Ember and Blade is a dark-fantasy action game developed and published by LINE Games Corporation, and made by Nine Lives, the company's in-house studio in Seoul. It blends fast hack-and-slash combat with roguelite progression and survival-horde pacing, putting players in the role of an immortal demon hunter who carves through endless waves of demons and faces elaborate, patterned boss duels. The game is built around a run-based loop where death is never the end, and every attempt reshapes the player's powers.
The studio describes Ember and Blade as a survivors-like adventure that blends strategic combat, elaborate boss battles, atmospheric visual design, and a dark, intricate storyline. Press coverage has framed it as a premium survivor-like layered with soulslike combat and roguelite systems. On its storefront it carries both Action and RPG tags.
What Is Ember and Blade
At its core, Ember and Blade is a single-player action game built on three blended ideas: the one-versus-many fantasy of cutting through demon hordes, the precise, patterned challenge of soulslike boss fights, and the randomized, run-to-run variety of a roguelite. Each run grants a different set of Blessings, so no two attempts play out the same way.
Combat mixes sword and magic into flowing combos that draw on both melee and ranged attacks. Between the swarms, the game stages set-piece duels against powerful demons that demand careful reading of attack patterns. For a deeper breakdown of how these systems fit together, see Gameplay Overview and Combat.
Premise
The protagonist is Fenrix, a former human turned immortal demon hunter. At the moment of his death, he forms a pact with an angel that grants him temporary immortality. That bargain, The Angel Pact, is what lets him fall in battle and rise again to fight on.
Fenrix's goal is to stop the resurrection of the archdemon Asmodeus, who has been sealed in a forsaken realm for centuries. Standing watch over that seal is Ariella, its lone guardian, and Fenrix becomes entangled in her tragic fate. The world itself is described as a realm forged by divine fire and demonic corruption, rendered with a deliberately restrained, atmospheric color palette.
Core Gameplay Pillars
Survivors-like horde combat: carve through steadily escalating waves of demons across atmospheric battlefields.
Soulslike boss duels: the bosses, known as the Judicators of Fate, wield devastating attacks and demand precise timing and strategy.
Roguelite runs: each fall begins another run, and resurrection brings deeper secrets and the chance to twist fate. See The Run Loop.
Randomized blessings: angels grant a choice of heavenly gifts each run, so your build is never the same twice.
Layered progression: beyond blessings, builds draw on Awakening Skills, weapon-enhancing Runes, and Arcana combinations.
Platforms and Release
Ember and Blade is planned for Early Access in the second half of 2026, with its storefront listing a Q4 2026 window. A full global release is targeted for the first half of 2027. The game is coming to PC, distributed through Steam and the Epic Games Store, and is Steam Deck supported. A PlayStation 5 version has also been confirmed, with additional consoles to be confirmed at a later date.
For the full breakdown, see Release and Platforms.
Development and Demos
A free demo first launched on Steam in July 2025, offering up to roughly two hours of combat, and it has since received a series of regular updates. Later builds expanded the playable content, added new bosses and angels, and introduced systems such as Runes and Arcana. The demo's evolution is covered in Demo History.
Quick Facts Table
Detail | Information |
|---|---|
Developer | LINE Games Corporation (developed by its in-house studio, Nine Lives) |
Publisher | LINE Games Corporation |
Genre | Dark-fantasy action; survivors-like, soulslike, roguelite blend |
Modes | Single-player |
Early Access | Second half of 2026 (storefront window: Q4 2026) |
Full Release | First half of 2027 |
Platforms | PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Steam Deck supported), PlayStation 5 |
Protagonist | Fenrix, an immortal demon hunter |
Antagonist | The sealed archdemon Asmodeus |
Engine | Unity 6.3 LTS |
Platforms, Engine and Roadmap
The PC build covers more than Windows. Both storefronts list a Mac version restricted to Apple silicon, and a separate set of requirements is published for SteamOS and Linux, which underpins the handheld support. The game is built in Unity 6.3 LTS, and the development team presented its visual and optimisation work at Unity's Seoul developer conference in July 2026.
The published roadmap runs from the July 2025 first demo through a final demo in Q3 2026, Early Access in Q4 2026 carrying the first playthrough's story through Act 4, and a full release in the first half of 2027 that unlocks every Act and concludes the story across three playthroughs. The full schedule is on Release and Platforms, and the demo builds themselves are covered on Demo History.
Outside the game itself, a set of tie-ins and showcase appearances has built up during development, including a Fortnite cosmetics arrangement bundled with Epic Games Store copies. Those are collected on Collaborations and Events.
How the game is actually built, from the studio behind it to the rendering and memory work that lets a thousand enemies share a screen, is collected on Development and Technology.