Bonfire Studios Unveils Its Debut Game After Nine Years of Development

Nine years after its inception, Bonfire Studios has officially announced its first game, Arkheron, a team-based, isometric, PvP multiplayer action title that combines elements of MOBAs, battle royale, and ARPGs like Diablo. Director Rob Pardo describes it as an 'Ascencion Royale', where teams ascend a gigantic tower, facing off against each other. The game's development has been a long and iterative process, with Pardo stating that the studio took its time to formulate the perfect debut game. When asked if he expected it to take eight years, Pardo replied, 'Obviously not... You end up going on a bit of an adventure, and sometimes it takes a long time.' The game enters an industry that has changed dramatically since its conception, with many developers struggling to make and sell games. However, Pardo believes that the type of games people make must change, and that's what drove Arkheron's protracted development. The studio spent two years figuring out what kind of game it wanted to make, with developers pitching internally before settling on three key influences: Diablo, PUBG, and Dark Souls. Through iteration, Bonfire built a game with Diablo's perspective and gear-based skills, but with real-time, twitch-based melee and magical combat, and open-ended, knockout-style multiplayer. Pardo wants Arkheron to provide an experience players can invest hundreds or thousands of hours in, with a focus on depth over accessibility. The studio conducts playtests every morning, with meetings and design work happening in the afternoon. The turning point for Arkheron came during the COVID pandemic, when the studio reworked the camera and combat. Bonfire has been able to operate for so long without shipping a product through careful deployment of its investments, which began with $25 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz. The studio received a series B investment last year, which Pardo describes as 'significant' and will 'definitely get us through launch.' While Pardo stresses that there's still a long way to go before release, Bonfire feels like Arkheron is in a good place internally. The challenge now is to begin rolling it out for larger-scale public testing, to assist with designing practical elements and building an audience for the game. Pardo believes that Arkheron will stand out due to its originality and ability to appeal to fans of multiple genres. The game's viability will become clearer as more people play it, but with a current team size of 70 developers, Pardo says that Arkheron does not need to be a sensation to be successful.