We are a small independent game developer located in Warsaw, Poland. Before The Astronauts, some of us worked on games like Painkiller and Bulletstorm.
Our latest project is Witchfire, a dark fantasy first person shooter set in an alternative world in which witches are real and very dangerous – but so are you, witchhunter.
Our first game was a weird fiction mystery titled The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. The game has won many awards, including BAFTA, and we sold over one million copies. It’s available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Click here for more details.
The Webgrave Update has been out for a few days now, and the response has been nothing short of amazing – so amazing, in fact, that before we dive into the sizeable Hermitorium Archives (Webgrave Special Edition), Adrian wanted to say a few words.
Raising from the Webgrave
It might be a bit early to reflect on the reception of the Webgrave update, as we’re still in the support phase with a nice fat patch coming early next week. However, I can’t contain my joy over its performance, so let’s take a look anyway.
This chart shows our daily concurrent players since the Steam release nearly a year ago. It’s very much what you’d expect: a big spike on release, smaller spikes during updates. But then, at the end, the Webgrave spike. Two to three times bigger than any previous update, almost rivaling our launch numbers.
Now, while I’d love to attribute this anomaly entirely to the quality of the update, we need to consider two other important factors.
First, this was our first 20% discount. I do believe the game is priced fairly, but the promo obviously made it more appealing to some players. It also triggered an email from Valve to over a million Steam users who had wishlisted Witchfire — Valve sends out such emails whenever there’s a discount of 20% or more.
Second, we were prominently featured on Steam’s front page in the Weekend Deal section throughout the weekend. No matter how good your own marketing is, exposure from Steam — via the front page and algorithm — is infinitely more powerful.
Does that mean Webgrave was just like any other update, and its great performance was simply due to price and exposure?
Luckily, not quite.
It seems you genuinely liked the update enough to spread the good word about it.
Because otherwise, how do you explain the steady, consistent growth of our Discord community (now over 16K members!) and the explosion of activity on our subreddit?
And how do you explain the fact that Witchfire continues to sell well even days after the promo ended? The Steam algorithm helps (a lot) with exposure but it’s not forcing anyone to buy the game.
We poured our hearts and souls into Webgrave. The final month was hard, with long days and nights. But it all feels worth it when we see you’re enjoying the game. This is why we do it.
Thank you for buying Witchfire and thank you for playing. Special thanks to everyone who writes Steam reviews (these are incredibly impactful), rates us on EGS, helps new players on Discord, or discusses the game on various forums, including Steam and Reddit. Hats off to everyone talking about the game on YouTube, both content creators and commenters.
Now get ready for that new monster next week.
Hermitorium Archives
On the topic of performance…
Let’s start with one of the most frequently mentioned aspects of Webgrave – or rather, Velmorne: performance. A number of posts on Steam, Reddit, and Discord pointed out that the new map doesn’t run as smoothly as the previous ones. The reason? Velmorne is significantly larger than any other level in the game, so naturally, there’s going to be a performance hit.
It’s not a huge hit — and to offset it, we’ve actually hired a programmer whose sole job is to optimize the game. Thanks to that, we’re already seeing a 5% performance boost compared to previous updates. So you lose some, and you win some.
That said, why should you care, right? You shouldn’t. It’s our job to make sure all maps run with the same supersonic speed. The good news is, thanks to some particularly clever witchcraft, you should already see an improvement in Velmorne’s framerate in the next patch.
We’ve always taken great care in optimizing Witchfire, and that’s something we’ll continue to do throughout development.
And on that note – FSR should be back online next week, too. If you were using this frame generation technique, you’ll be able to do so again soon. Apologies for the inconvenience!
Difficulty spike?
There have also been quite a few posts mentioning that the game feels harder after the update – potion slots missing, reduced health and stamina, and a generally less forgiving experience.
We understand why it might feel that way, but these changes don’t actually stem from balance tweaks. Instead, it’s down to the introduction of the Rosary. Some of the perks that were previously granted through your level progression have been moved and now require bead-slotting in the new system.
We understand that this may initially make you feel less powerful than before, but please remember: Witchfire is in Early Access (with 1.0 dropping next year). Rearranging systems and introducing new mechanics won’t always translate to a feeling of increased power. Balance doesn’t mean pushing you toward being OP AF and one-shotting everything. It’s about – well – balancing the experience.
