Elysium: Blood Games news & patch notes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45120390/fb0dae870c519fb71e724880880d8251c5257423.jpg Greetings, dear players! We are thrilled to announce that playtest sign-ups for Stones Keeper II: Chaos Lord are now officially open! You can register right now by clicking the button on the store page. By taking part in the playtest, you’ll be able to earn exclusive rewards that will be available in the full game. The playtest is planned to begin in early 2026 - details about the rewards can be found below. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45120390/65befac938593e3f4c661b81b2ccae6aee6c79c8.png

ABOUT THE PLAYTEST

Before we dive into the full details, we invite you to watch the trailer released specifically for the start of playtest sign-ups. We’re also delighted to announce that we’ve been selected for The Winter OTK Games Expo - a major event for indie developers. The expo kicks off on November 22.

WHAT AWAITS PLAYTESTERS

You’ll be able to experience: - The first chapter of the Undead campaign, led by the Chaos Lord — introducing the story and core gameplay mechanics. - The “Skirmish” mode (previously unavailable in the demo version). - 3 playable factions (Humans, Undead, Inquisition) out of 9 planned in total (1 in the campaign + 2 in Skirmish mode). - Full animations for all units, dialogue portraits, and castles. - The ability to share your feedback via a Google Form. - Two Steam achievements. - Exclusive rewards for playtest participants.

🏆 EXCLUSIVE REWARDS

By participating in the playtest and completing specific objectives, each player will be able to unlock unique equipment for their units. These rewards will be granted in the full game once all conditions are met. Let’s take a closer look: First reward - an enhanced axe for your Zombie unit. It significantly boosts its starting damage. By default, you cannot purchase it in the shop at the beginning of the game. However, don’t worry - it becomes available later in the campaign once you’ve collected the required resources. This reward simply grants early access to equipping the Zombie unit with the axe. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45120390/56e1c10fa41bd19085f5399ecf9c9554306cb43f.png Second reward - an improved healing potion. It restores significantly more health and is a unique consumable item. This potion is available only to playtest participants and is single-use. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/45120390/63606b9203e86d7f3fab9cabbbb1829a6f14f249.png These rewards will be especially valuable for players who enjoy higher difficulty levels. Conditions for earning the rewards: - Add the game to your Wishlist. - Follow the publisher on Steam: Valkyrie Initiative - Earn the Steam achievement "Strategist" during the playtest. To unlock the "Strategist" achievement, you must complete the campaign content available in the playtest without losing a single unit - on any difficulty.

The playtest is scheduled for Q1 2026.

When the playtest begins, you will receive a notification. In the meantime, you can already complete the first step - add the game to your Wishlist to ensure you don’t miss the launch. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2779310/Stones_Keeper_II_Chaos_Lord/

https://clan.fastly.steamstatic.com/images/44355443/59eefb9e477a69b81d4dc62bc71e1882538e3442.jpg Hello, dear players! We’re excited to announce that Decadent Heir is now open for playtest registration! You can sign up right now by clicking the “Request Access” button on the game’s Steam page. Why this matters — you’ll find out below. Playtests are planned to begin in the first quarter of 2026, or even earlier if there’s high player demand. If this is your first time hearing about the game, let us introduce it briefly. Decadent Heir is a narrative RPG set in the decadent twilight of the Russian Empire — a world where politics, betrayal, and luxury intertwine in a deadly dance of ambition.

What Makes Decadent Heir Unique?

You literally begin the game at your character’s birth and shape their personality through choices you make along the way — developing skills and traits that influence every aspect of the story. Every decision matters — even small ones, like spending time with your dog or choosing to read a book instead of socializing. These seemingly minor moments can impact not only the protagonist but the entire world around them — even the fate of a nation. You’ll be able to revisit and reshape the defining events of an era. The game embraces the idea of “What if?” — a question that will haunt you throughout your journey, sparking curiosity to see how different choices unfold. Decadent Heir rewards replayability with a roguelike structure — when your character dies, every new run expands your abilities and opens new ways to change the course of history.

