Dotemu, the publisher behind recent revivals of classic beat ’em ups, joined forces with Guard Crush Games and Supamonks to build Absolum, an original roguelite brawler released on October 9, 2025. Rather than revisiting an existing franchise, the three studios constructed a new fantasy world called Talamh, where a magical catastrophe gave rise to the authoritarian Sun King Azra, whose Crimson Order enslaves wizards and rules through fear of magic itself.
Four characters are available, each mechanically distinct. Galandra wields a colossal sword alongside necromantic abilities. Karl, the last free dwarf of Talamh, fights at close range with a blunderbuss and bare fists, trading mid-range reach for raw stopping power. Two additional heroes, the wizard prodigy Brome and the skirmisher Cider, unlock as the rebellion progresses. Combat chains rapid combos into spellcasting, with magical counters and rare items available to reverse difficult encounters. The system rewards precise timing and demands that players adapt their approach across runs, since enemy configurations and branching paths shift each attempt. Both local couch co-op and online play are supported for two players, allowing synchronized elemental attacks and chained combo sequences between characters.
The score was composed by Gareth Coker, known for Ori and Halo Infinite, with contributions from Yuka Kitamura of Dark Souls and Elden Ring fame, and Mick Gordon. Supamonks handled the art and animation, aiming for a look that references the visual register of fantasy arcade brawlers without directly copying any single predecessor.
Post-launch moved quickly. October 2025 saw hotfixes within days of release. By December the team announced further features in development, and in January 2026 they marked 500,000 players ahead of the 1.1 update. That update, titled Unravel the Threads of Fate, arrived in February 2026. In March, Absolum won at the Pégases Game Awards. Full cross-platform multiplayer launched in May 2026. The game was also nominated for Best Independent Game at The Game Awards 2025. Each character carries a fixed weapon type, meaning build variety within a run comes from spell selection, item pickups, and how players time their counter windows rather than from swapping equipment classes.