(Adrian: Yes, this is crucial. I’ve played Webgrave myself, from scratch, for over 30 hours. The overall difficulty is the same as before. But the progression, pacing, and even some features have changed, and that requires re-adjustment.
This can give the impression of heightened difficulty for veteran players, simply because of the unknown. It’s like with Velmorne: when I was at Gnosis 2, I wondered if we’d made the town too hard… But now, at Gnosis 6, I’m clearing this cursed place with no problem. Just because the unknown became known.)
That said, smart play and clever builds can still result in…
Massive damage!
8667 damage – or to put it more dramatically, eight thousand six hundred and sixty-sevendamage – from a single bolt. That’s really demonic.
To be honest, this one made us scratch our heads, and it led to the discovery of a particularly peculiar bug. It’ll be fixed in an upcoming update. But don’t worry – you’ll still be able to replicate the scenario posted by FilthmasterRich in the video above. You’ll just need to count your bullets.
Of course, depending on your playstyle, you might opt for something very different. If agility is your thing, you can still achieve some seriously impressive results, as proven on our Discord by Hypnosis Goblin:
To infinity and beyond!
Velmorne is the biggest map we’ve ever made. It’s multi-layered and packed with secrets, but some of you (naming no names, but maybe a certain Preyer whose name begins with “L” and ends with “abonski”) decided it wasn’t quite big enough. We’ve seen exploration go beyond the map’s edges before – but this? This is outer-outer limits.
And that’s not the only case! of you getting where you shouldn’t really be. Hypnosis Goblin decided to hike back to the newly added Outskirts (where the prologue takes place) and explore alternate paths toward the Hermitorium. While air travel might seem like a good idea, it can also take you to places not suited for player presence.
The FAA may be in touch with you soon.
Randomizer updated
A few months ago, we were blessed with the Witchfire Randomizer – a handy tool created by BananenKlaus that allowed you to plan builds wherever you were (as long as you had internet).
With the Rosary system introduced, it briefly fell out of date… but not for long! The Randomizer has already been updated. You can once again plan the perfect build to rain destruction upon the Witch’s minions.
Speaking of destruction – it’s absolutely possible, even if you…
… don’t bring any weapons
Melee weapons have been on our roadmap for a while. We’re working on them – but until then, here’s something to think about:
Just joking about questioning the inclusion of melee weapons, but, clearly, even if you decide to follow the Path of the Bat, you can dish out serious damage. Dimacher seems to retain his title as Chief Punching Bag, so not everything has changed since Webgrave. But maybe you just need a bit more practice before Widow gets put in her place – at an extreme pace.
Pockets ain’t empty, cuz.
While Witchfire’s economy might be safe from inflation, until you hit the level cap, it can feel like there’s never quite enough WF at your disposal. And since the game is set in an alternate 1900s, you won’t be seeing “Bankers hate him!” banners taking you to questionable websites with even more questionable crash courses on how to get rich quick.
Luckily, where there’s a will, there’s a way – and Barry was kind enough to prepare a guide on how to earn one million WF in a single run. It’s not easy, but it works:
(Adrian: I almost asked Spajk not to include this link — it clearly breaks the game’s economy. But I left it in, because it shows just how much you can achieve with the right build and setup. Earlier you saw a boss one-shot; now here’s a nearly game-breaking money maker — all thanks to smart build choices. And there’s so much more in Witchfire if you take this approach. Decay spreaders, unite!)
There’s a photographer in town!
We’ve seen a surge of screenshots since Webgrave dropped (thank you – it means the world to us that you’re enjoying the environments), but there’s someone among you going beyond the routine of simple point’n’shoot. So, here is a link to a reddit thread with a few stunning captures from Nuubi, who’s been showing us what Witchfire looks like through their lens.
The screenshot artist who’s already created many Witchfire shots for us has just delivered a new batch, too — and here’s a little glimpse of select moods…
And to wrap it up…
Something the more seasoned Preyers will feel in their bones:
(You see, it’s especially funny because Koschei aka. Kościej is made of bon…)
(…)
(I’ll see myself out.)
A new patch with an array of new things, updates, improvements and bugfixes is planned for early next week. If all goes well, it will be the last one for a while as we retreat to the darkness of our tech-caves to work on the next update.
