At Gamescom 2026, we had the opportunity to speak with Rob Pardo and get a first-hand look at Arkheron, the upcoming team-based PvP title from Bonfire Studios. While the game is still in development, what we experienced left a very positive impression, primarily because of its concept, which combines team-based combat, fast decision-making, and a build system that changes throughout the match.
At first glance, Arkheron might look like another competitive PvP game, but it quickly becomes clear that its biggest strength lies in the way Relics work. You don't choose a class before the match and enter the game with a predetermined build. Instead, you start with practically nothing, and what you eventually become depends on the Relics you find along the way.
15 Teams, One Tower, and Only One Winner
The basic concept is fairly simple. Fifteen teams of three players enter the mysterious Tower, with the goal of making their way through several floors and reaching the top. The problem is that there isn't enough room for everyone.
At the beginning, you have time to explore the map, find Relics, fight monsters, complete quests, and engage with other players. However, after a certain amount of time, the Abyssal storm appears, destroying everything in its path and forcing the remaining teams toward Beacons, the only safe zones. And this is where Arkheron starts to become particularly interesting.
There aren't enough Beacons for every team, which means you'll often have to fight for the right to remain in a certain position. Simply surviving isn't enough. You have to decide when to retreat, when to attack, and how much you're willing to risk in order to continue your ascent. As you progress through the Tower, the number of teams decreases until only two remain, facing each other in a final 3v3 battle at the summit.
You Don't Choose a Class – You Build Your Character Yourself
One of the things I liked most about Arkheron is that it doesn't use traditional classes or roles. At the beginning of a match, you won't simply choose a tank, support, or damage dealer and then spend the rest of the game playing the role assigned to you. Instead, your build develops during the match itself.
Each player can carry four Relics – a crown, an amulet, and two weapons. Each one provides a specific ability, but as soon as you lose that Relic, you also lose the power it provided. This means that your playstyle can constantly change as you explore the Tower. Things become even more interesting when you start combining Relics.
Relics are divided into sets, and collecting multiple Relics from the same set provides additional bonuses. If you manage to find all four pieces of a set, you can transform into an Eternal and gain an additional fifth ability. The catch is that once you transform, you remain in that form for the rest of the match.
But becoming an Eternal isn't automatically the best choice. Quite the opposite – one of the most interesting aspects of Arkheron is experimenting with different combinations. You can hunt for a complete set or mix Relics from different sets to create something entirely your own. This means that the same player doesn't necessarily have to play the same way in every match.
Every Match Can Force You to Change Your Plan
This is probably the most interesting idea Arkheron has to offer. In many PvP games, you know what you want before the match even begins. You have a specific character, a specific role, and a build prepared in advance. Here, you can have a plan, but the game can easily force you to change it.
Maybe you find an excellent weapon but are missing the Relic needed to complete its set. Perhaps you'll completely change your approach. Maybe you discover a Relic that works perfectly with one of your teammate's abilities, suddenly giving your team an entirely new strategy. Those situations could ultimately make the difference between an average match and a great one.
Of course, a system like this will depend heavily on balance. Once the full game launches, it will be extremely important that certain combinations don't become so dominant that the thousands of possible builds effectively become irrelevant. For now, however, the concept is very promising.
Teamwork Actually Matters Here
Even though every player creates their own build, Arkheron isn't designed as a game where three people simply run around the map doing their own thing.
Combining abilities between teammates can be just as important as finding powerful Relics for yourself. One player might create a build that works particularly well in direct combat, while another takes on a completely different role, with the third player finding a combination that enhances both. Because of this, communication seems likely to be extremely important, especially as matches become more intense. When the next Beacon is about to appear and several enemy teams are fighting for the same position, it's probably not the best time for three teammates to have completely different ideas about what they should do.
Combat Is Fast, But It Doesn't Feel Chaotic
Arkheron uses an isometric perspective and a free-aim system, meaning combat isn't simply about selecting a target and waiting for an ability to do the work for you. You have to aim your attacks and think about positioning, which adds another layer to the combat. This becomes especially important when multiple teams are fighting in a small area.
In those situations, having the strongest Relic isn't enough. You need to know how to use it, where you are in relation to your opponent, and when the right moment is to attack or retreat. During our time with the game, this combination of fast-paced action and decision-making was one of the elements I found most interesting.
A World Built From Memories
There is also a rather ambitious story behind everything. Arkheron takes place inside a mysterious Tower made from memories of the living world. This world isn't static and is expected to change as the stories of the Eternals develop. For a PvP game, this is an interesting approach because the lore isn't designed to exist completely separately from the gameplay. The stories of the Tower's inhabitants are expected to eventually influence the world itself, potentially changing the meta along the way.
Whether this will work exactly as Bonfire Studios envisions remains to be seen, but the idea of using narrative to change the actual PvP environment is certainly something worth following.
It's Still Too Early for Final Conclusions
It's important to remember that Arkheron is still in development and currently going through playtests. Bonfire Studios is already testing the game with players, with the goal of using their feedback to determine what needs to be changed before launch.
Because of this, some of the things we saw shouldn't be treated as final versions of the game's systems. Even so, Arkheron already has perhaps the most important thing for a title like this – a clear idea of what it wants to do differently from its competitors.
Instead of building its identity around a large roster of heroes or a traditional class system, Bonfire puts Relics at the center of the gameplay. What you find determines what you can do, while the way you combine those Relics determines what kind of player you'll be during that particular match.
Arkheron Has a Strong Foundation
Arkheron was one of the games from Gamescom 2026 that stayed with me precisely because it isn't simply taking an existing PvP formula and changing its appearance. The idea behind Relics, changing your build during a match, and fighting for control of Beacons gives it enough character to stand out.
Of course, the real test is still ahead. We'll need to see how many of the possible combinations are genuinely useful, how the balance between Eternal forms and custom builds develops, how varied the matches remain, and whether the game can hold players’ attention after dozens or hundreds of matches.
But what we saw and played was fun, and the concept has enough potential to put Arkheron firmly on our list of games to follow until launch.
And if Bonfire can maintain that freedom to experiment while creating a deep enough system that rewards teamwork and creative combinations, this mysterious Tower could turn out to be a very interesting place to spend some time.
