The Steam Next Fest demo ran from 19 October to 26 October 2026 and then closed. It was the second public build after the September network test, and the first to include PvP and the Throne of Hinnon dungeon.
What the demo contained
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Quest content | Roughly two to three hours |
| Classes | All four, each with two weapons |
| Dungeon | Throne of Hinnon, a high-level dungeon outside the normal progression |
| PvP | Channels unlocked from the start, earlier than in the full game |
| Languages | English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese |
| Servers | North America East and West, Europe Central, Asia East and South |
| Cost | Free |
The two headline additions were deliberate. Throne of Hinnon was described as a challenge for players who wanted to master the combat system, with the key hidden somewhere that was not easy to find. PvP channels were opened early so more players could try the mode.
What it proved about combat
The demo settled the argument about whether the action combat is real. It is. Blocking, parrying, dodging and stamina management decide fights, and a player who treats it as a tab-target MMO will lose to the first elite they meet.
It also proved that the trait system is the interesting part of progression. Players who found Coilstones and spent trait points described a different game from players who only followed the questline, which is exactly the design the developers described in their progression post.
What changed since the network test
The demo was the studio's answer to the September feedback, and the list is specific.
- Voice-over and facial animation were implemented after being absent from the network test.
- Audio was reworked: combat sounds had been repetitive and the mix lacked depth.
- Party play gained quest sharing, better channel-join logic and fixes for points-of-interest bugs.
- Navigation in points of interest and dungeons was made clearer, with a guide for how hints are displayed.
- PvP entry requirements were lowered so players could reach a PvP channel after the first town.
- Fixes: ladder collision, attack hit detection, missing translations and shimmering effects.
That is a lot of change in a month, and it is the best available evidence for how the Early Access period will go.
What the demo did not include
The demo was a slice, not a beta of the whole game. It did not include the full three regions, housing, trading, raids or life skills in any depth. Those are launch-build features that the demo only gestured at.
It also did not include a solution to the gender-lock question. XLGAMES confirmed during the demo window that additional gender options are in development and will arrive class by class, but not in this build.
The black screen was a demo-era issue too
XLGAMES published a notice during the demo period about a black screen on launch that could take five to ten minutes to clear. The advice was to wait rather than force-close the game. That notice is still the most useful thing to know if you hit the same problem at launch.
If you played it
Three things carry over to launch:
Your class knowledge transfers. The four classes and eight weapons are the same set the Early Access build ships with, so the weapon you enjoyed in the demo is the weapon you should start with.
Your Coilstone instinct transfers. The demo rewarded players who left the quest path. The launch build's three regions are built the same way.
Your progress does not. Demo characters do not carry into Early Access.
If you missed it
The demo is closed, and there is no announced plan to run it again. The practical path is to read the class pages, pick a weapon, and start on 3 November with a plan. The class and weapon matrix is the fastest way to choose, and your first ten hours is the order of operations for the first session.
The launch build is bigger than the demo in every direction except one: the demo's Throne of Hinnon was tuned to be brutally hard at demo levels, and the dungeon will be there at launch with the rest of the progression around it. Dungeons and raids covers how to approach it.