- Patch Notes - Steam Next Fest 2025 - 11 June 2025
HighlightsNew Aru Immortal: Atzlan, Prophet of the RootsBots: Play against and with bots in 1v1, 2v2, and PvE modesCanyon (Mission): Procedurally generated PvEBuild Grid: For a more satsifying base building experienceNEWAtzlan - Prophet of the RootsOur First Permanent Hero ImmortalWhen we first set out to make Immortal, the question was raised whether Immortals would be Heroes on the battlefield like Warcraft 3 or Commanders like Starcraft 2 Co-op. To which we replied, why not both? This was eventually refined into 3 distinct Immortal categories. With the release of Atzlan, we now have representation from each category. Ajari, Orzum, and Mala are Commanders; Xol is a Temporary Hero; and Atzlan is a Permanent Hero. As the name suggests, Atzlan is a permanent fixture on the battlefield. You'll start with him in your base, and he'll only disappear when "killed". However, since he is immort…
- Steam Next Fest, New Immortal & Trailer! - 3 June 2025
Hey Immortals!We are excited to announce that we are participating in Steam Next Fest: June Edition from June 9th-16th! Our newest build will be available for all to play, for free, for a whole week. We hope you enjoy playing it as much as we enjoyed making it!What’s in this demo?New Immortal!From the churning depths rises Atzlan, Prophet of the Roots! Embody the might of the Deep with this powerful positional commander. Spread the rootway and rule the overgrown land as an undying green king!Atzlan’s playstyle is unique among the Aru Immortals, combining powerful spells with an on the battlefield presence. As the Root Prophet, it’s important to grow your territory siege-range zone control and terrain manipulation. Here’s a rundown of his kit!Passive: Green Thrumb: Friendly units regenerate health quickly around the Prophet.Utility: Summon Root Bud: Atzlan summons a rootbud in a location…
- Angels and Prophecies: Design Lessons from Q'rath - 18 April 2025
Introduction: Hello, dear community! Dylan “ItWhoSpeaks” Kahn here. While we wait for our summer playtest, I wanted to give you some insight regarding our first faction: Q'rath, the Angelic Empire. This article is a bit of a retrospective, in which we often perform post-mortem covering what we did well and where we made mistakes, with Q’rath being a poignant reflection of what we learned in our modding days. This is an expansive topic, so I feel it's important that we start at the beginning. Part 1: Solving Design Challenges & The Vanguard Prototype As some of you know, we got our start as modders in the StarCraft II community, beginning around the late “Wings of Liberty” era in the year leading up to Heart of the Swarm's beta phase. If you played during that time, you will remember that SCII was a very different experience with very conservative strategies. This was due to the high-let…
- Ballots and Bullets: Building the Iron Republic - 14 March 2025
“Glory, Glory unto Jora, Earned by the blood of the fearless, Glory, Glory unto Jora, May their dreams march ever on!” -National Anthem of the United Republics of Jora, Excerpt Introduction: Greetings community, Dylan “ItWhoSpeaks” Kahn here. It is with great pleasure that we share our first look at what we have been cooking. Consider this our “Jora Faction Preview” complete with mechanics and (some) units! Before we get into it, I want to answer a long-standing question community members (and a few media folks) have asked over the last two years. Since the beginning of 2025, we have pledged to be more open about our development process. Consider us making good on that promise. (Feel free to scroll down to the mechanics and units if this isn't of interest to you.) Where is Jora and why is it taking so long? Many of you have been with us over this long journey to make real this game and…
- Masks and Amber: A Developer Blog - 15 February 2025
Greetings, dear friends! Welcome to our first Developer Blog of 2025. It's been a hot minute since we last talked about the design decisions that go into Gates of Pyre, so we are taking this opportunity between playtests to give you an update on our fifth (and sixth) immortals. Before we do so, I should probably go over the Immortal system, its history, and why we believe it can make a significant contribution to the RTS genre. Let's get into it. The History As many of you know, SunSpear originated in the StarCraft II modding scene. Taking the lessons we had learned from StarBow, the Community PTR mod: OneGoal, and TheCore, we set about trying to build a game that combined the strengths of real-time strategy with the advantages of the rising MOBA genre. All of us had played DOTA and LoL extensively and in those games, we saw many lessons that could be applied to RTS. Specifically, MOBAs…
- LIVE Dev Gameplay Broadcast + Competition Announcement! - 24 January 2025
LIVE Dev Gameplay Broadcast + Competition Announcement! Join us this weekend as our IMMORTAL: Gates of Pyre developers dive into the action, streaming the new demo live on Steam! You'll get to see the pros in action, pick up some expert tips, and explore the latest features in our new demo. 🕒 Tune In: Between Friday 24th and Sunday 26th, after 10 AM PT each day. 📍 Where: Right here on Steam! $300 Competition Alert! To celebrate the release of the first two Missions, we’re running a special competition with a $300 prize pool! Think you’ve got what it takes? The goal is to complete Holdout and Golem Factory with the highest score possible. 🎯 How to Participate: Record a video of your playthrough. Post it in our Discord: https://discord.gg/Qx5pZUWt The playtest is live until Monday 27th at 11:59 PM PT, so don’t miss out! See you on the battlefield!
