allow for “editing modules on the fly”... Safe to say this demand was swiftly rejected. This meant that there was A LOT of trial and error with every asset to make sure that they not only snapped together perfectly no matter how they were rotated but also had their textures lining up seamlessly. To make the texturing process as easy as possible, I only used a single stone trim sheet for a large majority of the modular set aside from any dirt, wood or tiles that required their own separate texture."

[h2]Snapping to the World[/h2]


"When making the modular assets, I not only had to consider how the pieces fit together but also how they integrated into the world of Blood Reaver. I really wanted to push the dark fantasy stronghold aesthetic we wanted for our first map so I purposefully kept things simple, brutalist and sharp to suit that narrative. This involved gathering inspiration from both real life and fantasy castles to make sure I was setting the right tones. These tones would be shown through the shapes/sizes of the brick stone works all the way to the specific colour pallets of all the assets to make sure players know that this is what a Blood Reaver Fortress would look like. After many, many hours of planning, modelling, iterating and implementing, I was able to produce a modular set that I am very proud to have been a part of... finally, I was just starting to think I’d never finish my orientation."

“Ben please just rig the floors” ~ Euan, Director

[h2]SAGE Season[/h2]

With the new year, we also celebrated our 2nd year as a part of The South Australian Game Exhibition as part of their main showcase. It was wonderful to see so many talented studios and creators in one space and share our ideas, and Blood Reaver once again proved to be a fan favourite.

"You guys have COOKED" - SAGE attendant

[h2]Recipe For Success[/h2]
Like mentioned earlier, we’ve teased you enough and dangled this golden carrot in front of you for a few months now, but now it’s time for us to dig deep and really get into the nitty gritty of production. Sadly, this means we’re going to go a little dark on the updates in the coming months. However, we are still posting regular updates in our official discord! As well as releasing closed alpha codes for Steam, so keep an eye out for those in our discord wink.


Thank you all for your continued support and keep an eye on our progress to come.

Hey Cultists,

With the first month of 2025 coming to a close, we're keen to throw out a couple of teases for what's coming later this year.

With that, the first thing we're really excited show that's different is the abilities of our relics and artifacts. Now while they aren't fully done, we have picked our team's favourites to show off the in-game items that give the player's their demonic powers.


[h2]Relics and Artifacts[/h2]
Our Creative Director and Lead Artist, Jackson and Flynn, sit down and sketch out ideas for the Relics and Artifacts, keeping in mind what situations the players will get in, as well as how players will think of clearing waves of demons.

Our Relics and Artifacts inherit from different sets available to the Blood Reaver Order. These sets help us spread our content into themes to provide different lore drops and tease upcoming content. Today we'll be looking at two items from the Ethereal set, a set which allows the Reavers to *uh cheeky********************** which then in turn *still nothing********************** and *writhe**********************, and finally one Artifact Level Item from the Cult set.

The first Relic to show, the Ethereal Staff allows the player to call down a Holy Lightning strike, to smite the demons and clear the immediate path for quick escapes.



The Ethereal Pocket Watch Relic, brings forth the ability to manipulate time directly in front of the player, slowing enemies.



And finally, the Cultist Knife acts as an Artifact, allowing the player to either throw or slash with, a blade coated in the very blood of a Blood Reaver, dealing immense damage to enemies in your path.



[h2]Creative Process[/h2]
Once the details have been settled, the plans are passed down to our Artist Scott, who models and sculpts these items into existence and textures them, whilst Artist Ben, focuses on curating bespoke VFX to provide these Relics and Artifacts with the same power they provide the player and finally landing in the capable hands of Lead Artist Flynn who animates their movements and sync them to the Blood Reaver.



[h2]Coming up next![/h2]

We're thrilled to see how our players are going to react to these changes and how they'll be used to mow down hordes of demons.

This year we're also returning to SAGE in Adelaide on February 7-8th. Tickets are free so if you can't contain your excitement and want to test these abilities for yourself, our exclusive demo at SAGE is ONLY AVAILABLE at SAGE, we won't be sharing any secrets after that so don't miss your chance and lose the opportunity to play.



A huge thanks to the active community and fans on the Discord page! Thank you so much for all your continued support and we're excited to get new content out to you as quickly as possible. Watch for next month's update focused on our extended environmental assets that will feature in one of our upcoming maps!

Hey cultists!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the team here at Hellbyte! This year marks our first Christmas as a full fledged studio and we’re so excited to look back at the year we’ve had!

[h2]The Year in Retrospect[/h2]
We’ve had an absolute avalanche of demos and playtests in order to find our own unique style and aesthetic for the game. We moved into our comfy (cramped) office space and lined it with art and posters. We’ve worked with artists to conceptualize and bring to life an arsenal of weapons and a legion of enemies like the bloater and chaos demon to go all out against.



[h2]The Impact We’ve Made[/h2]
As well as being cramped up inside the office, we’ve also hit the road and set up booths at different conventions around Australia like PAX Aus and SXSW, and we’re happy to announce we’re going to be back for SAGE this year February 7-8th here in Adelaide. The turnout for these events have us ecstatic and we can’t believe the outpour of support from the attendees.



We’re thrilled with the amount of positive feedback we’ve been given from the community after building our official discord to over 225+ users.



After what felt like a million interviews and podcasts to sell ourselves, I think it’s safe to say we’re finally settled into our roles and are so excited to show you what’s yet to come!

[h2]Looking Forward to 2025[/h2]
In 2025, we’re aiming to push ourselves past our limits and topple some milestones. We cannot wait to share what we’ve been working on and how far the development team has come this year. There’s so much to show that hasn’t yet been seen.