Does the Game Use AI?

Yes — Decadent Heir uses AI to generate illustrations for its text-based scenes. This serves purely as a visual aid — the soul of the game lies in its mechanics and hand-crafted storytelling. Every narrative branch is written by hand, without any random generation — it’s a deeply personal work by someone who truly loves history.

ABOUT THE PLAYTESTS

Before we go further, take a moment to watch our new trailer celebrating this event: The playtest, like the demo version, includes the first chapter out of five planned. What’s new in the playtest: - The first chapter has been reworked in both mechanics and story. - Numerous fixes and improvements. - Full Russian voice acting added (it completely changes the experience!). - Feedback form available via Google. - Steam achievements added. - Exclusive reward for playtest participants.

🏆EXCLUSIVE REWARD:

By taking part in the playtest and meeting specific conditions, every participant can earn a unique reward — an exclusive talent. How to qualify: - Add the game to your wishlist. - Follow our publisher page on Steam. - During the playtest, earn the Steam achievement “Hat Trick”. At the start of the game, you can choose from four basic talents. https://clan.fastly.steamstatic.com/images/44355443/726caab87279ca0e706dbda5797338dc2d9f3b60.png As a playtester, you’ll gain access to an additional exclusive talent upon the game’s full release — “Lucky Charm”. It increases your luck during risk-based choices, allowing your story to take completely unexpected turns. The risk system in Decadent Heir is designed so that every bold decision can lead to unpredictable outcomes — from a tragic death to the discovery of entirely new story branches! https://clan.fastly.steamstatic.com/images/44355443/027a652fa0a060f5f8fa124a91bbf1eee387ab92.png Knowing this — and with this talent in your hands — will you take more risks? Will you feel the thrill of taking risks, or the comfort of knowing luck is with you? Whatever you choose, remember: this game isn’t about numbers or stats. Even a “successful” risky choice can have unexpected consequences — for the protagonist or those around them. So follow your heart when making decisions. And now, we invite you to make one simple choice — add the game to your Steam wishlist. Thank you! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3261140/Dekadant/

Questions?

If you have any questions, join our official Discord community.

https://clan.fastly.steamstatic.com/images/35094948/7bf0f72feda243af1df42f81d5973459d413e37b.jpg

The fourth major expansion for Heads Will Roll: Reforged has been released!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3857000/Heads_Will_Roll_Reforged__Sins_of_the_Floating_City/

What awaits you in the DLC:

- No step too far, no measure too desperate: Become the right hand man of the Venetian Doge and plunge headlong into the maelstrom of European politics to help Venice survive the onslaught of an alliance of its many rivals. Enlist the help of allies and defeat your enemies on the battlefield or, through cunning intrigues and sophisticated machinations, set them against each other in order to reap the fruits of their discord. Deception, betrayal, bribery and political assassinations - achieve your goal by any means available and dare to take the most desperate steps for the sake of the greatness of Venice. - A descent into darkness: Enter the service of an influential Italian noble house, surrounded by enviers and grudge-bearers, and take on the role of a bodyguard who will protect its members from the dangers that lurk everywhere and the traps set by their enemies. Descend into darkness as you make your way through the Venice's underworld that will confront you with powerful secret societies, mysticism, blood feuds and the many vices and sins of human nature. - More than a dozen new characters: From members of various Italian noble houses and famous condottierros to the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire himself. - Europe-spanning adventure: Visit Italy, France, Holy Roman Empire and the Outremer all within one continuous campaign. - 2 new romantic interests: Each with their own unique story and character.

Special Offer.

