Blind Descent Launches First Public Playtest on Steam

Nature doesn’t care if you survive. In Blind Descent, you’ll have to earn it.

META Publishing, the new label from Owlcat Games, has officially kicked off the first open playtest for its upcoming sci-fi survival adventure Blind Descent, now live on Steam for Windows PC. Inspired by the surreal, symbiotic horrors of Scavengers Reign and grounded in the speculative spirit of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Blind Descent drops players into a hostile and hauntingly beautiful ecosystem beneath the surface of Mars.

After a devastating mission failure, you wake alone in the Martian underground. What starts as a survival mission quickly becomes something far stranger, as you study alien organisms, adapt to a living ecosystem, and uncover the fate of your crew—if they’re even still human.

A World That Pushes Back

This is not your typical survival game. Blind Descent introduces a unique Symbiosis System, where the environment reacts to your presence and choices. You’ll need to observe alien lifeforms, learn their behaviors, and adapt through biological mutations—spore infections, exotic fruit, and more can transform your capabilities. But every advantage has a cost.

The open alpha playtest focuses on solo play, giving early players a taste of the world’s reactive depth and core survival mechanics. Feedback is strongly encouraged through the Steam Hub and Discord, with the developers at Pokuch hoping to shape the experience around community insight.

Key Features:

• Explore an Alien World That Pushes Back – Dive into a massive, interconnected underground ecosystem filled with reactive flora and fauna.

• Symbiosis Survival – Adapt to your surroundings using the mysterious biology of Mars. Grow stronger—or stranger—through mutations and infections.

• Shelters With Consequences – Build survival shelters that can be reclaimed, corrupted, or consumed by the living world around you.

• Terrain is the Enemy – Use climbing gear and precise tools to navigate steep drops, narrow caverns, and vertical labyrinths.

• Future Co-Op – The full version will support online co-op with up to 4 players. (Note: Co-op is not available in the current alpha build.)

• Release Window – Full PC launch planned for 2026, with console versions set to follow.

The Blind Descent playtest is now live on Steam, and it’s a rare chance to shape the future of a survival game that trades crafting benches for ecosystems that fight back. Wishlist it now and take the plunge beneath the Martian surface—if you dare.

Play the demo, share your feedback, and begin the descent.