BioWare’s Shadow Realms is a 4v1 online action RPG for PC

Throne with skulls on. Classy.

I’m not entirely sure what I just saw from BioWare Austin at EA’s Gamescom press event, but I think that headline sums up what Shadow Realms is trying to be. This is what all of the ‘You’ve Been Chosen’ teaser stuff has been leading up to and it’s a bit confusing.

So, okay, first of all this is a PC exclusive game. It’s intended to be episodic and story-driven and all that BioWare stuff you’d expect, except that it’s also a 4v1 online-only multiplayer title. Yes. Both at once. Somehow.

The four are you co-operative heroes. Modern day-looking fellows who are drawn into battle with a (also player-controlled) Shadowlord. You know you’re never going to catch a break in life if you’re called a “Shadowlord,” though he does seem quite powerful since he’s kitted out to take on four people at once. He acts sort of like the dungeon master in a traditional pen-and-paper RPG, ensuring that each fight won’t necessarily play out the same way.

You can read a whole lot about Shadow Realms over at the official site, such as this Producer Letter or this first Developer Log or maybe this fearsomely in-depth Lore piece. It’s also possible to sign up for a closed alpha, though that does require you to have an account on EA’s Origin service.

A lengthier unveil will take place later today, which you can watch at twitch.tv/esl from 4PM – 5 PM CEST. (7AM PDT / 2PM GMT). It may explain how all of this is going to work, and whether it’s free to play or not (that was the sense I got from the EA conference reveal, but I don’t think it was ever stated outright.)

Shadow Realms is scheduled for a late 2015 release.