- September is here - Upcoming update teasing - 14 September 2026
Hey everyone! It’s been a few months since the release, most of the team enjoyed some summer holidays but we’re back and we have plenty of things to talk about (especially teasing about the upcoming update) so let’s dive in!Release feedbackFirst of all, we wanted to thank everyone who supported us during this launch and before, as well as everyone who joined the ride of Early Access!We’ve received super valuable feedback both in reviews and forums, from the controls to the leveling up of characters, we’ve read everything and took some time to work on your suggestions. We’re still implementing and testing some of the new features, but we can already tease a bit what will be there in the coming weeks!Introducing: Demon Hunters Awakening update 2 new playable characters: New faces will join your squad in this brand new update, for it is the time of the demon hunters, their caravan stalks a…
- V0.3.9 - 7 August 2026
Hello to everyone! It's been over a week since the launch of Prelude Dark Pain, and we're incredibly grateful for the warm reception. We've been listening closely to all your feedback and working hard to make the game even better thanks to your support.Let's dive into the Patch 0.3.9 notes!Battle BonusesWe've heard all your feedback, and we know this is one of the most important topics.To begin with, we've added a tutorial explaining what Valour Points are used for. These are earned by completing optional battle bonus objectives. If you've already finished the adventure, don't worry—we'll explain it here."Some battles feature secondary bonuses to earn VALOUR POINTS. These objectives are not mandatory. The harder the battle bonus, the more valour points you earn. Completing an objective awards valour points directly to your inventory, which can then be redeemed at the quartermaster for e…
- Prelude Dark Pain is now available in Early Access! - 27 July 2026
Hello, members of the resistance! The day has arrived: Prelude Dark Pain is now available in Early Access! We're excited as you will finally discover the world of Statera and you may have several questions regarding the game and its Early Access, which is why you can find our FAQ at the end of this news! Don't hesitate to read it as it may answers the main questions you have on Prelude Dark Pain! We're also having a 10% sale to celebrate this release!Buy the game with a 10% discount here:Watch our trailer:Prelude Dark Pain is a tactical RPG set in a dark fantasy world. The combat system is grid and party-based, inspired by classics like Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, and Vandal Hearts.The art style is also inspired by many other works, including games such as the Darkest Dungeon series, but also by the comic book scene, especially Mike Mignola’s work on Hellboy. The buildings and…
- My newest tactical RPG obsession is a grimdark tale of sparking revolution and kicking dudes off moving vehicles - 24 July 2026
Prelude Dark Pain launches into early access soon, and its gorgeous dark fantasy world plays home to my favorite brand of tactical combat. Read the full story on PCGamesN: My newest tactical RPG obsession is a grimdark tale of sparking revolution and kicking dudes off moving vehicles
- Prelude Dark Pain launches in Early Access on July 27th! - 9 July 2026
Hey, members of the resistance!It’s official: Prelude Dark Pain Early Access launches on July 27th! For the Early Access release, all of Act 1 will be available, including 9 heroes, 63 skills unlockable for your team and access to the World Map!Watch our Trailer:We will display more information about the Early Access, its content and lenght, on the release day with our upcoming FAQ! That's why if you have any questions, share them in the comments or in our Discord so we can answer them! TactiCon Participation We’re also participating in the TactiCon event, a digital celebration of strategy games on Steam! Don’t hesitate to check out the featured games which have demos and sales. Don't hesitate to wishlist the tactical games that caught your eye! Development update and SNF feedbackSteam Next Fest was super fun for us, and we were delighted to read your reviews and feedback on the demo! H…
- Demo Patch Notes v.0.1.96 – New Camera Modes, Motion Sickness Option & Bug fixes - 11 June 2026
Hello again, Members of the Resistance! A week after releasing our first public demo, we’re very happy with the feedback we’ve received. Our demo has now 91% positive reviews on Steam!If you’ve played the demo and enjoyed it, don’t forget to leave a positive review. It really helps us get discovered by more people in the store.Despite the positive reception, we are always listening to your constructive feedback to improve Prelude Dark Pain. Here are some changes we think you’ll like!ADDED:Three new camera modes:Automatic (the camera follows the player's actions).Semi-Automatic (the camera only follows certain player actions).Manual (the camera is completely free; zoom in/out is disabled, and the player can control it as desired, except when an enemy attacks or moves).Screen Shake: Added an option to disable camera shake to reduce motion sickness.Hit Chance: In the confrontation menu, th…
