Gorepunk RPG Death Trash hits early access this August

Pixelated body-horror hellscape Death Trash begins its grim trek through Steam Early Access on August 5th.

Largely the work of sole developer Stephan Hövelbrinks, Death Trash has been offering glimpses into its disgusting world for some time. Tonight, the developer gave us a fuller look with a new trailer during the PC Gaming Show—one that starts, fittingly, with our main character puking (and picking that puke back up).

Not a game for the squeamish, this.

Death Trash is an open-ended RPG in a world where humanity is at war with vast machine intelligences, cosmic horrors, and (predictably) itself. Dialogue takes place in real-time, letting you walk away from a boring conversation, or blast away any that are getting particularly on your nerves. The trailer gives us a bit more of a look at Death Trash's combat—a slow, tense, brutal mix of heavy melee weapons and gunplay.

August's release will open up the game's first chapter for testing, with an early Fallout-style world map for jumping between locations. Hövelbrinks hopes to keep the game in early access for around a year, regularly opening up new parts of the world and story.

Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.