Before we get to the fat community update, here's a guest post from Adrian, our Creative Director, on the secrets of games that punch above their weight...

Most of Witchfire was done by a team of twelve people. When we revealed that, people noticed:

But this started earlier, with The Vanishing of Ethan Carter:

It sounds insane today, but one of the stronger marketing beats we've done was to give the press three very short GIFs from the game[www.theastronauts.com]. Old-school, real, bloated GIFs -- not MP4 videos pretending to be GIFs. Not many games looked like this in 2014, and we got great coverage. The fact that such visual quality was achieved with a tiny team obviously helped.

Of course, we are not alone in making a fun, good-looking game with a suspiciously small team. Hades, Ori, Disco Elysium, or Manor Lords were all made by teams or even single developers that punch above their weight, creating games that feel like they were made with three, five, or ten times more people.

Lately, we got another contender, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I have finished the game…

Click here to read the post[x.com]

…and even with my 30+ years of experience in making games that look bigger than they should -- Painkiller was made with 16 people on average -- I'm still not quite sure how they pulled it off. I get 90% of it, but how to make seven hours of high-quality cut scenes, half of which feature extensive visual effects… I just cannot comprehend.

Nonetheless, even with that missing 10%, I'm pretty sure the recipe behind it all is universal and comes down to two things: smart choices and the team.

The first is simple. Well, simple to explain but hard to execute. With "smart choices," you avoid time sinks -- either dropping them altogether or replacing them with something quicker but at least just as good. Another approach is reusing assets, but in a way that's invisible or nearly invisible to the player. This, of course, requires a lot of thought and experience but is very doable for any game.

Let me give you one example from Expedition 33 and Witchfire. With the former, note how almost all enemies are not human and have no faces.

Faces are among the hardest things to get right in video games, demanding significant time and effort because humans are biologically hardwired to focus on them. Removing faces not only saves an insane amount of time but also provides an opportunity to create unique and exciting enemy designs, making fights more engaging. Covering some humanoids with creepy masks further enhances the atmosphere. This solution helped the team avoid a major time sink while making the game more compelling.

For Witchfire, well, see this enemy?

It's the first enemy we created, and Marcin Klicki[www.artstation.com] from CDPR made it multi-layered, meaning the armor and clothes can be stripped off the character. Thanks to this, throughout development we created at least seven other enemies from this one model. Remove the armor and clothes, change the skin material to dead white, lengthen the arms, and make the model semi-transparent -- voila, now we have a ghost. Replace the helmet with a distinct new model and attach a small shield to the ghoul's wrist, and boom, now we have a Buckler Swordsman. You get the idea…

But here's the thing: this reuse doesn't look cheap because it makes sense. Our enemies are remnants of an old army annihilated by the witch, turning the dead into her minions. With a military background, it's natural that soldiers would have similar armor pieces or combat poses. A private and a captain have the same firing stance, right? By clever reuse, we've created more enemies than if we had built each from scratch, enriching gameplay variety. Moreover, since some originate from the same base model, the world feels more coherent.

These are just two examples, but there's more, like using external assets. Expedition 33 utilized Paragon's enemies (right) for its prototypes (left)…

…helping the team quickly grasp what made their game tick. Similarly, we purchased many assets from the Unreal Marketplace, like photoscanned ruins, allowing us to diversify our worlds.

Of course, you can't make an entire game this way. Hard work on time-intensive tasks and original content is essential. That's why Expedition 33 took six years, and why Witchfire is in its eighth year. Still, things would have been twice as tough without "smart choices."

The second key to success is equally easy to explain but more controversial: Every person on your team needs to be talented, passionate, and hard-working.

Why controversial? Because you must be extremely selective about hiring and ruthless if a mistake occurs and someone doesn't deliver 100%. Here's a quote attributed to Heraclitus:

Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one -- one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.

You want your team composed of those real fighters, maybe even multiple instances of that one warrior. Maurice de Saxe, a renowned 18th-century French military commander, said it best: "It is not big armies that win battles; it is the good ones."

And here's Steve Jobs on the topic -- it's a long quote, but crucial to understanding how the best developers operate:

Most things in life have a dynamic range in which the ratio of “average” to “best” is at most 2:1. For example, if you go to New York City and get an average taxi cab driver, versus the best taxi cab driver, you’ll probably get to your destination with the best taxi driver 30% faster. And an automobile; what’s the difference between the average car and the best? Maybe 20%? The best CD player versus the average CD player? Maybe 20%?

So 2:1 is a big dynamic range for most things in life. Now, in software, and it used to be the case in hardware, the difference between the average software developer and the best is 50:1; maybe even 100:1. Very few things in life are like this, but [...] software is like this.

So I’ve built a lot of my success on finding these truly gifted people, and not settling for “B” and “C” players, but really going for the “A” players.

And I found something… I found that when you get enough “A” players together, when you go through the incredible work to find these “A” players, they really like working with each other. Because most have never had the chance to do that before. And they don’t work with “B” and “C” players, so it’s self-policing. They only want to hire “A” players. So you build these pockets of “A” players and it just propagates.

Talent matters, but why is passion essential? First, gamers intuitively sense if your game was crafted with love or from spreadsheets. Additionally, here's Jobs again:

His point is especially relevant in a post-Covid world, where many developers work remotely. Only the best individuals self-organize effectively, making remote work viable regardless of how competent your producers are.

