It has been eight long years since Rob Pardo, the former World of Warcraft lead designer and chief creative officer at Blizzard Entertainment, founded Bonfire Studios. In that time, not much could be heard from the team he assembled in Orange County, California, but that silence has been broken: Bonfire Studios revealed that its debut game, Arkheron, will be a team-based PvP experience and is currently in private testing.
There is not much information about the setting or even the exact genre, though the website of the studio hints at a more fantasy-inspired project than, say, a sci-fi shooter. Interested players can sign up for tests there.
“We’ve been quietly building an early community of players for our first game, Arkheron. We’re now getting ready to expand our playtest and invite more people to join us on this journey,” the website states. “Our team-based PvP game combines elements from multiple genres to create something fresh and a little unconventional. It’s still a work-in-progress and hasn’t been officially announced yet, but we’re excited to share a glimpse of what we’ve been creating.”
Gameplay is described as “fast-paced” and the setting as “dark and foreboding.”
“There’s a simple truth at the heart of our development philosophy,” commented Rob Pardo, who still serves as Bonfire Studios’ CEO. “If we don’t love our game, our players won’t either. We believe the best games are born from a genuine love of playing them, which is why we’ve poured years of passion into developing Arkheron, constantly iterating and refining it to deliver something truly unique and exciting. We’ve played the game daily as a team for years, and while we haven’t figured out yet exactly how to describe it, we often say ‘you have to play it to get it’. We’re eager to start sharing the fun we’ve found in Arkheron with a wider community soon, and we hope players will love it as much as we do.”
Bonfire Studios is making serious preparations for the global launch in a not-so-distant future, having announced a publishing partnership with HYBE IM for South Korea and Japan on top of securing additional funding for the final stretch of development.
No platforms have been announced for Arkheron yet.
