From Press Release:
Aetherhold – September 29th, 2026 – US-based indie team Spellbound Studios is excited to announce that Shattered Realms, the studio’s upcoming dark fantasy roguelite ARPG, will launch into Steam Early Access before the first part of 2027. The studio is also launching a public demo on Steam today, giving players a glimpse of what’s to come when the title releases!
Inspired by the cornerstones of the ARPG genre, Shattered Realms takes place in the aftermath of a world-shattering betrayal. As one of the last surviving Guardians of Aetherhold, you will venture into corrupted realms, face increasingly dangerous enemies and bosses, and gather the strength needed to heal the world and defeat those who broke it!
Combining fast-paced combat, procedural exploration, deep build customization, randomized loot, and persistent progression, Shattered Realms will give you full freedom to face your foes as you desire. Choose among different Guardian classes, then mix each class’ unique skills with a pool of shared elemental and physical magic to create custom builds that fit your playstyle. Leverage debuffs, status effects, chain damage and fully customizable abilities to gain control of the battlefield as you unleash complete destruction on anything foolish enough to oppose you.
No two runs through the corrupted worlds will be the same. Procedurally generated maps, randomized wave encounters, and unique world events continually change the challenges players face. Temporary abilities allow players to adapt their strategy as a run unfolds, while permanent upgrades provide lasting improvements between attempts. Resources brought back from the realms can be used to unlock stat boosts, upgrades, and new gear, turning each failed run into an opportunity to experiment, evolve, and prepare for the next challenge.
And this is the true key to restoring order in Aetherhold. Use your loot, resources, and hard-earned rewards to craft new items and unlock new playstyles. Shape the way your character’s abilities work, fine tune your stats, and even influence how each realm behaves through dedicated Challenge Trees you can tweak to decide how dangerous that realm becomes and what you want to work toward. Then, step back into the fray and face new enemies, events, and bosses as you further grow your power and get one step closer to healing the world.
The current Steam demo includes two playable characters, alongside a taste of the core combat, character building, crafting, and progression systems. Players will be able to complete a full run of the Death Realm, while also accessing the first section of the World Tree and experiment with class-specific abilities, persistent progression and crafting.
As for the Early Access launch, this will be only the first step in shaping Shattered Realms. Once the game lands on Steam, Spellbound Studios plan to work closely with players and fans of the genre to expand and improve the title alongside its community. Commenting on the release and plans for the future, the team said: “We want players to keep discovering new ways to build and play their Guardian. Whether that comes from a new item, an upgrade in their skill tree, or a modifier that changes how an ability works, there should always be another idea they’re excited to try. Early Access gives us a chance to see what players experiment with and use that feedback to help shape the combat and progression”.
Key Gameplay Features
Unique Guardians With Customizable Skill Trees: each of the Guardians of Aetherhold brings to the battlefield a unique set of skills. The Berserker can slam the earth with massive quake-like attacks, for example, while the Sorceress can pick enemies off with precision ranged attacks. Every Guardian also has their own extensive skill tree, with different unlockables that let you create unique combinations.
Dedicated Challenge Trees for Each Realm: Each individual realm has its own tree where players can increase the challenge to unlock better rewards and new challenges. You’re making decisions about how dangerous that realm becomes and what you want to work toward!
Different ways to build every ability: fine-tune every ability and build your attacks to your liking. Turn fireballs into massive explosions to set everything on fire, or summon multiple meteors at once to rain death upon your enemies.
Deep loot, crafting, and persistent progression: Death doesn’t wipe your gains. Experiment with persistent equipment, unlock elemental variants, collect unique and legendary loot and craft new items that let you refine gear around specific builds.
Wave Bosses, Random Encounters and Unlockable World Bosses: Brave unique situations, enemy waves and bosses with each run. Survive themed events and challenges, discover random encounters, and unlock powerful World Bosses that will give you access to unique items, abilities, and other rewards to pursue.
Shattered Realms will launch into Steam Early Access in 2027. The Early Access version will provide the foundation for the game’s combat, progression, loot, crafting, and realm systems, with additional content planned throughout development.
Players can add Shattered Realms to their Steam wishlist to follow the game’s development and receive notifications when it becomes available.
About Spellbound Studios
Spellbound Studios is 3D animation and visual effects veterans Andrew Jordan and Ricardo Ribeiro. After more than 15 years working in games, film, and 3D art – including titles such as Avengers: Endgame, Spiderman: Homecoming, Captain Marvel, Aquaman, and Alien: Covenant – the duo established the studio to develop their own titles. Drawing on their experience and a longstanding love of fantasy, the team is developing Shattered Realms, a dark fantasy action RPG that brings extensive character building, loot, customization, and crafting into a roguelite experience.”
###