Honestly, this could be its own blog post, but let me quickly add two things:

First, I've led teams ranging from a single person to a hundred, plus hundreds of outsourcers. After over a dozen games, when we founded The Astronauts, we committed to working only with the best -- even if that meant smaller-scale projects compared to Bulletstorm or Gears of War: Judgment. Hence, our studio stayed at twelve people for so long. But with the success of Ethan and Witchfire Early Access, we're attracting more talent and have grown to twenty-six -- and I'd die for every single one of them. The policy remains unchanged, though.

Second, notice I didn't mention "experience". Talent, passion, work ethic -- yes. Experience? With these three traits, experience accumulates quickly. You need a portfolio of your amateur work -- ArtStation for artists, YouTube for programmers and sound engineers, etc. -- but experience remains the least important factor.

So there you have it. Those two pillars -- smart choices and a great team -- are key to games that look and play as if made by much larger teams.

But I still have no idea how Sandfall pulled off all those cut scenes in Expedition 33… It's beyond human comprehension.

Till next time,
Adrian



It’s been a while, and while we’ve been hard at work, you (the community) haven’t been resting on your laurels either. Which feels superb - it’s a reminder that Witchfire is landing in all kinds of ways - sometimes as a way to relax, other times as a source of creative fuel. So, before we get into the shenanigans, we have to see what sparks of ingenuity have jumped out of the Witchfire-powered furnace…


I didn’t expect to see someone turn our game into a fully-fledged DnD campaign, yet here we are – Lex[x.com] decided not to wait for someone else to imagine Witchfire as a tabletop RPG and did it himself. He created a playbook (damn nice work, by the way), which you can download[drive.google.com] and use to embark on your own adventure. If you’re a seasoned player and have comments or suggestions, don’t hesitate to hit Lex up on Twitter and share your thoughts on our Discord[discord.com]. We’d love to hear about your adventures!

Another thing I personally didn’t have on my bingo card for this month – or even this year (clap four times) – was a fan-made audio drama set in the world of Witchfire. And yet, thanks to the efforts of Walber[x.com], we’ve got one: nearly fifty minutes long and available on YouTube. We recommend grabbing a comfy pair of headphones and letting the sound carry you to the world of Witchfire.

One of the more recent additions to our ever-evolving Discord server is a channel dedicated to builds, allowing players to share and discuss their loadouts. Turns out Bananenklaus found a way to elevate the experience even further – enter the Witchfire randomizer[www.witchfire-randomizer.com]. Now you can hit “random” to generate loadouts that might challenge you in new ways, even when you’re not playing! Want to offer suggestions or feedback? Visit the original Reddit thread.

There are a lot of images and videos you post that make us laugh, but one post from April was spot on:

No matter what we do, some games and series are impossible to get out of our collective systems – you found a way to pay homage to the likes of Skate, SSX, and THPS while commuting in Witchfire. This clip from our Discord[discord.com] proves that even in places of research and worship, some of you simply cannot be contained. At this point, I’m honestly expecting someone to mod in a third-person camera, blast Pearl Jam's “Even Flow” in the background, and perform a Judas Air* on the steps of the Irongate Castle.

Click here to see the full video[www.theastronauts.com]

* - The trick Christ Air has been renamed for accuracy within Witchfire universe.

Our team is mostly made up of Poles, and as such, we confirm – that was the inspiration behind the game. You got us.

Source: Steam review.

The quest to find more optimized and/or exotic ways of controlling the game is eternal and inevitable. While we’re yet to see someone play Witchfire on a DDR mat, we have seen someone give it a go using… a flight stick and a gyro. The jury’s still out on whether this actually makes sense (though SiccFricc seems adamant that it does[discord.com]). We’ll update you if more people decide to give it a try.

Click here to see the full video[www.theastronauts.com]

When the labyrinth under Witch Mountain was being built, we knew someone would eventually try to beat it against the clock – just like you made a hobby of harassing the Familiars until they weeped into their pillows. And you delivered – or rather, xdmuufo did, completing the maze before the clock hit two minutes.

Click here to see the full video[v.redd.it]Fun fact: our team took that personally. There was a moment when we almost needed leaderboards, because the time differences were microscopic.

Wondering what the in-house Lab record™ was? Let’s just say there’s a lot of room for improvement for you – to the tune of tens (not tenths) of seconds.

Low-key hoping this reignites the rivalry and that you’ll show us what you can do – but I’m not holding my breath.

You know how it goes – we release an update with a boss that’s supposed to be a challenge, a real moment of reckoning… and then a player comes along and melts the boss in mere seconds.

But not quite like this. Hypnosis Goblin managed to obliterate Dimacher in three seconds.

Three.

Seconds.

Click here to see the full video[www.theastronauts.com]

Granted, it took a whole lot of experience and knowledge of how to use mechanics and buffs effectively – but still. Three seconds. One twentieth of a minute. Unreal (Engine 4, pardon the pun). If you’ve already watched the video and are wondering how the hell that happened, Goblin also posted a peek behind the curtain on how to shoot so damn fast - head over to Reddit to learn about punchgunning.

We’re not going to tell you how you should feel while playing Witchfire. We only know what we have in mind while creating the game – but it turns out there’s a whole range of emotions you experience while running around eliminating the witch’s minions.

Some of you have been scared while exploring Witch Mountain. Some of you feel tense throughout. Others? Well, some are casually committing crimes against monstrosities (see: previous paragraph).

If you belong to the former two categories, we may have a solution of sorts: as part of our social media presence on X/Twitter[x.com], Facebook[www.facebook.com], Instagram[www.instagram.com], and BlueSky[bsky.app], every Friday we post media designed to provide comfort and tranquility. Peaceful postcards from places you know from your crusades against the forces of evil.
A post shared by The Astronauts (@theastrocrew)[www.instagram.com]

Feel free to join us – and, as a bonus, experience violence toggled to ON on Mondays, when we show you how havoc can be wreaked in Witchfire.

