Steam Next Fest is coming October 13, so we're already seeing demos for some new games to be excited about. Bloodgrounds is a roguelike that combines city-building and gladiatorial combat, challenging you to lead a school and build a team that will keep the arena full.
On the battlefield, use timing, position, and movement to keep your heroes alive and the crowd enthralled. Permadeath is a thing here, so when you lose a gladiator, you'll sacrifice all the time, money, and training you've put into making them a superstar. In between fights, you'll hopefully keep your school growing so you have a steady stream of recruits ready to bring you glory.
Bloodgrounds Demo Page:
The updated demo spatters Steam today, October 6, just ahead of the Steam Next Fest beginning October 13. It offers a new class, abilities, weapons, and locations to budding lanistas, ensuring they train and equip the most feared fighters in the stadium.
Developer Exordium has also added support for German, French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and Japanese languages.
Bloodgrounds will release in Early Access on Steam Nov. 5, with a 1.0 release due to follow in early 2026.
The new free Steam demo allows players to;
- Experience the first five hours of Bloodgrounds, accessing the entire first Age and beyond.
- Play as 7 different gladiator classes, unlocking up to five abilities per class.
- Train gladiators up to level 7 and unlock new buildings and locations as they progress.
- Collect a variety of Common, Rare, and Epic items to assist gladiators in the arena.
- Bloodgrounds now supports 8 languages; English, German, French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and Japanese.
I love both roguelikes and gladiator stories, so I will be checking this demo out. Insert the obligatory "Are you not entertained" reference here.