To celebrate the release of the new expansion, all previous DLCs are now 50% off If you’ve been waiting for the best opportunity to grab the game, now is the time: the base game is 75% off. https://store.steampowered.com/app/687800/Heads_Will_Roll_Reforged/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2747080/Heads_Will_Roll_Reforged__Happily_Ever_After/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2850080/Heads_Will_Roll_Reforged__Not_a_Hero/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3172940/Heads_Will_Roll_Reforged__Threads_of_Destiny/

We now have a homepage on Steam that lists all our games and news announcements: https://store.steampowered.com/dev/simprose Please visit and join to follow us! Derek

Version 1.65 has been released! NOTE: For the first bug below to be fixed completely, old saved games should no longer be used. This patch is mostly bug fixes. - FIX: Fixed a bug where the opponent faces weren't always being saved properly at times, so were always the same face after loading a saved game. This could sometimes result in rare '53 Not Found' crashes after a match when loading a saved game. - FIX: Fixed a visual bug where the 'Repair' button was still visible even after discarding a weapon. - FIX: Corrected a visual bug where the lower, already purchased upgrade buttons were visible when upgraded to Level 3 or higher. - FIX: (Probable) Fixed a rare bug where 'Command 1' was visible as a ludus upgrade after the start of a new season and did nothing once clicked but create an empty space. - FIX: Corrected a rare issue that caused a crash when a warrior retired suddenly due to injury.

Version 1.65 has been released! NOTE: For the first bug below to be fixed completely, old saved games should no longer be used. This patch is mostly bug fixes. - FIX: Fixed a bug where the opponent faces weren't always being saved properly at times, so were always the same face after loading a saved game. This could sometimes result in rare '53 Not Found' crashes after a match when loading a saved game. - FIX: Fixed a visual bug where the 'Repair' button was still visible even after discarding a weapon. - FIX: Corrected a visual bug where the lower, already purchased upgrade buttons were visible when upgraded to Level 3 or higher. - FIX: (Probable) Fixed a rare bug where 'Command 1' was visible as a ludus upgrade after the start of a new season and did nothing once clicked but create an empty space. - FIX: Corrected a rare issue that caused a crash when a warrior retired suddenly due to injury.

Version 1.65 has been released! NOTE: For the first bug below to be fixed completely, old saved games should no longer be used. This patch is mostly bug fixes. - FIX: Fixed a bug where the opponent faces weren't always being saved properly at times, so were always the same face after loading a saved game. This could sometimes result in rare '53 Not Found' crashes after a match when loading a saved game. - FIX: Fixed a visual bug where the 'Repair' button was still visible even after discarding a weapon. - FIX: Corrected a visual bug where the lower, already purchased upgrade buttons were visible when upgraded to Level 3 or higher. - FIX: (Probable) Fixed a rare bug where 'Command 1' was visible as a ludus upgrade after the start of a new season and did nothing once clicked but create an empty space. - FIX: Corrected a rare issue that caused a crash when a warrior retired suddenly due to injury.

Version 1.65 has been released! NOTE: For the first bug below to be fixed completely, old saved games should no longer be used. This patch is mostly bug fixes. - FIX: Fixed a bug where the opponent faces weren't always being saved properly at times, so were always the same face after loading a saved game. This could sometimes result in rare '53 Not Found' crashes after a match when loading a saved game. - FIX: Fixed a visual bug where the 'Repair' button was still visible even after discarding a weapon. - FIX: Corrected a visual bug where the lower, already purchased upgrade buttons were visible when upgraded to Level 3 or higher. - FIX: (Probable) Fixed a rare bug where 'Command 1' was visible as a ludus upgrade after the start of a new season and did nothing once clicked but create an empty space. - FIX: Corrected a rare issue that caused a crash when a warrior retired suddenly due to injury.