Hope to see you there, take care!

Piotrek

Here we are – The Witch Mountain has been delivered, most (if not all) of you have already played it, and you've given us a ton of feedback. While we’re still digging through all of it (and it’s going to take a while), you've already started asking questions about the future, and it’s only fair to answer them.

But before we do that, let’s take a look back. It’s been a long road, and we haven’t exactly been sitting on the sidelines, staring off into the distance and slacking off.

• 2023.09 - Early Access launch on the Epic Games Store. The reception was phenomenal, and the whole launch was an experience like no other - you can read more about how we felt back then in this post[www.theastronauts.com] by Adrian
  
• 2024.04 - The Ghost Galeon Update – first major update, introduced Gnosis, refreshed Calamities, The Collector, Mirages and Witch Vaults
  
• 2024.08 – The Wailing Tower Update – second major update, introduced a new region, Prophecies, Corrupted Arcana and Fallen Preyers
  
• 2024.09 – Steam Early Access Launch + The High Stakes Update – making the game available on a new platform, Mysteria forge, new stamina system, Island of the Damned’s Witch Vault
  
• 2024.12 – The Brewing Update – release of Preview 1 and 2 allowing you to play in super-early access at your own risk, before the update was actually available; introduction of Alchemy, boss reshuffle
  
• 2025.03 – The Witch Mountain Update – introduction of a new region, Fallen Preyers 2.0, Shadow Orbs.

In total, that's 5 major updates, 27 patches and 6 hotfixes. As its the rule, each major update always included a new gear pack: new weapons, spells, fetishes, relics or rings.


And now, let’s take a look at the updated roadmap:

As you can see, nearly everything has shifted by about three months. This delay stems from the Witch Mountain update, which took longer than expected. Rather than creating a standard boss rush challenge, we opted to develop the Labyrinth and all the wild elements it brings. We believe the extra time was worth it - quality and surprises are core to Witchfire’s DNA - but it did come at the cost of a delay.

Let me talk about each upcoming update in more detail.


Originally scheduled for this spring, the first major stop on the map is the Webgrave update, which we’re planning to release sometime in mid-2025.

The work on this update has already began. A few days ago, we had a planning meeting where we established a realistic timeline for deliverables, and we’re working on bringing the vision to life.

The groundwork has already been laid some time ago, and the level is… well, I wanted to say "playable," but that’s a bit too generous. "Mostly traversable" seems more fitting, though small parts are already populated with enemies who will give you a bit of a pause. Having explored it a few times, I can confidently say it’s the same goodness you’ve already experienced - except there’s more of it, dialed up to 11, and sprinkled with fresh surprises. I wish I could tell you more, but it’s too soon to spill the beans. Let’s just say the fire has been lit (a Vestal Flame, if you will), and we’ll be drip-feeding information for a while.


The second update will bring a significant upgrade to some core mechanics, planned for release in the fall. I’m sure you can put two and two together (or rather, 2.0 and 2.0) and guess what’s coming based on the rest of the roadmap. These mechanical overhauls have been in discussion for a while, shaped by internal debates, our own experiences, and - last but not least - your feedback. We’ll share more details as we get closer to launch.


The third update is a big one - another region, one of the two mystery locations you’ve probably been eyeing on the destination screen, wondering what’s hidden in the distance. To quote a contemporary classic, "the patterns are there, buried in the data." You can see the direction we’re heading with our maps, and we’re not here just to meet expectations - we’re here to exceed them.


That said, exceeding expectations doesn’t happen overnight. As I mentioned it before, building the foundation of Witch Mountain took longer than expected, which means the overall timeline has shifted. As a result, the full launch of the game has been moved from late 2025 to early 2026. We’ve learned our lesson about calendar management - delivering the game this year is impossible, so we’re letting you know as early as we can while setting a realistic alternative.

There’s a meme floating around the Polish corner of the internet, "pora na CSa" ("time for CS"), used when someone slacks off, does the bare minimum, and then disappears to play Counter-Strike instead of doing their job properly. Some of you might think that’s what we’re doing (though if you frequent our Discord[discord.gg], you know how often we’re burning the midnight oil), but that couldn’t be further from the truth. While we’re adding content and refining what’s already in the game, there’s also a lot of behind-the-scenes work happening, even if it’s not immediately visible.

Two out of the three of the most frequently asked about features fall into this category, so let’s take a moment to address them…

Localization

It’s hard to count how many times we’ve seen requests for "language X" or "version Y" over the past months and years, and we’re not ignoring them. Localization is a far more complex subject than it appears at first glance, and we fully understand how important it is.

But that’s why we want to work with the best people. After a long selection process, we’ve chosen a lead for localization and partnered with a studio that will help bring Witchfire into multiple languages.

We’re not announcing who they are just yet, but they’re absolute stars - responsible for translating some of the biggest and best games of the past two decades. We understand that this needs to be done right, and we’re sparing no expense to ensure top-tier localization, so all people can enjoy the game and understand the world they’re experiencing.

Consoles

Another hot topic that some think we’re ignoring - even though it’s one of our top priorities (I believe I even mentioned it in the previous Hermitorium Archives). Porting the game to other platforms isn’t as simple as pressing a button labeled "PORT" and watching the builds magically appear in a folder. There are considerations like engine versions, system resources, hardware architecture differences, platform-specific requirements, and compliance rules.

