It's time to battle out of hell faster than ever before in Hades, with the launch of the game's latest major Early Access update!
The High Speed Update introduces a brand-new suite of lightning-quick abilities that add even more variety to the game's fluid, blood-pumping combat. Here are the highlights:
Key Features
- Welcome Hermes, messenger of the gods, swiftest of all Olympians! His boons make you faster than ever, unlocking new potential in battle.
- Battle New Foes, the death-spewing Soul Catcher and explosive Flame Wheels -- each bringing new challenges to Elysium, the game's toughest biome!
- Explore New Chambers in Elysium, expanding the types of dangers and surprises that await on the way to the surface.
- Gain New Boons, such as 'Battle Rage' and 'Merciful End'! Wield these godly powers responsibly!
- Discover a New Music Track: 'Last Words', a rocking theme heralding Thanatos, the enigmatic incarnation of death.
Earlier today, Hades became available at a significant discount as part of the Epic Mega Sale on the Epic Games store. We communicated poorly in the hours that followed, and want to clear things up.
The retail price of Hades is now back to $19.99, our original launch price. With the Epic Discount, you can get the game for $10 off that price right now, through to the end of the sale on June 13.
After the sale is over, on June 14, we will be raising the game's retail price to $24.99. We had intended to raise the retail price of the game soon, but made the decision rashly as part of the sale -- we didn't provide advance notice to our customers, despite previously stating we would do so. That was our mistake, and we sincerely apologize.
To all our players, thank you for your patience and understanding around this.
Now you can come closer than ever to battling out of hell in Hades, with the launch of our biggest Early Access update yet! The Beefy Update opens up the next major biome: Elysium, the afterlife destination for the greatest of heroes.
In addition to the slew of new foes and encounters that await, The Beefy Update significantly enhances the core gameplay in Hades, making your dash more fluid than ever, and letting you stack even more weapon upgrades for mighty new character builds. Here are the highlights:
Key Features
- Explore Elysium, the afterlife of the greatest heroes of Greek myth! Here you will face terrible new foes and delve deeper into the game's unfolding story.
- Confront King Theseus & the Minotaur in one of Hades' most spectacular battles yet, featuring a thrilling blend of kinetic action and reactive storytelling.
- Dash Like Mad with this newly overhauled core mechanic, allowing for smoother, more responsive action.
- Wield New Boons & Powers for spectacular new combos, or give in to temptation by switching between boons from different gods.
- Experience an Enhanced Boon Interface that lets you manage an even greater number of god-given powers as you fight your way through the Underworld.
There’s also brand-new music, a ton of new fully-voiced story moments and reactive combat events, scores of new art and visual FX, and more! Full patch notes are available in the game client and at the Supergiant official Discord.
Elysium was only for the greatest of mortals -- see how you fare among them!
P.S.: Check out our recent developer Q&A as part of Noclip's ongoing video documentary about our development!
Update 5/3/2019: Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in this job listing! At this time we're no longer seeking new applicants. Should we have any additional job openings in the future, we'll likely post about it here and via our Twitter feed.
We're seeking a quality assurance specialist to find bugs and provide ongoing feedback as part of the Early Access development of our latest game, Hades. The ideal candidate loves playing a variety of games in-depth, has a knack for finding their quirks, is detail-oriented, and communicates clearly and succinctly in writing and speech.
This is a remote, full-time, contract position. Initial contract period has a duration of 3 months with the possibility to extend. Hours are flexible but must include at least 2 hours of overlap with 10am - 5pm in the Pacific Standard Time Zone, Monday through Friday.
Requirements:
Extensive knowledge of and experience deeply playing games
Highly self-motivated and with a keen eye for detail
Excellent written communication skills
Experienced playing Hades in Early Access (must have unlocked the 15 Heat Skelly Statue)
Eagerness and ability to continuously play and discover around an in-progress game
Able to work 8 hours a day, with at least 2 hours overlapping 10am-5pm PST
Internet connection capable of daily multi-GB downloads, with gaming PC capable of running modern games at 60fps+
2- or 4-year college degree or equivalent work experience a plus
QA credit on previously shipped titles a plus
Experience working with bug tracking systems (JIRA, etc.) a plus+ Having played through our previous titles a plus
Responsibilities:
Work with the development team to test new features to ensure they are high-quality and problem-free before going live
Provide clear, concise written bug reports to the development team for any defects discovered
Ensure previous features and saves continue to function after new features are added
Analyze community bug reports, including Discord and Reddit discussions, to track down and reproduce issues found in the live game
Provide feedback to the design team on new, in-progress features
What we offer:
Work with a small, creative, high-performance team
Flexible work hours and location
Competitive compensation
To apply, please follow these instructions exactly:
Send your resume in the body of an e-mail (no attachments please), with the subject line “QA Specialist” to jobs@supergiantgames.com
Complete the questionnaire below and include it in the body of the e-mail. Use your best judgment to respond as thoroughly and concisely as possible, as you might if responding to a colleague. There is no minimum or maximum word count.
