Full-Time
Independent game developer creating story-driven IP
$195k - $244k/yr
Irvine, CA, USA
Hybrid
Bachelor's
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Bonfire Studios develops original video games with a focus on stories and social play. Its games are designed to offer immersive adventures that encourage exploration and teamwork, bringing players together through shared experiences. The company builds its own intellectual property from the ground up, which helps create a recognizable brand and loyal fans. Revenue comes from selling games and in-game purchases, with potential licensing of its IP for merchandise or media. Bonfire Studios also emphasizes a positive work culture and clear mission and values to attract and retain talent. Overall, the company aims to deliver meaningful, social, story-driven gaming experiences and grow a dedicated player community around its IP.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Late Stage VC
Total Funding
$25M
Headquarters
Irvine, California
Founded
2016
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Company Equity
Hybrid Work Options
Flexible Work Hours
Arkheron Closed Beta begins on PC via Steam. Bonfire Studios has launched the Arkheron Closed Beta on PC via Steam, giving players access to the game's largest public playtest so far. The beta runs until July 26 and introduces a range of gameplay improvements, new competitive features and the first test of the game's cosmetics progression system. According to the studio, the latest beta builds on feedback gathered during Steam Next Fest and previous weekly playtests. The update includes improvements to gameplay clarity, the user interface, performance and the overall onboarding experience as Bonfire Studios continues to prepare the game for its Early Access release. "Since Steam Next Fest, we've spent the last several months focused on listening to player feedback and making meaningful improvements across the game," said Bonfire Studios founder Rob Pardo. "This Closed Beta is an important milestone for Arkheron as we welcome more players into the tower and continue refining the experience alongside our community." One of the biggest additions is Learning Spires, a new introductory mode designed to teach new players the fundamentals of Arkheron's combat, Eternals and item systems through bot matches before they enter competitive play. The Closed Beta also features Spires, the game's core 3v3 competitive mode, alongside Ascension, a higher-level competitive mode that will be available during scheduled weekend sessions throughout the test period. Bonfire Studios says Ascension is intended to provide the game's toughest competitive challenges. Players can also take part in the Cosmetics Progression Test, earning Pages through gameplay to unlock items from the Closed Beta Collection. While most progression will reset once the beta ends, players can permanently earn exclusive Prestige rewards, including a unique title, banner and character skin. Players who receive beta access will also receive 3 Steam friend invites, allowing them to invite teammates to join the test. The Arkheron Closed Beta is available now across multiple regions, with invitations continuing to roll out in waves throughout the testing period. Players who have not yet received access can still register through the official Arkheron website for a chance to participate before the beta concludes on July 26.
Bonfire Studios, an independent video game developer started by Rob Pardo and other game veterans in 2016, is finally coming out of stealth mode, unveiling its debut project Arkheron.Founded by industry veterans responsible for iconic franchises including Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft and World of Warcraft, the Bonfire team draws on the expertise and design principles honed on those titles to craft an innovative new player-versus-player (PvP) game, said Rob Pardo, CEO of Irvine, California-based Bonfire Studios, in an exclusive interview with GamesBeat.Private playtesting for Arkheron is already underway and will be expanding in the coming months with rolling invites. Players who love fast-paced player-versus-player (PvP) combat are encouraged to sign up now for a chance to be among the first to play Arkheron and help shape its later stages of development.I asked Pardo if the team had spent eight years making the game so far, but he noted that it took about 1.5 years to build the studio and do the prototyping to find the fun. The real work on Arkheron itself began in 2018 and even then it involved a lot of continuous gameplay testing to get it right. And so the game has been in the works roughly six years.“We have been thrown curve balls,” Pardo said. “We didn’t expect to be in mid-development when a global pandemic hit.”As an example of a curve ball, the team had to spend about nine months making a backend architecture for the networking to accommodate the type of combat it wanted to have.The dark fantasy art of Arkheron.We’re not sure what that means yet as Bonfire is slowly revealing the game. The company has been playing and iterating on Arkheron behind-the-scenes for years and began private playtesting sessions with a small community in 2024