WITCHFIRE Originally Was "A Sci-Fi Post-Apo Survival Sim," According To The Astronauts

In Witchfire, the player will channel their inner inquisitor as the punishing hand of the medieval Church that has only one goal: killing witches. The game was announced during The Game Awards 2017 and is being made at The Astronauts, a Polish game development studio that debuted in 2014 with The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, one of the most praised walking simulators of the last decade.

According to the studio, the current build of Witchfire features no cut-scenes or dialogue options, offering you a lot of shooting and challenges, bringing it closer to Bulletstorm or Painkiller, two games made by the creative leads behind Witchfire. The bad news is that the studio wasted a year to figure out that killing witches is what they want as Witchfire used to be a "sci-fi post-apo survival sim."

"It seemed like the world has moved towards sandboxes like Day Z, Rust or Ark. We liked some of these games but figured we could do it differently," Founder Adrian Chmielarz explained. "The plan was to make a survival sim for people who enjoy the idea of a survival sim – alone versus the universe – but hate the execution," Chmielarz said. "Witchfire has nothing to do with what it once was, during that first year of development. The entire thing is gone, nothing carried over to what we’re working on these days. Not a single idea, not a single asset (okay, maybe except for the grass)."

The Astronauts have revealed that Witchfire is coming to PC (Steam) and that they are nowhere near finishing it, which simply means that you won't be able to play it anytime soon. The studio reportedly wants to release Witchfire next year, but it's subject to change. Considering that they have "never been happier than [they] are now," there's a chance Witchfire will live up to their grotesque legacy.

During the 300 years of European witch hunts that started in the 15th century, tens of thousands of women, men and children lost their lives due to superstition, politics and profit. But that’s our history and our world. In the world of Witchfire, witches are real. And you are the punishing hand of the Church.