Serious Sam: Shatterverse launches August 31 as a five-player co-op roguelite

Serious Sam: Shatterverse, a co-op roguelite spin on the classic shooter franchise, launches August 31 on PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Developer Behaviour Interactive — the Montreal studio behind Dead by Daylight — is leading the project, with original series creator Croteam stepping aside to give its blessing rather than build it. Devolver Digital is publishing.

A very different Sam

The setup: Uber Mental tears a hole between dimensions, pulling five alternate-universe versions of Sam Stone together into one chaotic squad. Each version has distinct weapons and unique abilities — one Sam is a woman, another is half-alien — and a modification system lets players tune builds for specific missions. The squad is called the "Serious Program," and the goal is exactly what you'd expect from this franchise: eliminate enormous waves of enemies.

Between missions, players return to a hub location to chat, pick the next job, and upgrade gear before heading back out. Levels are semi-open with a vertical design emphasis, and the game rewards coordinated teamwork rather than lone-wolf chaos. Many enemies are franchise veterans; others are new.

What to make of the studio switch

Behaviour Interactive has no prior history with Serious Sam — its résumé is almost entirely Dead by Daylight and related asymmetric horror games. That's a sharp pivot to a co-op roguelite FPS, and it raises fair questions about whether the franchise's gun-crazy identity survives the handoff. Croteam's involvement is described as a blessing rather than active development, so the DNA question is real.

That said, Devolver Digital has a solid track record publishing experimental takes on legacy IP, and the 1–5 player co-op roguelite formula — think runs, hub upgrades, and replayable missions — is proven ground. An early Steam Store playtest ran in June, suggesting the team is open to community feedback before the final release.

No pricing has been confirmed yet for either market. The August 31 date puts it squarely in the end-of-summer release window — competitive, but not buried. Gematsu has the full publisher and lore details if you want the deeper franchise context.