Dark fantasy FPS Witchfire says “everyone wins” after receiving Epic Store exclusivity

Deciding to launch your new PC game without including a Steam version can be a daunting prospect. The Valve storefront maintains a seemingly unassailable cultural presence, even as providers like GOG, the Epic Games Store and Microsoft's Xbox app offer alternatives. Dark fantasy FPS Witchfire did exactly that, and with the game now released on Steam after a year of EGS exclusivity, the game's developer, The Astronauts, is extremely happy with the results.

“The premiere of Witchfire Early Access on Steam went well,” writes Adrian Chmielarz, co-founder of The Astronauts, in a new blog post titled “When Gamers Get Behind You: Witchfire’s Steam Story.” He says that the launch of the FPS game on Valve's platform “performed better than we could have imagined,” citing the game's user rating of 91% from more than 3,000 reviews. “Not only have we sold enough copies to secure the future of the studio, but also to invest more in the game and make our Witchfire dreams come true.”

In addition to these sales, Chmielarz says the game is now on more than 1.1 million wishlists, proving that future audiences are keen on the game as it nears full release. “We put a lot of passion and hard work into Witchfire,” he continues. “I would like to take this opportunity to salute the team who not only never lost faith in the project but also never left for greener pastures. but keep working as if the best is yet to come. And they’re right.”

Looking at the game's year of Epic Store exclusivity between September 2023 and its Steam launch in September 2024, Chmielarz says: “I think everyone wins. Epic got a pretty unique, good-looking game for a year to boost its store's presence. The deal with Epic allowed us to maintain our independence and continue development without selling any part of the studio.” He adds that those who played in that first year “got to play a truly different version of Witchfire , one that will never be seen again. “Brutal, raw, merciless.”

With the Steam version that has now been released, those who buy the game there get “a game that is still unfinished – that is Early Access – but in better condition and with more content than the initial release.” What is there? that you don't like? I would really recommend any indie studio that can go this route to go this route,” enthuses Chmielarz. “I'm glad we did that. We just copied what Supergiant did with Hades and it seems to have worked well.”

He also adds that while the team was pleased with the initial response to the Steam launch, things “got even better” as positive reviews came in and content creators who enjoyed the game shared their experiences. “Our number of players has more than doubled. We would throw the number into our team chat every ten minutes or so and be excited about the news.”

Chmielarz notes that he also learned “how and when to let go and what happens when you respect your players.” As previously mentioned, he considers the game's Steam score to be an incredibly important factor in its continued success. “It's clear: Steam is more likely to recommend good games to you than bad ones.” Against this background, every bad review hurts – but especially if it feels “unfair”.

Still, Chmielarz says he has learned not to respond to “reviews that one might perceive as unfair.” He notes that this is actually what Valve recommends to developers: “They warn you that not all reviews will be constructive, and they say that you should focus on your game and the actual feedback rather than whining about it .”

“And so we learned to let go,” he concludes. “Unless it's clearly disinformation or trolling, we'll just see whether or not there's something we should learn from the review and then work on it if there is. This is it.” Chmielarz also shares user feedback that he says particularly touched the team. It comes from a player who used to pirate the game and then bought three copies to support development after enjoying it so much.

Finally, Chielarz says, “Rest assured that the success of the Early Access premiere will neither slow us down nor make us complacent.” We're the kind of studio that's quick to tune out the praise and focus on the criticism, and we have one Witchfire's vision that we want to implement as quickly as possible. Such a good premiere, GG team, thank you very much players – but now it’s back to work.”

If you're not quite ready to take the plunge yet, we've rounded up the best fantasy games and RPGs for PC in 2024 that should keep you on your toes.

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