Witchfire pushed back to 2023 for a very good reason
We won't be playing Withfire this year, but the version we're getting next year will be worth the wait.
Witchfire is a game shooter fans have been looking forward to since its initial reveal all the way back in December 2017. It's getting close to five years already, and though we were hoping to finally get our hands on it this year, this sadly won't be happening.
Developer The Astronauts announced today that it has pushed back the early access release of the game to sometime in early 2023.
In a blog post, the developer revealed that it's changing the game's combat flow from arena-style encounters to the more organic open-world combat. This is significant enough to warrant that delay, but the good news is that the feature is "95% implemented."
"It makes the game better. It is kind of hard for me to imagine the player did not have that freedom before," explained creative director Adrian Chmielarz.
"Sure, you can still be trapped by the witch in this or that spot, and some doors will be closed until you find a key, and it might be too dangerous to enter areas closer to the boss before you are ready– but the world is wide open for you to explore in almost any order, and you can both push forward and retreat as you please."
Nevertheless, Chmielarz is aware the game has been without a release date for long enough, and is confident about the new release target. It doesn't look like we'll be getting any new gameplay this year, however. What we are getting will be new information on the world, story and some 2D art during Halloween.
Witchfire is an impressive-looking fantasy first-person shooter from some of the people behind Painkiller, and Bulletstorm. The game is taking cues from more modern games, too, such as Destiny. It will be an Epic Store exclusive when it enters early access next year.
If you think you recongise that name, give the most recent gameplay footage a look to see why many of us are excited about this one.