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Demo
July 22, 2026 at 05:21 AM
Initial version (2026-07-22)
Tears of Metal has a free public demo, distributed as its own separate application rather than as part of the main store listing. It was released on October 2, 2025, ahead of that month's Steam Next Fest, and covers the campaign's first Act. The demo is available in English and Simplified Chinese only, while the full game ships with nine interface languages.
The demo is a self-contained slice rather than a timed trial. It runs from the start of the campaign through to a boss fight against Gilles the Hog, and it can be played solo or in the full four-player co-op party.
Content | Included in the Demo |
|---|---|
Campaign | The first Act, ending in the Gilles the Hog boss fight |
Four clans, described by Paper Cult as incomplete families drawn from the eight planned for the full game | |
More than 30, unlocked and then purchased through challenges | |
Equipment | Weapons, trinkets and skins for both the hero and the army |
Modes | Solo and up to four-player online co-op, plus the Challenge System for higher difficulty |
Meta progression | A slice of the village layer, plus shrines, unlocks and secret discoveries |
Tracking | A content percentage tracker showing how much of the demo has been uncovered |
The demo performed well beyond the studio's expectations. During the October 2025 Steam Next Fest it climbed to 16th by concurrent player count and earned a place on the event's list of the 50 most-played demos, while holding an Overwhelmingly Positive review rating. By July 2026 it had passed 250,000 plays.
Paper Cult used the demo, and the two open betas that preceded it, as its main feedback channel. The second open beta alone logged 33,526 runs and 8,643 hours of play and generated 231 tracked development tasks. Changes credited to that feedback include a rework of the Gilles the Hog fight, a rebalance of the Emblem pool, more ways to heal, and the addition of a dedicated Warcry button.
During Steam Next Fest the demo added Daily Challenges through the Emporium: short, deliberately brutal runs with unusual conditions. Surviving one awarded a badge, and collecting badges unlocked a cosmetic frame that displays in online campaigns.
Paper Cult announced in June 2026 that the demo would be removed on July 6, 2026, on the grounds that it no longer reflected the state of the game and that demo saves would not carry to the full version. The studio then reversed that decision: on July 7, 2026, after the demo passed 250,000 plays, it said the demo would stay available for the time being, and it was still downloadable on the morning of the Early Access launch.
Demo progress does not transfer. Save files from the demo do not carry over into the Early Access build, so players starting the full game begin from scratch regardless of how far they got in the demo.