We take this process very seriously, and we’re currently halfway through recruiting an expert who will help us bring our vision to consoles. Ports are a matter of "when", not "if," but doing them right takes time. We’re not willing to compromise the Witchfire experience just to ship sooner. We pride ourselves on delivering quality.

Co-Op

The third most often requested feature... And, folks, for the hundredth time - we absolutely understand the appeal of co-op. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have racked up tens of thousands of hours across the team in a certain franchise that starts with “D” and ends with “-estiny.”

But - from day one, Witchfire has been designed as a single-player experience. Restructuring it into a co-op game at this stage would be an immense undertaking that simply wouldn’t make sense. Asking us to change course this late in development? Pointless.

If you want a co-op shooter, there's already quite a few on the market, and more are coming! Meanwhile, as for Witchfire, let us make the best possible Single Player experience we can. It will be worth it, we hope.



Over the past few weeks, we’ve been hard at work on the Witch Mountain Update, keeping a close eye on your feedback. Amid the sea of comments, one in particular stood out - not just for what it said about Witchfire, but for what it revealed about the state of the industry as a whole:

Click to visit the thread.

I am just going to leave you with your own thoughts on this - we surely have our own feelings, but it's a matter so profound and personal, I'd rather not point you into any direction.


Here’s a little PSA for those of you struggling with Dinmacher in regular duels: tackle him after dealing with other enemies, and definitely make sure to take out all the War Priests. Why? Well, mainly because the War Priest operates like a Marxist utopia - completely blind to class distinctions - which means he might just resurrect the very boss that gave you the hardest time. Reddit user plzinsertbeer found that out the hard way…

Click to visit the source


A few distinct playstyles are emerging from the videos making the rounds online. On one end of the spectrum, you have the “preppers” - methodically unlocking as many arcana as possible, sometimes even managing a full set. On the other end, some players don’t care about arcana at all and are just going in guns blazing. And then there are those who science the crap out of multipliers, dealing (un)godly amounts of damage:

Click to visit the source


I like to think I play at a respectable pace, but that illusion shatters when I see gameplay like this:

Click to visit the source


Let’s just say there’s a reason why the disclaimer “Online Interactions Not Rated” exists. Witchfire is a single-player game, yet some of the player-driven world interactions could probably still raise a few eyebrows among the rating boards…

Source:Witchfire Discord[discord.com].


We knew that the new gun is going to be fan-favourite, especially since testing it during the development was a blast, but we underestimated how much you will fall in love with it. It's an absolute joy to read messages such as these ones:

That's all for this week, folks. Take care!

List of changes:

• Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented consumables stacks to decrease after use;
  
• Fixed herb and mushroom generation on Witch Mountain;
  
• Fixed Witch Mountain seed reroll after consuming Placebo Pill or using Ascension Shrine;
  
• Herbs should no longer spawn in the air near the entrance to the Irongate Castle.

Enjoy the final - fingers crossed - patch for the Witch Mountain Update. Some pretty important changes in this one, here are the patch notes.[www.theastronauts.com]

A quick word on the Labyrinth difficulty and design. Witchfire’s a game-in-progress, so the Labyrinth is more a proof of concept than a finished feature. You’ve probably noticed this already - it’s why we’ve got Fallen Preyers 2.0, Calamities 3.0, and so on. The core idea’s solid and fun, but there’s a Labyrinth 2.0 coming down the line. Karol’s got a ton of ideas he couldn’t squeeze in this time, but we’ll revisit them ASAP.

For now, we’ve cranked up the difficulty. The Labyrinth is HARDER to beat. Some builds might still breeze through, but if you’re strolling in casually, it’s a real challenge now.

Next week, we’ll drop a roadmap update. Then we’re hibernating for a few months to cook up the next big update - a new region plus a fresh layer to the game that’ll shake up how you think about stats and levels. More on that soon. For now, enjoy the mountain and the new gear (Judgment deniers: dig deeper, it’s a beast of a gun).

A small fix for the issues that were most commonly reported since yesterday's launch.

• Changed Mysterium I description to be clearer;
  
• Fixed a display issue that displayed base range as 16m when it was actually 14m;
  
• Increased base range by 1m, from 14m to 15m;
  
• Adjusted duel window and reaction timings;
  
• Weapon will now stop firing when starting a duel, even if the fire input is pressed;
  
• Fixed position mismatch of the weapon's sight;
  
• Fixed missing sound effect when the gun heats up;
  
• Redesigned the Duel Engaged sound;
  
• Redesigned the Duel Failed sound.

• Fixed Galleon Calamity not completing correctly;
  
• Miasma - Fixed a bug that prevented the base duration from increasing as you upgrade the spell;
  
• Fireball - Fireball stole one of Twinshade's Mysteria description, but it gave it back after gentle persuasion;
  
• Shadow Orbs - Changed the confusing descriptions of objectives and conditions;
  
• Made Fallen Preyers less eager to bully tutorial enemy.

Thank you for playing, thank you for reporting - feel free to blow some more of Witch’s minions into smithereens!

Folks,

Not only has the Witch Mountain Update been made available, it's a fantastic opportunity to get the game while it's on sale at 10% off!

The next chapter of Witchfire begins now. In the distance, the labyrinth hums with ancient magic and horrors as you approach the Witch Mountain. Will you prevail where others have perished?

• New location: Witch Mountain;
  
• New feature: Shadow Orbs;
  
• New weapons and spells;
  
• Fallen Preyers 2.0.

The patchnotes for the update are available on our website - if you want to know what has been changed and what has been fixed, follow the link and give them a read.[www.theastronauts.com]

Thank you for playing!

