Seekers… the Ritual draws to a close on 2025.
This year has been one of transformation. Of Storms that reshaped the island, demons that crossed through the veil, and a community whose devotion continues to carry The Bornless further than ever before.
Below is our full 2025 wrap-up, a chronicle of your victories, our milestones, and the unholy work still underway.
OUR FIRST PLAYTEST OF 2025
A Storm Is Coming Playtest: March
We opened the year by unleashing our first major test of the Storm mechanic, changing the very nature of the Ritual endgame. Seekers joined us for a wild weekend of chaos that surfaced critical bugs, performance bottlenecks, and gameplay quirks that defined much of our development roadmap for the rest of the year.
We also shared our playtest trailer on IGN, which quickly became our best-performing video to date. Your excitement set the tone for everything that followed.
BREAKING LANGUAGE BARRIERS
Localization Overhaul: April
2025 marked our largest step toward global accessibility.
We pushed a massive localization update that opened Farmouth Island to more languages than ever before. New communities joined the Ritual, new voices echoed through the fog, and our Discord grew with Seekers from every corner of the world.
NEW CHARACTERS, NEW DEMONS AND MORE IN OUR SECOND PLAYTEST
Closed Playtest: June
Our next public test, Fractured Souls, brought another surge of players, another wave of feedback, and another refining pass on Ritual Mode. The 48-hour weekend was a huge success and rolled directly into our largest event of the year…
STEAM NEXT FEST
A Week of Unholy Momentum: June
Steam Next Fest was a defining moment for The Bornless.
This build featured:
A refined Storm endgame
Expanded localization
The new Discord Shepherd duo-finding system
Updated human character models, including Sarah and Milton
And most notably…A new playable Demon: Phenex, the Marquis of Fire. A terrifying force of burning branches, childlike melodies, and devastating abilities.
Your support during Next Fest pushed us to new heights, including massive wishlist growth, thousands of demo downloads, and a tidal wave of community content.
OUR BIGGEST PRIZE POOL (SO FAR)!
Pre-Registration Event: August
To keep the momentum burning, we launched a pre-registration campaign offering a brand-new NVIDIA 50-series GPU as the grand prize.
The response was overwhelming — the ritual surged past 400,000 wishlists, a huge milestone for our small studio and a testament to your belief in what we’re building.
EXPANDING AND DEVELOPING FARMOUTH ISLAND
Farmouth Town Reborn: September
Behind the scenes, our environment team spent months reshaping the island, culminating in the creation of an entirely rebuilt Farmouth Town.
Just in time for Steam Scream Fest, the new town became the foundation for a broader evolution of the map’s tone, density, and visual fidelity.
STEAM SCREAM FEST
A New Era of Features: October
Our final public playtest of the year introduced the largest set of improvements we’ve ever released in a single update:
New Safehouse building system
Radio Tower POI at the heart of the island
Brand new housing across Farmouth
New enemies: the Stillborn, Brains, Tentacles, Growths, and Watchers
Complete melee overhaul
Gunplay improvements based on your Next Fest feedback
Upgrade to Unreal Engine 5.6
And more...
It was a chaotic week that helped us identify crucial next steps for 2026.
AND NOW…
The Ritual Continues: December and beyond...
While we have been quieter since Scream Fest, the team has been buried deep in:
Performance optimization
Server stability improvements
Core gameplay refinements
Preparing the next wave of updates
The work is ongoing. The island grows stronger.
While we were hoping to launch the game very soon, the issues faced with servers and stability during Scream Fest were noteworthy so it will take some time to fix. We do not currently have anything concrete to tell you in terms of Early Access, but… we’re hoping to share news about future playtests in the new year.
We see you. We hear you. And we’re deeply grateful for your patience and passion as we continue shaping The Bornless alongside our unholy community.
UNTIL 2026…
Thank you for an unforgettable year, Seekers.
The whole team here at Cathedral Studios wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We'll be on Christmas break from the 19th December and will be back in the New Year, so response times from the team may be slower than normal!
Stay watchful. Stay hungry. And above all…
#StayUnholy
- The Bornless Team 🖤
