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Auroch Digital is a video game studio based in Bristol, UK, and the developer and publisher of Warhammer Survivors. Founded in 2010, it describes itself as a remote-first studio with around 100 developers, and in an August 2026 art blog called itself a mid-level studio of over 80 people. It works on its own games and on work-for-hire projects for other companies.
Background
The studio is known for adapting board game and tabletop licences and for a long-standing partnership with Games Workshop. Its best-known Warhammer game is Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, a retro first-person shooter, followed by Boltgun 2, which launched on Steam on October 14, 2026, and the free typing spin-off Words of Vengeance. Its other recent work includes Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War and its own Mars Horizon series. These games are separate from Warhammer Survivors, although Malum Caedo, Boltgun's hero, is also a playable champion here.
Role on Warhammer Survivors
Role | Credit |
|---|---|
Developer | Auroch Digital |
Publisher | Auroch Digital |
Partners | Warhammer (Games Workshop) and poncle |
External art support | Water Witch Studio (stage art and art passes), RocketBrush (characters, enemies and visual effects) |
Auroch built the game in close partnership with poncle, the studio behind Vampire Survivors, using poncle's technology and guidance as a foundation, while making every character, stage, enemy, power-up and secret from scratch. The developer has said it wanted to keep the fundamental survivors experience while putting its own spin on the genre.
Art Team
In its 2026 art blogs, Auroch introduced Lead Concept Artist Dom and Concept Artist Ohm. The internal project team includes two artists on character and environment art, one artist focused mostly on weapon effects, and one on technical art. External partners helped produce the large number of sprites and effects needed for each faction: Water Witch Studio turned the stage concepts into finished battlefields and helped with later art passes, and RocketBrush created character, enemy and effects sprites from Auroch's proof-of-concept work.
The art team described the challenge of fitting detailed miniatures into small sprites, usually with a single movement animation per enemy, and of tuning how each weapon feels through several rounds of feedback.
Community
Auroch runs the game's community through its own official channels and regular Steam announcements. Its game designers Matthew and John answered player questions in a community session on May 28, 2026, a week after the first Demo launched.
See Development History for the game's timeline.