Wrath: Aeon of Ruin full release delayed to summer 2021

I say this with a certain degree of caution, given the conversations currently taking place over the sometimes unexpectedly wide gulfs between previews and reviews, but what I've played of Wrath: Aeon of Ruin so far has been nothing short of fantastic. It's a very Quake-like retro-shooter with huge, open levels, a fun variety of legitimately creepy enemies, and plentiful gibs. We said last year that it "feels like the Quake successor we never truly got," and at this stage that sounds pretty well on the money to me.

We'll have to wait a little longer than expected to play the whole thing, however. After a springtime delay that pushed the full release into 2021, Killpixel said today that the Early Access content update planned for December will arrive in January, and the 1.0 release that had been set for February will now take place in the summer. The studio said the delays became necessary when "some of our team fell ill to COVID-19," and that a more specific date for the full launch will be announced early next year.

The next content update, according to the updated development roadmap, will include a new level, enemy, and artifact, those being the powerups that players can find as they blast their way through the game—similar to Quake's powerups, except that once found, they can be carried around and used at will. The full release version will include three hub worlds with 15 levels (these levels are big, so that's a lot of running and gunning), nine weapons, ten artifacts, and 15 enemies.

The update also includes a trio of screens from the new level: Check 'em out below, and find out more about Wrath:Aeon of Ruin at wrath.game.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.