- Our demo is live and will be available during all Steam Next Fest - 5 June 2026
Good day, Members of the Resistance!We are glad to announce that our demo is now available today and will stay active throughout the entire Steam Next Fest!PLAY THE DEMO HERE: All our playtesters and Backers that participated in the playtest helped us shape and improve this demo. We’ve made improvements on certain features like game control and menus (look at this new UI!), so trying it out can bring you surprises in certain areas even if you already participated in the playtest!What’s in the demo?What can I find in this demo? This demo is approximately one-hour long and will cover the start of Act 1 through:A hands-on look at the tactical combat system.The opening chapter of the story with four playable heroes: Soren, Tammais, Tizón, and Maya. A stand-alone battle with a squad of 5 heroes, introducing a new playable character: Sade, a Keeper of the Veil that is fighting with a cross! M…
- End of playtest - What's next? - 7 May 2026
Good day, Members of the Resistance!Our first ever playtest with Backers and non-Backers on Steam has ended at the beginning of this week. First of all, a huge thank you to all our playtesters, your feedback, suggestions and bug report helped us a lot in visualising the improvements area of Prelude Dark Pain.For anyone who requested access to the playtest but were not selected this time, we wanted to thank you as well for your interest and support in the game. We're keeping your registration in case we host once again a playtest in the future, so stay tuned as we may ask for your input at a later date! PLAYTEST RESULTS AND TAKEAWAYSHere are some interesting numbers regarding this playtest:1303 players registered activated their key for this playtest;The average score given by playtesters was 4/5;92% of playtesters shared they wanted to play again/participate in the next playtest as well…
- New dark fantasy tactical RPG Prelude Dark Pain is scratching my Mewgenics itch in all the right ways - 5 May 2026
As enemy forces close in, I send my young daughter scurrying through an escape tunnel into the woods, taking up arms alongside her brother to meet the imposing commander that's arrived at my door. Prelude: Dark Pain doesn't pull its punches, even in the opening battle, but fortunately old companions spot the blaze from distance and rush to our aid. Within moments, we're fleeing atop an armored caravan hauled by giant, horned beasts, battling our would-be captors on the roof. I take the opportunity to employ knockback skills to great effect, sending them crashing down to the dirt track below as we speed away. Respite, if but for a moment. Read the full story on PCGamesN: New dark fantasy tactical RPG Prelude Dark Pain is scratching my Mewgenics itch in all the right ways RELATED LINKS: Pyre Lookout is a Disco Elysium-esque tale of bureaucratic incompetence, red tape, and frogs My favorit…
- Road to Early Access and what've been up to this Winter/Spring! - 2 April 2026
Hello everyone!So… We’re a bit late with this new development post, but we swear it’s because we were working on tons of things at the studio! Let’s get a look about how 2026 started for us! Events participationWe were at The Mix + Kinda Funny Game Showcase at Games Developer Conference, both in the online showcase with our exclusive gameplay presentation trailer that introduces one of the fights we’re very proud of, involving a moving train and playing with your environment!It was also a pleasure to meet you at the on-site event and watch you play the first part of the game!The Turn-Based Thursday Fest on Steam's main page was also a great moment as we were super honored to be among so many great games of the turn-based genre!Development ProgressIn addition to events, we were working on our first milestones for the game, which will shape the beginning of Prelude Dark Pain through Act 1…
- New partner on this journey... and new nomination! - 1 December 2025
Hello everyone!A new post about the development of Prelude Dark Pain is coming at the end of this month, just as we promised. We have a lot of news to share with you, but one of them is really important: we have a new publisher!Firesquid Games is joining our family to help make Prelude Dark Pain an even better game. The publishers behind amazing games like Reus 2 and City Tales are not only supporting our project with additional financial muscle, but also QA, their entire design and marketing teams, and more to improve Prelude Dark Pain even further.And there's something very important: all creative decisions are in the hands of the Prelude Dark Pain development team. That’s why Firesquid Games is the perfect partner for this new journey!Simon Bachelier, Director of Operations at Firesquid Games, would like to share a few words with the project’s backers: "The whole Firesquid team is ex…
- First Dev Diary on YouTube! - 7 October 2025
