Blight: Survival

Overview

Blight: Survival is a co-op action-horror game set in an alternate 14th century, developed by Scandinavian indie studio Haenir Studio and published by Behaviour Interactive (the Montreal-based studio behind Dead by Daylight). Players take on the role of the Writhen, a nomadic tribe venturing into No Man's Land to fight a fungal plague called the Blight that reanimates dead organic matter into monstrous forms.

The game blends melee combat inspired by Dark Souls and Mount & Blade with what the developers call "extraction-lite" gameplay: surviving and reaching the exit means keeping your loot, dying means losing your character and everything they carried. It supports 1-4 players in co-op and is built on Unreal Engine 5 with Quixel Megascans for its realistic medieval environments.

Setting

Two kingdoms have been locked in an endless war, and the blood soaked into the ground has spawned the Blight, a fungal infection that brings dead matter back to life. The developers describe the Blight as "nature's cruel response" to centuries of warfare. The battlefield between these kingdoms, called No Man's Land, is overrun with reanimated horrors. The Writhen, a tribe blamed for causing the Blight and exiled from their homeland, are the only ones willing to enter this wasteland to eradicate the infection.

The setting is grounded "low fantasy." The world is medieval and gritty, with the Blight as the sole supernatural element. The tone is "dangerous, cold, and with a dash of mystery." There are no wizards, no dragons, no high fantasy tropes. Just disease, war, and the people caught between them.

Gameplay

Each run is a mission into No Man's Land. Players prepare at the hub camp, enter a hand-crafted map with semi-procedural variation, fight through Blighted creatures and human combatants, gather weapons, armor, and crafting materials, then extract. Successfully reaching the exit lets you keep everything. If your character dies, they're gone permanently along with all their gear. Some experience carries over to your next character through a bloodline system.

Combat uses a 5-directional attack system with parrying, dodging, blocking, a posture mechanic, and stamina management. There are no character classes. Players build their Writhen freely through gear choices and attribute allocation across three stats: Skill, Endurance, and Vitality. A religion system offers temporary run-based blessings from shrines dedicated to fictional 14th-century deities. Stealth is a fully supported playstyle governed by armor weight, noise, and light levels.

Development

The game started with just two developers, Mads Christensen and Ulrik, who were still working day jobs. Their November 2022 gameplay reveal trailer went viral, with the IGN upload alone reaching 2.5 million views in a week. The Steam page received 1.25 million visits in three days. By March 2023, the game had accumulated over 650,000 Steam wishlists and the team had grown from 2 to 12 developers, eventually expanding further to over 22. Behaviour Interactive signed on as publisher in April 2024. See Development history for the full timeline.

The game will not release in Early Access. When it launches, it will be a full release. Public playtests are planned for 2026, with the earliest realistic launch window around 2027. Closed playtests are currently ongoing through bhvr.com/playtest. Platforms confirmed are PC (Steam) at launch; Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 are desired but not yet officially confirmed.

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