I could begin with some inspirational quote about Patience and Time, but nothing quite fits - so let’s cut to the chase. The wait is almost over, and you’re surely itching for more info on what’s coming.

The Witch Mountain Update has already been previewed in one - or even two - of our earlier posts, but there’s still a lot you don’t know. Fret not, I’m not about to spoil everything. In fact, we’ve been tiptoeing around the subject, trying to tell you as much as we can without... Well, revealing too much. The Mountain is unlike any other level, and we believe experiencing it - especially for the first time - will be a unique adventure, one we’d rather leave for you to live through on your own. That said, we may tease you a bit more by showing you a few more postcards from the level:

By now, you’ve likely heard about the Labyrinth hidden in the wretched underbelly of the Mountain. It has been part of the landscape for thousands of years, and the local people were never eager to visit it - except for a few souls who were as brave as they were doomed the moment they stepped between those cursed walls. About 400 years ago a king decided it's time to explore what lies under the Mountain and he paid little mind to warnings of the locals, who have seen people stepping into the Labyrinth never to return. He organised an expedition manned by soldiers and scholars, dozens of people who embarked on a quest into the unknown.

None lived, none returned to tell the tale.

Now, your quest has led you to the doorstep of Witch Mountain. What lies on its slopes and within its vast network of caves is yours to discover.

Of course, we’re not just going to let anyone waltz in without any prior experience only to get their head kicked in. You most likely know the drill by now - before you will be able to visit a new region in the game, you need to obtain the navigation chart; it's no different this time. The chart in question is in the Cathedral, in the Iron Gate Castle, and if you're thinking "Isn't that the building in which the Dimacher resides...?", you're right on the money. Get in, grab the chart, get out - battling the knight is strictly optional, but it does offer a certain new reward you may find useful.

Once you arrive on the slope, take your time moving forward. The mountain is worth exploring thoroughly - its many nooks and crannies hide two new spells and a fetish. Duelist, the highly requested revolver, has already been revealed, and it’s accompanied by - yes, you guessed it - a new heavy shotgun, affectionately named Judgment.

Since you’re all eager to get your hands on the revolver, you’ll be able to obtain it by conducting research in the workshop. The shotgun, however, will require a bit more effort, as it’s a reward for forging your path through the level.

We promised to rework the Fallen Preyers, and we’re delivering on that promise. While not much has changed in the Hermitory, their behaviour on the battlefield is vastly different. They now spawn automatically - no need to open the map and deploy them manually. You’ll also notice they’re much more useful, but that’s something you’ll have to experience firsthand.

Last but not least, we’re introducing Shadow Orbs. Adrian has already described this little doodad, so if you want the full breakdown, click the link[www.theastronauts.com]. If, however, you prefer to embrace the unknown, just wait for one to drop in-game and see for yourself how it works.

The full list of features also comes as a handy picture:

This update also includes numerous bug fixes, improvements, and minor updates - a lot of them implemented thanks to your feedback. So, once again, thank you for speaking your mind and letting us know what bothers you. Your input is invaluable and helps us improve the game, even if said improvements occasionally have the capacity to break your heart and ruin the fun - more on that in a moment, in…



We know that things move fast, and those on the bleeding edge of pushing boundaries are always looking for new ways to entertain themselves. A few weeks ago, players were slapping Galley Slave left and right, putting him in his place at breakneck speed. Now, they’ve found a way to harvest his energy, converting it into a technique that allows Preyers to move so fast it appears as if they’re teleporting.[discord.com]

Lodown, a member of our Discord[discord.gg] responsible for this breakthrough, has also been hard at work proving that when physics and magic mix[discord.com], the results can be devastatingly effective in the field of ballistics.

If anyone else wants to give it a go, hurry - the Galley Slave Teleportation Service is being deactivated next week, with no plans for a return. I can hear the booing already, but - that said - I am also sure you’ll find new ways to make physics misbehave in no time.


I was going to write about how you’ve moved on from disrespecting the Galley Slave and are now crash-testing Dimacher, but that wouldn’t be entirely fair. While the 47-second clip submitted to our Discord on February 22nd certainly is impressive, I took a dive into our subreddit and found something even more stunning.

Full video can be viewed on reddit - just click here

Less than ten seconds. This is strict<em> tuna, no crust</em> territory. And kudos if you got that reference.


We understand that Witchfire is a work in progress and that more content is coming (reminder: the next piece of the puzzle arrives on the 13th), but unlocking all achievements in under a day seems a bit… excessive. We admire the dedication - make no mistake - but it’s turning playthroughs into literal speedruns. Keep it up, and we might just start working on Witchfire Karting next.

Follow the link to the source


In my previous post, I mentioned that we’re eagerly awaiting the sparks of creativity inspired by your Witchfire experiences. Now, I’m delighted to say we have our very first fanfiction. Head over to Reddit and give it a read if you’d like to see crushinator7755’s spin on the beginning of the Witchfire story.


There are two things you ask about almost daily: co-op and consoles. The co-op question was addressed in the previous post, so let’s repeat what’s been said about consoles and state that nothing has changed so far:

We’d love to bring Witchfire to consoles, we’re actively exploring our options and considering different paths for a console release. Once there’s something concrete to announce, you’ll be the first to know. Stay tuned - consoles aren’t benched forever.


It’s great to see comments like this, but let’s go ahead and reassure you—there are no microtransactions coming to the game. However, there are plenty more weapons on the way. While we have a ton of ideas, we always welcome more. Our Discord server has a dedicated suggestions channel that’s teeming with creative concepts for weapons, items, and mechanics. Head over to The Sugar Thread[discord.com] and drop your suggestions there!