Version 1.65 has been released! NOTE: For the first bug below to be fixed completely, old saved games should no longer be used. This patch is mostly bug fixes. - FIX: Fixed a bug where the opponent faces weren't always being saved properly at times, so were always the same face after loading a saved game. This could sometimes result in rare '53 Not Found' crashes after a match when loading a saved game. - FIX: Fixed a visual bug where the 'Repair' button was still visible even after discarding a weapon. - FIX: Corrected a visual bug where the lower, already purchased upgrade buttons were visible when upgraded to Level 3 or higher. - FIX: (Probable) Fixed a rare bug where 'Command 1' was visible as a ludus upgrade after the start of a new season and did nothing once clicked but create an empty space. - FIX: Corrected a rare issue that caused a crash when a warrior retired suddenly due to injury.

Tons of YouTubers online are playing and enjoying Elysium, and here are some of the videos you can watch and catch the fever! #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kVcHGwxEYc #2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNxGmdz5JHQ #3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRaXEpKS8cU #4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4qlv57E60E #5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI4DQsBICHw (German) #6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBi-3tgbOkw #7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU7xxQoJPiM Have fun and happy viewing! Derek

Tons of YouTubers online are playing and enjoying Elysium, and here are some of the videos you can watch and catch the fever! #1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kVcHGwxEYc #2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNxGmdz5JHQ #3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRaXEpKS8cU #4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4qlv57E60E #5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI4DQsBICHw (German) #6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBi-3tgbOkw #7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU7xxQoJPiM Have fun and happy viewing! Derek

This is mostly a small bug fix and feature addition patch. - FEATURE: Added a feature where you can discard an existing weapon and buy a new one for a warrior. They're no longer bonded to the warrior for life. - FIX: Fixed an issue where when you muted the music in the options menu, it did not mute instantly. - TWEAK: Tweaked the new CPU warrior generation so that starting stats are about 2-6% higher than before, to account for weapons and make the game slightly tougher. Thanks and enjoy! Derek

This is mostly a small bug fix and feature addition patch. - FEATURE: Added a feature where you can discard an existing weapon and buy a new one for a warrior. They're no longer bonded to the warrior for life. - FIX: Fixed an issue where when you muted the music in the options menu, it did not mute instantly. - TWEAK: Tweaked the new CPU warrior generation so that starting stats are about 2-6% higher than before, to account for weapons and make the game slightly tougher. Thanks and enjoy! Derek

Version 1.5 of Elysium is out!! NOTE: This version is NOT compatible with previous saved games, due to internal data changes. - NEW FEATURE: Added 18 equippable Weapons for your warriors! Each weapon has a slightly randomized damage range, gold cost and durability. They wear out over time and will need to be repaired every so often to avoid breakage. - NEW FEATURE: Added ambient music to the management screens. A number of pieces of music will rotate randomly. Can be shut off as before on the options screen, if you choose. - TWEAK: Tweaked free warrior generation to tone down the stats of the generated warriors 3-5%, and adjusted their costs, potential ranges and average age up slightly as well. Now it makes a little more sense to develop your own guys, as the free warriors average hidden potential and amount of time they'll be at their peak is reduced overall. - TWEAK: Further tweaked the CPU warrior development to keep the environment challenging from season to season. - TWEAK: Adjusted aging a bit to penalize warriors past the age of 55-60 a little more. - TWEAK: Increased the chance of early retirement slightly due to significant injury or very poor performance. - TWEAK: Increased the pause at the end of a combat, so if something happens (injury, etc.) you have more time to read it. - TWEAK: Increased the benefits of Soul Quests 5-10% to give more stats and increased the chance of finding Gold by 10%. - TWEAK: Refactored and cleaned code a bit for a 3-4% speed improvement. - FIX: Fixed a cosmetic issue where sometimes a empty warrior slot would show up on the next day match-up screen. - FIX: Fixed a cosmetic issue where sometimes the betting screen didn't show the Cancel icon properly when returning with an existing bet in place. - FIX: Corrected a rare 'Type Mismatch' crash if your warrior dies during a fight. - FIX: Disabled the X in the corner of the game window to prevent accidental window closure and odd behavior if clicked in the fight screen. - FIX: Fixed an issue where rarely when a CPU warrior retires, their career stats weren't cleared properly for their replacement. - FIX: Fixed an issue where sometimes if you released a warrior, their career stats weren't cleared properly for their replacement. - HOTFIX (1/27): Fixed an issue where you couldn't upgrade past the first level of arenas. Enjoy and please let me know if you have any issues or problems. Derek

