Moon Beast Charts Its Path Into 2026 With a Public Demo and Kickstarter campaign on the Horizon

As 2025 is winding down, in the early morning hours of Christmas Day, Moon Beast Productions—helmed by Diablo & D2 veterans including Phil Shenk, Peter Hu and Erich Schaefer—has released a heartfelt end-of-year update reflecting on a pivotal year of progress and what’s next for their still-unnamed action RPG.

In the message, Shenk thanked long-time fans and new followers alike, calling them the “true believers” who continue to fuel the project. According to Shenk, 2025 marked the year Moon Beast’s vision for it’s upcoming ARPG release started taking shape. Their internal and later semi-public First Watch events in August gave players a first real look at the game, and the team came away encouraged by the excitement and feedback. Since then, the developers have been refining visuals, performance, and gameplay systems while expanding content and features.

But the studio isn’t waiting for a “perfect” version before letting more players in. Instead, 2026 will mark a new phase—“building in the open.” To that end, Moon Beast will officially launch a Kickstarter campaign in February, with both a public demo and the game’s long-awaited title reveal arriving ahead of Steam Next Fest on February 23.

“We want to build it with you,” Shenk wrote, explaining that the Kickstarter will not only fund continued development but also invite players to directly influence the game’s direction. Supporters can expect early access to the demo and some exclusive loot as part of the campaign.

Key upcoming dates:

• January: Game title reveal, Steam and Kickstarter pages go live.
• February: Kickstarter launch and playable public demo.
• February 23: Participation in Steam Next Fest.

Shenk closed his message with optimism and gratitude, noting that this community-driven approach is the “bold path” forward:

“I look forward to the day we can look back and say, ‘I was there early. I helped make this happen.’”

Whether you’ve been following the ARPG veteran devs on the Moon Beast team since the days of Condor and Blizzard North or are just discovering their work, 2026 looks to be the year where players finally step into the world they’ve been quietly building.

For all the latest updates and announcements, join the community on  Moon Beast discord and sign up for email notifications at moonbeastgame.com