Battle royale deckbuilder Inferni sets its sights on June early access launch

If you're feeling a little tired of the battle royale genre, you might want to keep an eye on Inferni: Hope & Fear.

Taking the multiplayer angle of Magic The Gathering's Commander format and translating it into a digital deck builder where only one player can be left standing at the end, it could be a surprise hit from Village Studio, formed of SEGA and Rovio veterans.

We caught up with studio co-founders Will Luton, Creative Director, and Cyril Barrow, Chief Operating Officer at WASD in London, earlier this week to get the scoop on when players can jump in.

Inferni: Hope & Fear launches on June 28

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"There are a couple of days that we have in mind," Barrow tells us. "The big one is June 28th when Inferni is going to go early access on Steam."

If you wanted to play the game earlier than that, good news - Barrow explained that there will be a Steam demo coming in May. "In two or three weeks, the demo will go out on Steam, so that'll be a big deal for us."

Deckbuilders are notoriously popular on Steam Deck, too, but it's not on the cards for the early access launch, Luton explains. "Eventually that will come," he says. "We've been playing on a tablet, and the interface works, so it should be touch-compatible for everyone."

You can wishlist Inferni: Hope & Fear on Steam. Look out for more of our conversation with the duo this week.

As someone who's written at length about falling in love with Commander Nights with friends, I'm excited to see a digital attempt to recreate that - especially since Magic The Gathering Arena doesn't offer anything similar.

For more on digital card games, be sure to check out our list of the best ones you can play right now - maybe Inferni will join the list soon.