That's it for now, see you around the web.

Cheers!

Let me begin by confirming what you already know—or at least suspect: this post is a bit different from the previous ones. Not only because it’s not strictly about Witchfire, but also because it’s written by someone other than Adrian—it’s written by me, Piotr (/Pete), your community manager. It was high time to say “Hi,” so here I am to do just that.

Hi.

And as much as I’d love to declare that I have achieved comedy[www.theastronauts.com] and call it a day, I can’t shake the image of Kelly from The Office shaking her head in disapproval[tenor.com]. The objection is valid, so, let’s get down to business.

My name is Piotr Modzelewski, and I’ve been working in gamedev for the past eight years in various roles, primarily handling community affairs for both large projects—developed by teams of over a hundred people—and smaller indie games made by just a handful.

I have also dipped my fingers into writing, PR, marketing, voice-over work, and even mustered the courage to wrestle with Unity every once in a while. After these adventures in teams big and small, I find myself being one of The Astronauts, and as I take a look around, I have to say: a team of 24 sounds damn fine to me. Not just because it's the same number as the astronauts who went on moon missions (though I love that), but because it means you actually get the chance to speak with the people you work with and know them beyond just their avatars in the company chat. You know, 24 just seems like a value in the sweet spot range (a goldilocks zone, if you will)—there are enough people to get a proper job done, but not so many that you end up confusing one with another.

As for my history with the medium, I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember. There are several franchises I’ve been (and still am) obsessed with, and while I could talk for hours about Mass Effect or Gran Turismo (please don’t get me started on them), the brightest star in my Witchfire-esque stellar neighbourhood is undoubtedly Destiny. Don’t get me wrong—many shooters have made me gasp (Resistance, Killzone, Project Snowblind, Halo, just to name a few)—but Destiny was something else on so many levels, which resulted in thousands of hours spent scouring the solar system, shooting, looting, jumping, and… well, shooting some more. Times change, and so do games—at some point, the shine wore off, and I was left with a bit of a gnawing hunger, an itch for a shooter that I couldn’t scratch. Coming across Witchfire, with its equally fantastic gunplay, sprinkled with a rich topping of magic and elemental combos, felt like striking gold.

I am—pardon the pun—bewitched by this game. That’s not to say I find it perfect—by no means—but there’s something amazing taking shape here. Working on something you're passionate about always gives you that extra bit of drive, so I see this whole situation as an absolute win. Even if it means I’ve been spending hours on end playing the game, I don’t think that will do any harm. In fact, I believe that knowing Witchfire inside and out is essential to doing this job well, as it allows me to better understand your feedback and relay it to the team with genuine insight.

And let’s not beat around the bush—it’s very important. Yes, there is a clear vision for the game, but your input can have a humongous impact, and at the same time, it’s great to see how many of you are enjoying what has been crafted so far. Our Discord is home to nearly fourteen thousand Preyers, and we just celebrated breaking the ten-thousand-member mark on our subreddit. There are a lot of you (as we mentioned on our X/Twitter[x.com] last week), and that means a lot of potential feedback—we love all the buzz you’re generating about the game.

We’re observing your discussions on the Witchfire Discord, listening to your suggestions, and constantly being amazed by your ideas. It goes without saying that the feedback and bug-reporting channels on Discord, Steam, and Reddit aren’t just for decoration—we frequent them and read your thoughts. You’re helping us. The upcoming (promise) Witch Mountain Update will not only introduce a new, feverishly anticipated chapter in the game but also contain numerous bug fixes that wouldn’t have happened without you. The exact numbers are still unknown, but it’s already nearing triple digits, so by reporting back to us, you’re actively making the game better. I’d say that’s a win for everybody.

Speaking of Witch Mountain—we’ve seen the enthusiasm sparked by the recent PC Gamer article, and we absolutely love it. We understand that the plot is becoming quite thicc (just like our team, according[www.theastronauts.com] to one member of our Discord), and the information regarding the new level has been somewhat confusing—to the point where some of you were asking whether the article was accurate.

Allow me to clarify, then: the source of that information is none other than Adrian himself, so it would be difficult to find anyone who knows more on the subject. Yes, The Labyrinth is coming, and it’s going to be absolutely huge—it’s by far the biggest level in the game (as mentioned in the previous post), though that wasn’t exactly intentional. We’re well aware that making bigger levels isn’t always the best approach—as has been proven on numerous occasions by quite a few games. So, we’re learning from the mistakes of others, but at the same time we’re on a journey of discovery—we can clearly see the destination, we’re just taking the time to make sure that the path is fun before we will let you scale the Witch Mountain.

And, seriously, don’t worry—we won’t make you wait much longer.

Those of you who’re here on regular basis know that posts usually end with Question of the Week, but it won’t be the case this time. Welcome to The Hermitorium Archives, a novum that will bring you a selection of what’s been hot in the community in the recent days and weeks.


One of the greatest marks of community and the love it has for a game is how creative they can get in distorting something that has been designed to be a challenge. And, boy, have you delivered.

The Galley Slave duel was supposed to be a fight for your life, a struggle with an opponent who is, let me remind you:

1. a familiar of the witch;
   
2. a towering, hulking mass of muscle;
   
3. a disgusting, disfigured monster, weilding a freaking cannon.

He jumps out of a floating, ghostly galleon to spread destruction and strike fear into the hearts of those unwise enough to face him. Obviously, we knew that the shock and awe would fade over time, the more encounters you had with him, but it took you almost no time to make him—pardon my French—your bitch.