- RTS Fest Demo is Live! - 20 January 2025
Happy RTS-FEST, Immortals! We are officially live! Enjoy the week of games! Spread the word and GL HF! RTS-Fest Patch Notes General Polish and UX (First Draft) Hotkey Profile System Implemented! 4 profiles now available: Standard, Legacy, and their respective custom variants. Profiles saved to /KeyMappings: folder with .ImmortalHotkeys extension. You can edit them with a text editor. If you try to change the non-custom Standard and Legacy, your changes will be overwritten. You can add a description to your custom .ImmortalHotkeys files Still only accessible through in-game options menu. UI, UX, SFX, VFX, Setdressing Updates UI now has group icons, they show highest population unit, unit count, and hotkey. They can be clicked, and they show increase/decrease animations! Unit voicelines should now be correct for all units. (No Scepters pretending to be motes.) Players can now reveal roles…
- Major Update, RTS-Fest & New Teaser! - 14 January 2025
Hey Immortals, Welcome to our first major update for Q1 2025. There is a lot of exciting news to cover, so let's dive in! Let's start with the big one: The next playtest is set for January 20th to 27th as part of Steam's RTS Fest! That's right, a full week of play with the new build (and all the goodies in it.) Check out our trailer below! (Props to the SunSpear gang for putting this magic together). What's in this playtest? PvE Cooperative has made its Triumphant Return! Players will have access to two maps: a new, more refined version of Holdout (which has received a massive glow up), and a new scenario, Golem Factory, where players will fight to reactivate and control the dormant war-foundries of the Ancient Rae. Just know that this is very much an area that is under construction. For example, this event will not have PvE matchmaking (though it is intended in the future). There are m…
- Thank You for Joining the Battle! - 25 November 2024
Thank You, Immortals! The IMMORTAL: Gates of Pyre weekend playtest has officially come to a close, and we want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who participated! 🎉 Your feedback and dedication are crucial to helping us improve the game, and we loved seeing your strategies in action. We're already hard at work analyzing all the data and suggestions to make the next playtest even better. Stay tuned for more updates, and remember to join our Discord community to keep the conversation going. Until next time, Immortals, keep sharpening your skills! ⚔️
- LIVE Dev Gameplay Broadcast on Steam! - 22 November 2024
Join us tomorrow, Saturday 23rd as our IMMORTAL: Gates of Pyre developers jump into the action, streaming the latest playtest build live on Steam! This is your chance to watch the pros play, learn insider tips, and get a closer look at the newest features in this weekend’s playtest. 🕒 Tune In: Saturday 23rd, starting 9am PT 📍 Where: Right here on Steam! Want to jump in yourself? Join our Discord to play matches, chat with the dev team, and stay up to date on all the latest happenings. The playtest is live until Sunday at 11:59 PM PT, don’t miss out!
- IMMORTAL Weekend Playtest is LIVE! - 22 November 2024
Hell, it's about time... The IMMORTAL: Gates of Pyre weekend playtest is now LIVE! Jump in and experience the latest build, explore new features, and test your strategies against the best! The servers are open from November 22nd, 00:00 PT until November 24th, 23:59 PT, so gather your friends and dive into battle! Be sure to join our Discord where you can play matches and ask questions with our dev team. Playtest Patch Notes Milestone Build 0.0.6.20585a Highlights NEW! In-game HUD. NEW! Unit Voice Lines. NEW! Art - Many units and buildings have updated textures and animations. NEW! Skill Based Matchmaking. NEW! Immortal visuals in Main Hub. General Rootway visual improvement. Added a yellow bar to many abilities with durations where the duration is important to keep track of. Increased the alloy mining of Ether Extractors after alloy mining toggle from 50 alloy/min to 75 alloy/min. Visua…
- Weekend Playtest is Coming Soon! - 8 November 2024
Get ready, Immortals! We're thrilled to announce our next IMMORTAL: Gates of Pyre weekend playtest with a brand new build! Playtest Schedule: November 22nd, 00:00 PT – November 24th, 23:59 PT. This playtest will be open to everyone, so gather your allies and get ready to fight for Pyre! Patch Notes will be released on November 21st, giving you a chance to dive into all the latest updates and improvements before the event begins. Some quick highlights: Skill Based Matchmaking! Unit Voices! New In-Game HUD! Immortal 3D Models in the Main Hub! In the meantime, be sure to join our Discord to connect directly with the dev team, ask questions, and stay up-to-date on all things IMMORTAL: Gates of Pyre! We can't wait to read your feedback and see you in-game!
- Playtest Weekend - 3 August 2024
Get hands-on with IMMORTAL: Gates of Pyre in the brand new playtest, featuring a mysterious world of ancient technology and dark magic, deep yet accessible RTS combat, and even custom lobbies to play with your friends. The playtest will feature four playable Immortals (godlike heroes with a variety of skills and units to command), the 1v1 map “Canyon,” where a vicious tug of war over ancient resources is waged, and the 2v2 map “Lost Province,” where vital backlines allow for infiltration. Players can either join public matchmaking to face foes of equal skill or create their own lobbies. Playtest begins 8/2 (12:01am PDT) - 8/4 (11:59pm PDT) You're also invited to join our Discord where you can play matches and ask questions with our dev team. We hope to see you all there and thank you for your support!
