Release date, price and roadmap

Launch details

• Date: 15 October 2026.
• Time: 10:00 AM PDT / 5:00 PM UTC.
• Regular price: $19.99.
• Launch discount: 35% off to $12.99 for two weeks.
• Platforms: Steam (Windows/Mac), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch.
• Game Pass: day one on Game Pass for Xbox and Windows PC.

Prices and discounts vary by region and storefront. The official store page is the only authoritative source for the current price.

What happened to the demo?

The free Carthage demo was taken offline when the full game launched on 15 October 2026. It included the tutorial, five battles and the rhino-mounted first boss. There is no current official demo to download.

A 12-year road to the arena

Featherweight Games say Chained Beasts was the first game they set out to make as a team, 12 years before launch. It began as a 48-hour game jam project called Enterchained, inspired by the chained-up scene in the film Gladiator. Six months into the expanded project, the team had to put it aside; they picked it up again years later with a sharper focus on co-op chaos and injuries.

Launch-week snapshot

At the time of writing (17 October 2026), Steam user reviews wereVery Positive — around 307 reviews with roughly 85% positive — and the game was drawing several thousand concurrent players. Treat these as a launch-week snapshot, not a permanent score.

Post-launch roadmap

What is in the 1.0 build

• Three acts: Carthage, Germania and Rome.
• Nine battles across the three acts, with an act boss at the end of each.
• Ten difficulty levels.
• 70+ skills, 70+ afflictions and 40+ items.
• Eight playable beasts plus variants and cosmetics.
• Online crossplay, couch co-op and single-player.
• Full controller support; same-screen co-op on PC requires a gamepad.