Version 1.5 of Elysium is out!! NOTE: This version is NOT compatible with previous saved games, due to internal data changes. - NEW FEATURE: Added 18 equippable Weapons for your warriors! Each weapon has a slightly randomized damage range, gold cost and durability. They wear out over time and will need to be repaired every so often to avoid breakage. - NEW FEATURE: Added ambient music to the management screens. A number of pieces of music will rotate randomly. Can be shut off as before on the options screen, if you choose. - TWEAK: Tweaked free warrior generation to tone down the stats of the generated warriors 3-5%, and adjusted their costs, potential ranges and average age up slightly as well. Now it makes a little more sense to develop your own guys, as the free warriors average hidden potential and amount of time they'll be at their peak is reduced overall. - TWEAK: Further tweaked the CPU warrior development to keep the environment challenging from season to season. - TWEAK: Adjusted aging a bit to penalize warriors past the age of 55-60 a little more. - TWEAK: Increased the chance of early retirement slightly due to significant injury or very poor performance. - TWEAK: Increased the pause at the end of a combat, so if something happens (injury, etc.) you have more time to read it. - TWEAK: Increased the benefits of Soul Quests 5-10% to give more stats and increased the chance of finding Gold by 10%. - TWEAK: Refactored and cleaned code a bit for a 3-4% speed improvement. - FIX: Fixed a cosmetic issue where sometimes a empty warrior slot would show up on the next day match-up screen. - FIX: Fixed a cosmetic issue where sometimes the betting screen didn't show the Cancel icon properly when returning with an existing bet in place. - FIX: Corrected a rare 'Type Mismatch' crash if your warrior dies during a fight. - FIX: Disabled the X in the corner of the game window to prevent accidental window closure and odd behavior if clicked in the fight screen. - FIX: Fixed an issue where rarely when a CPU warrior retires, their career stats weren't cleared properly for their replacement. - FIX: Fixed an issue where sometimes if you released a warrior, their career stats weren't cleared properly for their replacement. - HOTFIX (1/27): Fixed an issue where you couldn't upgrade past the first level of arenas. Enjoy and please let me know if you have any issues or problems. Derek

The new 1.5 patch is currently in testing, and adds two new features and lots of tweaks! - Weapons will be in! Equip your men easily and quickly with 20 different weapons in the Armory, complete with slightly randomized damage ranges, costs and durability wear and tear over time. - By popular demand -- new ambient music on the management screens! A number of custom pieces of music I had commissioned will rotate randomly. - Lots of little combat and aging tweaks to keep things challenging, along with a few bug fixes. The new patch should be out Monday or so.

Version 1.3 of Elysium has been released, which includes a brand new feature and various tweaks to the engine. - NEW FEATURE: Added new Ludus Upgrades! You can purchase upgrades to your Ludus using gold, which can increase your warrior's stats, award additional Gold or Influence points, or award extra damage or increase the chance to hit the opponent. You can stack up to 10 different cumulative upgrades during a manager career. - TWEAK: Adjusted warriors aging arc slightly to give a little more variation to the curves, introducing the possibility of "busts" or warriors blossoming suddenly at a slightly later age than normal. - TWEAK: Adjusted the CPU warriors career arcs slightly to better keep pace with the league, to keep your warriors from being too dominant within a few seasons with an aggressively training manager. - TWEAK: Adjusted energy loss a tiny bit so it doesn't drain so fast that a warrior is basically spent by the end of a 10 Day season, even if you rest them a few days. Enjoy! Derek

