Bonfire Studios has announced the Arkheron game after 8 years – exclusively

Photos by Bonfire StudiosThe independent game developer that was launched by Rob Pardo and other game players in 2016, is coming out of the hidden mode, revealing its first project. Archeron.

Founded by veteran artists responsible for creating popular franchises including Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft and World of Warcraft, the Bonfire team uses the expertise and design principles honed in these titles to create new, multi-player games ( PvP), said Rob Pardo, CEO of Irvine, California-based Photos by Bonfire Studiosin an exclusive interview with GamesBeat.

Arkheron’s private trial is already underway and will continue to grow in the coming months with invitations. Players who enjoy fast-paced multiplayer (PvP) gameplay are encouraged to register now for a chance to be among the first to play Arkheron and help shape its future installments.

I asked Pardo if the team has spent eight years developing the game so far, but he said that it took 1.5 years to build a studio and do the animations to get fun. The actual work on the Arkheron itself began in 2018 and even then it involved a lot of testing and testing to get it right. So the game has been running for about six years.

“We’ve been thrown some curve balls,” Pardo said. “We didn’t expect to be in the middle of civilization when the global pandemic hit.”

As an example of a curve ball, the team spent nearly nine months developing the backend architecture to adapt the network to the type of warfare it wanted to host.

We don’t know what this means as Bonfire is slowly revealing the game.

The company has been tinkering and iterating on Arkheron behind the scenes for years and started private demo sessions with a small team in 2024. Although players will find familiar concepts in Arkheron, it’s not about combining colors – it’s about production. something new; an intense, fast-paced PvP game set in a dark and dangerous world. The game is played from a top-down perspective, unlike first- or third-person games, Pardo said.

The game does not have a deep story, so it is not different from games like League of Legends and Overwatch. But it has its own world and ideas to make it a better PvP game. The game will also be a live-action game.

The team at Bonfire tests the game every day, and explains that this part of their development helps them create fun and unique games that they believe will resonate with players. It is built on the Unity game engine, with modifications made by Bonfire himself.

“There is a simple truth at the heart of our social philosophy,” Pardo said. “If we don’t like our game, the players won’t either. We believe that the best games are born from the true love of playing them, and that is why we have spent many years creating Arkheron, repeatedly refining it to deliver something unique and exciting. “

He added, “We have been playing the game every day as a team for years, and we didn’t know how to explain it, we often say ‘you have to play to find it’. We are eager to start sharing the fun we have found in Arkheron with more people soon, and we hope the players will like it. as we do.”

Bonfire’s design philosophy is based on fun and highly rewarding games, fantasy worlds that encourage self-expression, acceptance, lasting communities and experiences that become a meaningful part of players’ lives.

Players who register on this site will have the opportunity to be invited to Private playtestbut the easiest way is to find a friend who is already playing – because Arkheron is best when played with friends, the company said. Currently access to North America is limited, but Bonfire plans to continue expanding the playtest to other regions throughout the year.

New money has been found

Back when the company started in 2018, Bonfire Studios raised $25 million from Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) and Riot Games. He said investors have been helping along the way.

Building on last week’s disclosure of the partnership with Hybe IM to distribute Arkheron in Korea and Japan, Bonfire has also received new funding from A16z, Founders Fund and Altos Ventures, among others, which will support the remaining development of Arkheron as the team calculates. about the establishment of the world.

Pardo said he believes the company has what it takes to launch the game. But he didn’t say everything that happened recently.

As Bonfire continues his work at Arkheron, the studio is growing, with positions open across its engineering, art, audio and media teams. Those interested can learn more and apply on the Bonfire website.

Explain the game?

Arkheron takes place in a dark dark universe that the team likes to call “the most beautiful” artwork. But he said that it is still different from the style of games like Souls or Diablo games.

In terms of art and games, Pardo said, “With investors or publishers or potential players, we have not found the right way to explain in a way that paints the right picture of the game. This is one of the reasons why we have been doing secret experiments.”

He said “the only way to understand the game is to play the game.”

But it’s a competitive multiplayer game, and Pardo calls it a “professional and unique approach.” It’s not flashy or like any other brands out there, he said. And it’s one you have to see to understand.

“It’s in this amazing place where he has the popular opinion of other brands, but at the core of the game he’s very special and his batting is special. It’s given us a lot of problems to explain to people. Because people always have the wrong idea. They get the wrong image of the game,” Pardo said. .

When asked about the game, Pardo said he is not revealing it yet. The team is only revealing high-level details, but Pardo said that if you know its history, it will have similar designs and philosophies that it is known for.

“It’s very fast and it doesn’t turn or anything like that. It has its own unique fighting style. It’s not really a shooter. It’s not just a clicker like Diablo,” he said. “We believe that we have made it playable on controllers from the beginning. So it is very useful for controller games. We are planning to release it on current generations along with PC.”

When asked about the roads, Pardo said the company has tested many of its friends and family members. Now it will happen with real players who have nothing to do with the company. That trial may begin next month or so.

“So from there, we will continue to improve the game based on what we learn from our testing,” Pardo said.

Making a game

Bonfire Studios has grown to 70 people now. The project started about a year ago, and the art department has grown to 40 people.

As the project progresses, Pardo said the team tried to make everyone in the company comfortable with game installation, from engineers to entrepreneurs to game developers. The team had to put an extra layer on the track, reducing the game section to five slides. Many games were played and the team decided what to do.

It started expressing seven different ideas and “sprouted seeds into trees,” Pardo said.

The team created “boards” and worked on ideas for several weeks each. Then he decided what to build.

“I’ve never taken five years to make a game, to be honest with you, but because the development style that I’ve always used, and we use at Bonfire, has been iterative, finding–fun patterns, it’s not a straight line,” he said. You have interesting accidents and discoveries. You go the wrong way and you have to start another way. We build the game from the inside out to the point where you just start having fun, that’s when you start climbing. “

In this sense, game development was similar to what happened at Blizzard. He said with every game, you learn a ton, you make mistakes, and you gain wisdom that takes you further. After Blizzard finishes the game, they can do a post-mortem. But he also said that next time, different problems will arise in the production. Technology may change, the art form may need to be reinvented.

“Most of all, what I’ve learned is to try to make sure you’re sure of the game as you go,” he said.