The creators of Serious Sam: Shatterverse — Behavior Interactive (yes, the folks behind Dead by Daylight) — have shown a cooperative “roguelike”. Don’t read that as a shift toward experimental trends; the pitch is still very much about mowing down alien hordes in the blunt, joyful way Serious Sam does best.
They’re selling fast, stompy fun: hordes, familiar shooting, snarky one-liners. The roguelike bits are more of a nod to the franchise’s habitual replay — fans love to replay levels for secrets and high scores — than a reinvention. Quick specs (human abbrev. style): 45-min runs; three biomes per run + a boss; co-op for up to five players or fully solo play (no bots). There’s also a tangible narrative thread to expand the “Samverse,” and veteran voice actor John J. Dick returns as “Retro Sam.”
Reactions have been mixed. Some people worried about direction; others shrugged with relief when the team said no AI was used in development and that there won’t be battle passes or MTX. Servers are player-hosted — the host model used in the main entries — so the usual fears about online shutdowns feel less pressing.
Croteam aren’t deserting the world of Serious Sam. The studio confirmed they’re still involved in the franchise’s future, even if this particular take is handed to another team as an “interpretation.” Fans want new outings; some expect Croteam to come back eventually with a full sequel rather than another spin-off.
On a related, more personal note: Evgeny “deadkadath” Yagudin, game director of Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, posted a remake concept of the Persepolis level from “The Second Coming” using Unreal Engine 5.
Oh — and a little milestone: the series hit 25 years in March. Croteam says they’ll sprinkle surprises through 2026. Whether those will be big or small remains to be seen.