Version 1.3 of Elysium has been released, which includes a brand new feature and various tweaks to the engine. - NEW FEATURE: Added new Ludus Upgrades! You can purchase upgrades to your Ludus using gold, which can increase your warrior's stats, award additional Gold or Influence points, or award extra damage or increase the chance to hit the opponent. You can stack up to 10 different cumulative upgrades during a manager career. - TWEAK: Adjusted warriors aging arc slightly to give a little more variation to the curves, introducing the possibility of "busts" or warriors blossoming suddenly at a slightly later age than normal. - TWEAK: Adjusted the CPU warriors career arcs slightly to better keep pace with the league, to keep your warriors from being too dominant within a few seasons with an aggressively training manager. - TWEAK: Adjusted energy loss a tiny bit so it doesn't drain so fast that a warrior is basically spent by the end of a 10 Day season, even if you rest them a few days. Enjoy! Derek

Version 1.1 of Elysium has been released, focusing mostly on combat tweaking to make the overall fight results somewhat more consistent and "real". More will be done if needed, but through 60 fights or so on my end, it looks good. - TWEAK: The effects of luck on fight results has been decreased about 10%. - TWEAK: The effects of a warrior's energy were too exaggerated and was overly influencing fight results. They have been decreased around 5%. - TWEAK: The effects of Bribes were too small, and have been increased around 3-10%. - TWEAK: Tweaked the attitude AI to change slightly more with the match flow. - FIX: Fixed a rare bug that crashed the game with a missing image. - FIX: Fixed a rare bug that sometimes caused action buttons to appear on the Roster screen on a blank slot. Enjoy! Derek

Version 1.1 of Elysium has been released, focusing mostly on combat tweaking to make the overall fight results somewhat more consistent and "real". More will be done if needed, but through 60 fights or so on my end, it looks good. - TWEAK: The effects of luck on fight results has been decreased about 10%. - TWEAK: The effects of a warrior's energy were too exaggerated and was overly influencing fight results. They have been decreased around 5%. - TWEAK: The effects of Bribes were too small, and have been increased around 3-10%. - TWEAK: Tweaked the attitude AI to change slightly more with the match flow. - FIX: Fixed a rare bug that crashed the game with a missing image. - FIX: Fixed a rare bug that sometimes caused action buttons to appear on the Roster screen on a blank slot. Enjoy! Derek

Thanks for checking out Elysium! I hope you enjoy the game. Much like my other titles, patches will follow to rectify any issues and add stuff to the game. A few quick tech notes about the game itself: - Like my other games, Windows 7 and some Windows 8 users must run with Normal (100%) size system fonts for the game to display properly. Windows 8.1/10 adjusts automatically for the larger fonts (125% for example) and works fine, though it makes the window itself slightly larger, so 1400x900 or higher res is recommended for easiest play if you run larger fonts. - The game installs a few fonts while installing the game, so if you see blank areas where text should be right after launching, just reboot your system and it'll work fine. It's a rare side effect of how Windows handles fonts, not a fault of the game. - On very rare occasions it may flag the font install .exe falsely as a virus, which it is NOT. Because its self-installing, it gets mistaken for a virus. Most virus scanners don't have this issue. Thanks and have fun! Derek

Thanks for checking out Elysium! I hope you enjoy the game. Much like my other titles, patches will follow to rectify any issues and add stuff to the game. A few quick tech notes about the game itself: - Like my other games, Windows 7 and some Windows 8 users must run with Normal (100%) size system fonts for the game to display properly. Windows 8.1/10 adjusts automatically for the larger fonts (125% for example) and works fine, though it makes the window itself slightly larger, so 1400x900 or higher res is recommended for easiest play if you run larger fonts. - The game installs a few fonts while installing the game, so if you see blank areas where text should be right after launching, just reboot your system and it'll work fine. It's a rare side effect of how Windows handles fonts, not a fault of the game. - On very rare occasions it may flag the font install .exe falsely as a virus, which it is NOT. Because its self-installing, it gets mistaken for a virus. Most virus scanners don't have this issue. Thanks and have fun! Derek