You turned a boss battle into a competition to see who could beat him not only the fastest but also with the least effort. Don’t get me wrong, it shows the mastery some of you have achieved over the mechanics and how crafty you can get in exploiting them. We’re gamers ourselves—we’ve spent our fair share of time hunting for exploits we could use against bosses in other games—but seeing you break out your ingenuity to dismantle something we created is both rewarding as hell and incredibly entertaining to watch. And just to illustrate what I’m talking about:

Can anyone do it faster?

Echo and Burn silliness.

Galley Slave fight but I planted 80 land mines on the beach.

Had he been a real entity, the therapy bills alone would be enough to bring the entirety of the G20 to its knees.

Speaking of exploits—a while ago, it was rediscovered that the game allows for quickscoping, and while we’re not fans of players abusing mechanics to the point where they become boring, we have to admit… this one is unlikely to go away. Witchfire is not an online shooter where quickscoping would lead to rage quits, and let’s be honest—there are some hairy situations where you need every edge you can get. Perhaps I’m also looking fondly at this lack of a fix because Hailstorm is one of my weapons of choice. There is something disturbingly succulent about making sure yet another opponent’s neck is free of the burden of their head.

Found out that quickscoping is a thing in this game.

Weapons are always a hot topic in the community, and few seem to get you more excited than the fanning revolver. Yes, the same one that was already mentioned and displayed in the previous post—please contain yourselves. I’m here to clarify something that’s been brought up several times, including once again after the PC Gamer article dropped:
One of these—one-handed revolver operation vs dual-wielding—is off the table. Mostly due to the low "work required" to "impact and fun factor" ratio. One is not. For now, I cannot say which is which.

Oh, and it appears that some of you simply didn’t get the memo that that the grind is meant to be somewhat challenging…
541 is the maximum. You cannot go beyond this level, there is nothing more to do as of today - I wouldn't dare to ask "what now?", because Panther (a member of our discord, who achieved the level cap in December) would probably just come up with a way of achieving this level again, this time while playing blindfolded, or something. You lot are amazing.

But no matter how amazing you get, the answer to this:
... Will still be a resounding "no". We have explained the reason why many times before and in detail but the TLDR is still that Witchfire is designed to be the best possible Single Player experience and laser-focused to deliver exactly that.

Oh, and before I go—we know that Witchfire has sparked creativity in many of you, and we absolutely love seeing what you come up with. So don’t hesitate to tag us in your Witchfire-related creations or share them on our Discord server[discord.gg]. Whether it’s artwork, a fresh UI concept (yes, we’ve seen those before), a custom logo, or even just a perfectly crafted meme, we’re always happy to see the game through your eyes. And, let’s be honest—memes hold a special place in our hearts. We even have a channel dedicated solely to them.

And if you need to get in touch with me, your friendly neighborhood gestionnaire de communauté, feel free to reach out via our Twitter/X, Facebook, or our Discord, where you can find me @Spajk. Affectionately rechristened Spatch.

I am gazpacho, oh.

Apparently.

This has been the first transmission—I will see you around.

Cheers!

Witch Mountain looms in the distance but the road ahead is a bit more difficult than we anticipated.

We have some good news to share, but first, let’s rip the band-aid off on the painful one. The Witch Mountain update is still a few weeks away.

The last time I wrote about this, I said that the gameplay part of it is so new to us that we cannot quite predict the end of the prototyping period. We believe it’s going to be good for Witchfire, but we cannot be certain how much more work is needed for the feature to truly shine. Every day, the mountain is a bit more fun, and one of these days it will be fun enough to share it with the world — but not today.

Also, the gameplay is not the only thing that needs more time in the oven. We’re infusing the level with legions of opponents, new puzzles, new prophecies, and new mechanics… but “accidentally,” we’ve also made the level our biggest one yet. This does not necessarily mean there’s more gameplay to enjoy than, say, in the Castle, but certainly from the sheer size of it, Witch Mountain is a giant.

I am torn between wanting to thank you for your patience with some preview screenshots and not wanting to spoil the experience. I think I found a nice middle ground, and so here are a few shots that actually avoid showing the main feature of the level: a huge area with a set of gameplay mechanics previously unseen in Witchfire, one that will put your skills and reflexes to the test. We will keep that one hidden for now. But I think we can tease bits and pieces of other areas, so here goes…

Finally, someone might ask why we won’t release Witch Mountain in a work-in-progress state. Witchfire is still in Early Access, after all. But in our opinion, there is a rather unsettling trend in the gaming industry which causes more and more titles to be delivered in a somewhat incomplete state, and we don’t want to follow it. We know it sounds sort of overzealous in the case of an Early Access game, but we’d rather swallow a bitter pill and annoy you with a longer wait than deliver something half-baked.

Now for some good news. Since the update is taking longer than anticipated, we’ve decided to make it fatter.


Witchfire is a heist game in a dark fantasy skin, and Fallen Preyers are your crew. The Muscle, the Driver, the Safecracker, and so on. But while Fallen Preyers 1.0 turned out to be useful, they do not add a lot to the emotional layer of the game. They have such storytelling potential, but for now, all they are is icons on the map.

Also, we think they contribute to the issue of the overload of the cognitive buffer. Ever forgotten you have a Demonic Weapon? Not exclusively your fault. There are so many things to think about in Witchfire that the brain refuses to juggle them all. We love that aspect of the game; this is why we call it an RPG shooter, not just a shooter. But sometimes, too much is too much. Having to remember that a Fallen Preyer waits to be unleashed once during an expedition is a problem.

Also, it’s kind of an unnecessary thing anyway. If there’s a Fallen Preyer who can help you during a Calamity, hmmm, when would one want to call it? I don’t know, maybe during a Calamity?

