Arkheron is an enigmatic blend of a fast PvP action game and a dungeon crawler that's all about competing with other players to reach the top of an evolving tower. That enigma element is a key part of Arkheron's core narrative, along with its wild mix of loot-driven action-RPG combat and competitive knockout action that feel equal parts Diablo and Hades. But the developer's lengthy journey to create this quirky, high-stakes mash-up of genres is also something of an enigma, and their concept is steadily building an audience.
During a recent visit to developer Bonfire Studios ahead of Arkheron's crossplay beta starting on September 25, I spoke with Bonfire Studios CEO Rob Pardo (former Chief Creative Officer of Blizzard Entertainment) about the making of Arkheron. Along with some time diving into the game, we heard from Pardo about the studio's nearly 10-year journey to make a new type of arena PvP dungeon crawler. It's got loot and a large lobby size, but it's very much not trying to be a battle royale Diablo.
"I would say the years were absolutely worth it," said Rob Pardo, CEO of Bonfire Studios. "What's always tough is that 20/20 hindsight; you always wish you didn't go down so many dead ends where you could have made smarter choices at the time, but I think for me, because I've been through so many product cycles now at Blizzard, I think it comes with the territory of trying to innovate in a new direction creatively."
Arkheron has the look of a traditional isometric action-RPG focusing on loot, but it leans into more competitive, real-time, precision-based combat that feels especially inspired by Hades. But unlike a roguelike, you're racing alongside your team to loot up and fight rival squads, the strongest of which ascend to the upper levels of the tower. It's a refreshing, energizing spin on often slower-paced dungeon crawlers, and that competitive edge makes the dives feel chaotic and exhilarating.
But one thing Arkheron leans into is its strange, alluring setting, with a style that feels like a dark-fantasy spin on the Backrooms. Arkheron is set in a mysterious purgatory that draws individuals from across time and space. Players take on resurrected spirits known as echoes as they journey through a massive, evolving tower built from the memories of vanguards and other lost souls. As the echoes climb the tower, they collect loot, battle other echoes, and even take on the roles of the lost vanguards to learn more about the mysterious tower and its secrets—but only one team can reach the top.
Over the last year, Bonfire has steadily been rolling out early playtests, giving players an early crack at Arkheron's unique competitive format. Those playtests generated useful feedback that led to the creation of a new mode called Spires, a smaller 3v3 variant that will coexist with Arkheron's standard 45-player format.
According to Pardo, the steady pace of development and the rollout to players have helped the game take shape as it approaches its eventual launch.
"You can't get rid of the trials and tribulations and going through the wrong paths in game development—I sometimes say that one of the reasons why it's so hard for a great game to come out, and for a studio to be able to replicate that success, is because all the learnings and the mistakes are no longer in the released game," said Pardo. "But when we did the alpha test last year, it was the first time we put the game out for people, and it was really validating for a lot of the developers who had spent five to six years working quietly on Arkheron. It was just across the board really positive, and I think after that we had to start rolling up our sleeves and do the work of hearing the harder feedback and figuring out what we want to change in the game."
Image credit: Bonfire Studios
Image credit: Bonfire Studios
Preparing for beta
The upcoming crossplay beta on September 25 will make Arkheron's larger offerings available to players on PC, along with the first hands-on for the Xbox Series X and PS5 builds of the game. It's also a big moment for Bonfire, as it turns its focus toward building a lasting audience across multiple platforms — a common struggle for multiplayer-only games like Arkheron.
Speaking to Pardo about his time at Blizzard Entertainment, he explained that he's not only leaning into his experience making Diablo, World of Warcraft, and StarCraft, but also letting go of previous concepts to adapt to today's market.
"I think what was important for me in my Bonfire journey is just being clear. I'm not in the creative driving seat, but my role needs to be about taking care of the whole team and the studio," said Pardo. "But I do have a creative background, and I totally want to carry forward the knowledge and wisdom of development processes that I had from Blizzard. I may not be designing character kits, but what I can do is offer a lot of perspective on how we should approach development.
Image credit: Bonfire Studios
Image credit: Bonfire Studios
"There are a lot of things that Blizzard did really well while I was there, which is like a really good iterative development process, or how do we bring the community around the games?" he explained. "We're making the game better and better, and I think there's a lot to like in terms of design principles. I think all those we try to bring forward and continue to evolve them, but it's more about: How do I create the right development culture and support our team to make that possible?"
Arkheron's release date is still to be determined—especially in light of a chaotic release schedule for the remainder of 2026. Still, despite the extended development period and nearly a decade since its founding, the developers at Bonfire Studios are steadily building a new type of PvP action game that leans into its strange but alluring concept. It's a fast-paced, squad-focused dungeon crawler that's all about peeling back the layers of its weird world.
For the developers, it's a concept that's taken time to bring into shape, but one they're especially keen on bringing to the finish and into the hands of players.
"It's very much been an odyssey; there's just been ups and downs [with developing Arkheron and a new studio]," said Pardo. "It can be like this with any game, right? So I've been through enough cycles at Blizzard on new games and new teams, but then you layer on that it's a new studio and it's going to be a new IP, and you're going to go through a global pandemic and all the things we went through. I think it's been, overall, a journey of joy, terror, and a story of resilience."