Hello everyone!We're back with a new update on the development of Prelude Dark Pain. This post should have been published a week ago, but we're publishing it now for a very good reason —as you'll see in a few minutes.First of all, we want to say "thank you"— almost 1,000 backers have tried the Prelude Dark Pain demo. It’s been an incredible experience, we’ve gathered a lot of feedback, and we’re implementing it into the game. THANK YOU, from the bottom of our hearts, for everything—your support and this community are absolutely essential to us.We're sorry we weren’t able to gift that extra key for a friend, but Steam only provided one key per backer. We hadn’t informed you earlier because we were trying to get a second key up until the last moment, but unfortunately, it wasn’t possible. The demo codes have now expired and the demo will be deleted in a few weeks (October 31st), as we men…
- BLASPHEMOUS X PRELUDE DARK PAIN + LAST 48 HOURS - 3 June 2025
Hi everyone! Today we’re sharing an exciting update and a crucial milestone: BLASPHEMOUS COLLABORATION IN PRELUDE DARK PAIN The Game Kitchen and Quickfire Games have announced today a collaboration between Blasphemous and Prelude Dark Pain. The dark tactical RPG will receive a free DLC inspired by the 2D successful action franchise, including new playable characters from Cvstodia and more. This DLC will be free to all Prelude Dark Pain owners after the full release of the game. You can support our Kickstarter campaign until June 5! THE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN HAS SURPASSED €100,000 During the weekend our Kickstarter campaign finally reached €100,000 and the Enhanced Map Mode stretch goal has been greenlit! — the map mode now features expanded interactivity and improved graphics. Initially, the map’s purpose was purely informational, but we are now increasing its functionality and in-game…
- Exclusive PRELUDE DARK PAIN DEMO on July 2025, only for Kickstarter backers! - 7 May 2025
Hi everyone! First of all, we want to thank you again for your support: Prelude Dark Pain has reached 25,000 wishlists on Steam! We are about to enter in the top 1,000 followed games on the store, so if you haven't done already, please consider wishlisting and following Prelude Dark Pain on Steam. But we have more exciting news! Backer demo on July 2025 After hearing your feedback, we have decided to create a demo for Kickstarter backers so that you can try a small bite of the game. A few select content creators and games press sites had access to a special demo that is not meant for public release. We're working on an adapted version, but it'll take a bit of time. We are expecting to send Steam keys for the demo on July 2025 to all backers starting at €15 (Digital PC Game - Steam). Even if you have backed a console edition, the demo will only be available on PC via Steam. Here's some P…
- Stunning new strategy RPG Prelude Dark Pain smashes Kickstarter goal in 12 hours - 2 May 2025
From XCOM 2 to Baldur's Gate 3, we're spoilt for choice when it comes to great turn-based strategy games and tactical RPGs. Yet I'm always on the lookout for the next potential winner, and Prelude Dark Pain is shaping up to be a serious contender. A dark fantasy tale where your group of heroes attempt to save the land of Statera from a generations-old force of evil, it matches a beautiful art style with grid-based combat. The results have been immediate; just a few short hours after launching its Kickstarter, developer Quickfire Games has already eclipsed its initial funding goal. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Card-based Lovecraftian strategy RPG The Horror at Highrook lands on Steam New automation sandbox game Icaria fuses Minecraft and Factorio together Brutal soulslike ARPG No Rest for the Wicked buffs loot drops as reviews plummet
- Prelude Dark Pain: new previews and gameplay! - 29 April 2025
Hi everyone! We have invited several games press sites and content creators to play a Prelude Dark Pain demo to get a taste of our Dark Fantasy Tactical RPG. Here are some accolades: "A Dark Fantasy Tactical RPG With Serious Potential!" Splattercat "It’s already shaping up to be one of the best tactical experiences around". PCGamesN "When Final Fantasy Tactics meets Darkest Dungeon" EveryEye "Hard to master and with a great art style" Salva Fernández "Eye-catching skills, many altered states, a good rhythm and a challenging difficulty that grips you from the very first second" Vandal
- XCOM meets Darkest Dungeon in Prelude Dark Pain, a sinister new strategy RPG - 22 April 2025
If there's one thing XCOM and Darkest Dungeon have in common, it's forcing you to make incredibly tough decisions. Whether you're choosing who lives, dies, or leads your team, both games push your tactical RPG limits to new heights. This is something the upcoming Prelude Dark Pain understands well, as it gives you plenty of opportunities to win, but will always find a way to punish your mistakes. Ahead of an imminent Kickstarter launch, I got to try the strategy game for myself, and it's one to keep an eye on. Read the rest of the story...
- Make sure you remember Forrel's name! - 1 April 2025
☠️ Make sure you remember his name: Forrel will be one of the mightiest foes you'll face in the world of Statera 🦾
- Prepare to cross blades (and guns) with the notorious mercenary Dumas! - 25 March 2025
⚔️ During your journey you'll cross blades (and guns) with the notorious mercenary Dumas! 🔫
- Meet RAYDER! - 25 February 2025
⚰️ Meet RAYDER, a soldier who can't rest... not even after death! 🔱
