Serious Sam: Shatterverse is scheduled to launch on August 31, 2026, for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, bringing the franchise’s familiar backpedaling, huge enemy waves, and explosive weapons into a co-op FPS roguelite. Behaviour Interactive is building the game as a standalone experience with changing runs, offline solo play, and multiplayer designed to remain playable long after launch.
The planned August 31 release date gives the project its launch target, while an Xbox Wire feature details how Behaviour Interactive approached the new entry. The studio started with the feel of Serious Sam in Unreal Engine, then rebuilt its gunplay, enemies, and arenas around a format that could stand apart from the original games.
Classic Serious Sam action with a different kind of replay loop
Serious Sam: The First Encounter and Serious Sam: The Second Encounter were the team’s main inspirations. Their fast movement, relentless combat, secrets, and boss fights remain central to Shatterverse, which arrives as the franchise approaches its 25th anniversary.
Behaviour Interactive wanted more than a visual and mechanical callback to the older games. The team focused on two feelings in particular, the urge to replay a mission for secrets and a better score, plus the chaos of encounters that can suddenly turn against the player. An FPS roguelite became the natural way to bring those ideas together.
Each run moves through procedurally shifting sections built from handcrafted arenas and previously unexplored worlds. Hidden portals, unstable anomalies, run modifiers, boons, and permanent upgrades can open new ways forward, but some high-risk opportunities can also end a run immediately. Death sends players back into the loop instead of ending the experience.
Solo play and co-op without a live-service requirement
Roguelike shooters can be difficult to introduce to players who have never touched the genre, so accessibility shaped the game’s multiplayer plan. Shatterverse supports co-op for up to five players, and its systems are meant to be easy to understand while still leaving room for mastery.
Instead of relying on dedicated servers, the game uses peer-to-peer multiplayer and includes an offline solo mode. Behaviour Interactive said that decision should help players continue using the game years after launch, whether they are playing alone or bringing friends into a run.
The game is also designed as a complete standalone release rather than a product that needs regular live-service content to stay fun. Behaviour Interactive built room for expansions, DLC, new weapons, enemies, and locations, but those additions are meant to expand the base game instead of replacing it.
Multiple Sams face Mental’s five lieutenants
The story sends versions of Serious Sam from different universes into the same war against Mental. Players will fight through shifting realities, meet alternate Sams, and take on five lieutenants. Classic enemies return alongside new monsters, giving the familiar horde some fresh targets to throw at the player.
The arsenal mixes recognizable Serious Sam weapons with new tools built for crowded arenas. Boons and run modifiers add another layer to each attempt, letting players try different combinations as they push toward the next boss and search for a way through Mental’s forces.
Multiple beta playtests also gave Behaviour Interactive feedback from the community before launch. The team said that testing helped polish the experience and pursue its main goal, creating a version of Serious Sam that longtime fans could share with people discovering the franchise for the first time.
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Serious Sam: Shatterverse
Developed by Behaviour Interactive