So we’re changing Fallen Preyers from “nuke buttons” to semi-autonomous NPCs.

We give them shape, we give them life, we give them personalities.

This is a huge undertaking—e.g., seven (!) full new 3D characters—but we just want to do it. We do not compromise, and we treat the story and immersion as one of the unmovable fundamentals of the experience, and we hope Fallen Preyers 2.0 will contribute to that factor.

Not all of it might make it to the Witch Mountain update, but the core of the change will be there for sure.


Two new weapons, two new spells, and a new item. If you have already played Witchfire, you already know that these may be – pardon the pun – literal gamechangers, as equipment has a huge impact on the way you deal with enemies and your survivability. The new stuff is no exception; both affect the playstyle and are just fun.

Let’s reveal one piece today: a new revolver. Yes, this one is for the fan fire lovers.


One of the brand new things that Witch Mountain is going to bring is the Shadow Orb—a magical combat-recording device that will give you challenges and reward you for meeting the requirements by granting you a piece of inventory or a resource that may prove crucial in the current and future runs. The reward will, obviously, depend on the scale of the challenge, but our community has already proven to be more hardcore and ambitious than we predicted, so we have to up the ante every now and then.


We’re reading your feedback loud and clear, and we’re constantly looking for ways to improve what we have delivered so far—the evidence is pretty much everywhere in the game, and the new update is not going to be any different. We have reworked the balance of Knight and Ogre, giving them new behavior and fighting patterns, and refreshed their introductory cutscenes, just to make them that extra bit more intimidating. We have spent quite a lot of time diving deep into Arcana, changing the way some of them work. We have already fixed over 70 bugs reported to us by our community (huge thank you for bringing them to our attention).


Witchfire is very much an ongoing project, so the future is going to bring a lot more – while we’re prioritizing Witch Mountain right now, we’re working on several things at the same time and shaping the content for time beyond WMU. Another map is already playable(-ish) and being tested by the members of our dev team, new weapon concepts are being developed, new opponents are roaming the alleys of our UE Editors (and minds), and we’re in the planning stages of fleshing out a proper tutorial, addressing one of the main complaints you have been reporting in the past weeks and months. Thanks for your support; we appreciate your patience and understanding, and we’re working our hardest to bring you the game you want to play again and again.

To show how serious we are about this, we’ve grown twice in size in the last two years: from 12 to 24. Finally, we are the size of the team that made Painkiller in 2012-2014. We’re still a tiny team considering the standards and quality we aspire to, but we’re no longer minuscule. And we now have a Community Manager, too! See the #announcements channel on our Discord[discord.gg].

That’s it for today, but we will be back soon with new posts, trying to entertain you the best we can until the Witch Mountain drops. And then we’ll go into hiding because it is our hardest content yet, and we’re not sure we’ll survive the screams of the maimed…


Our witch would not be as pretty.

On a more serious note, right now Witchfire is mostly gameplay and pieces of lore. But there’s much more coming in the world/story department. Some of the things we want to say will be… controversial. We can afford to be fearless in our storytelling thanks to enough of you buying the game to keep us independent.

Patch 0.5.1 is out with a Frostbite buff and a couple of fixes. It seems like doing the preview was a good idea as the actual release of The Brewing update is relatively nice and clean. A bow to all who played and reported, seems like it might be something to repeat in the future.

There a few known tiny issues but nothing that should affect the witch hunting too much. We are taking a Christmas & New Year break and will be back in the trenches on January 7th, picking up the work on the Witch Mountain and its L########. Thank you all for buying and playing Witchfire and being a great and lively community that helps the newbies, exchanges protips and builds and experiences, and digs into the lore. Have a fantastic holidays 💝🎄🥳


PATCH 0.5.1 (57565)

Frostbite:

• Reworded Mysterium II description to accurately describe its effects.
  
• Increased base damage by 10%

Designer Note: this makes bullets boosted by Mysterium I actually impactful, as they reach new damage breakpoints and require less bullets to kill most enemies

• Increased the maximum duration of Mysterium II freeze. The duration now increases much more for each bullet spent after the 3rd one
  
• Freeze duration boost increase from Mysterium II now also appllies to the frozen trail from Mysterium III
  
• Max magazine size have been decreased from 8 to 6 bullets, so it’s easier to maximize freeze duration

Designer Note: our plan for Frostbite was to make players choose between optimizing their damage and their freeze potential, based on when they decided to reload. Before, the freeze increases weren’t meaningful enough, and it rarely made sense not to reload after the boosted bullets were spent

• Changed Stigma Diabolicum damage multiplier from 1.6/1.7/1.75 to 1.2/1.3/1.35

Designer Notes: Stigma Diabolicum was always meant to deal around 25% more damage than ordinary weakspot (crits) hits. However, until recently it dealt around 25% more damage than a bodyshot instead. We fixed that, but mistakenly we did so on two fronts – the damage multiplier was increased, and the damage multiplier started using weakspot damage instead of bodyshot damage as its base.

• Fixed an bug that caused Siren’s Shell not to work when used in certain scenarios
  
• Heavily optimized Vendor’s UI refresh logic. Buying multiple items in quick succession should no longer affect your framerate.
  
• Angelus’ shield now correctly processes pushback from enemy attacks starting from 1st Mysterium (was: only on 2nd and 3rd).
  
• Actually changed Incense costs, as indicated in yesterday’s patch
  
• Fixed incorrect Siren’s Shell pickup prompt
  
• Toll Collector in the Castle has extra collision around his legs now and shouldn’t kick the player upwards when approached