Pathfinder's ambitious Diablo 4 competitor launches its Kickstarter campaign

The main villain of Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults, an evil sorceress ghost. — (Image credit: BKOM Studios)

Tabletop RPG Pathfinder has already spawned a series of successful CRPGs, in the form of Pathfinder: Kingmaker and its sequel Wrath of the Righteous. But the latest game based on the Pathfinder ruleset is an ARPG that points its weapons squarely at Diablo, and the Kickstarter campaign for this bold fantasy upstart has just launched.

The full title is Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults, and the Kickstarter page describes it as a "Co-op Hack and Slash game based on the epic Adventure Path of the same name, in which up to four players lead iconic Pathfinder heroes into the farthest depths of Gauntlight Keep." You'll be squaring off against an evil sorceress named Belcorra Haruvex, as well as the expected legion of critters any ARPG requires.

The campaign page also details what features you can expect from Abomination Vaults. Leading the charge is a "sprawling mega-dungeon" beneath Gauntlight Keep, which is divided into "several distinct biomes", each comprising a chapter of the game. You'll be able to explore these warrens as four character classes: Barbarian, Ranger, Cleric, and Wizard. Each will have access to an array of powerful traits and abilities such as "breathing dragonfire or giant ancestry".

At the time of writing, the Kickstarter is roughly two thirds funded, having raised £151,991 ($189,892) of its £243,494 ($303,460) goal. Alongside trying to raise cash, the Kickstarter also features a range of "social goals", with the developers trying to reach a certain number of Twitter followers, Discord followers etc. Hitting these targets will unlock several stretch goals like new weapons drops and a new hero ability.

You can check out the full Kickstarter page here. Backers can support the project at any amount for no reward, but backer tiers with rewards start at CA$40 (roughly £24/$30). If successfully funded, developer BKOM Studios expects to deliver the game in July 2025.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.