What is the most absorbing game you've played in the last three years, and why? What did your playing habits look like?
What is your favorite 'build' in Hades (weapons and boons)?
What is one feature of Hades you would change?
Submit two bug reports based on issues you’ve found in Hades. The reports should clearly convey the issue and how to reproduce it with minimum effort on the reader’s part. Assume the reader is very familiar with Hades. You may include links to any supporting media.
Thank you for your interest! We will be accepting applications now through April 29, and reach out to prospective candidates near the start of May.
The Murder Death Kill update is out now for our rogue-like dungeon crawler! It’s a free, automatic download if you own the game on the Epic Games store. This latest update introduces an enigmatic rival, vicious new bosses, and new godlike powers:
Key Features
- Wield the Wrath of Olympus using super-powered new abilities that can turn the tables against your foes. Build up your Wrath Gauge as you fight, then unleash hell!
- Meet Thanatos, Death Incarnate, a much-feared god of the underworld who has a knack for interfering with your escape attempts...
- Battle the Fury Sisters, Alecto & Tisiphone, whose viciousness is such that even Lord Hades is reluctant to recruit their assistance!
- Gain New Boons from each of the Olympian gods -- nearly 20 new boons in all, including new Paired Powers, granting the combined strength of different gods!
- Confront New Foes, namely the Bloodless Burn-Flinger and Wave-Maker, whose ferocious attacks will disrupt your tried-and-true strategies.
Plus, an awesome new music track, scores of new fully-voiced narrative events, balance changes, enhanced art and visual FX, and more! Full patch notes are available in the game client and at the Supergiant official Discord.
The Murder Death Kill Update also includes the latest version of the Development Roadmap, accessible from the game’s main menu.
May the Fates favor you, for Thanatos, Alecto, and Tisiphone will not!
P.S.: Want to know what it's like working on Hades at Supergiant? Then watch the second installment of Noclip's one-of-a-kind documentary series about our Early Access development! Following our launch in December, this episode shows our ongoing efforts to build the game in partnership with our community.
We wanted to let you know that The Good Times Update for Hades is now available! It’s a free, automatic download for owners of the game via the Epic Games store. Our second major update introduces new ways to play while expanding the cast of characters and story:
Key Features
- Meet Dionysus, God of Wine, a carefree meddler who’s always up for some feasting! With his blessings, your foes are really going to feel it in the morning.
- Wield the ‘Adamant Rail’, a rapid-fire weapon that predates (and out-classes) early firearms by several millennia! It packs a real punch with its own distinct playstyle.
- Unlock the Power of ‘Fated Authority', with which you can bend the Underworld more to your will. Use it to tempt the Fates to yield alternate rewards in each chamber!
- Descend into ‘Infernal Gates', if you dare! Grow stronger than ever, but only if you can complete tough challenges intended for experienced players.
Plus, look for new abilities, balance changes, fully-voiced narrative events, enhanced art and visual FX, a brand new song from our award-winning composer, and many more features and improvements! Full patch notes are available in the game client and our official Discord.
The Good Times Update also introduces our new Development Roadmap, accessible from the game’s main menu. It describes our priorities around creating a new Biome packed with new foes and challenges, new boss fights, and new ways to take advantage of the various resources you accumulate as you play, as part of our development goals for this year. Our Roadmap should shed some light onto where we think the game is headed -- without spoiling any of the surprises we have in store!
Until then, we hope you have a smashing good time with our latest update, and we’re excited to hear what you think!
We’re very excited to announce that The Chaos Update is now available for Hades! If you own the game on the Epic Games store, you’ll get it as a free, automatic download. This is the first of our planned monthly updates during Early Access, and it’s packed with new features and improvements:
Key Features
- Meet Primordial Chaos, distant ancestor of the gods! Blessings from Chaos offer powerful benefits… along with unexpected side effects. So choose wisely!
- Unlock the Infernal Contract for the ultimate challenge! For those skilled and determined enough to have cleared the game, now even greater trials await.
- New & Improved Look for the player character: We’ve retouched thousands of frames of animation to bring our protagonist in line with the game’s distinctive look!
- Trade with the Wretched Broker and exchange surplus resources for what you need! Seek him in the Lounge in the House of Hades.
- New Foes & Encounters to confront! Look for three new foes (such as the deadly Skull-Crusher) along with six additional chambers to fight through.
Plus, look for new balance changes, fully-voiced narrative events, upgradeable Keepsakes, music, bug fixes, and more! Full patch notes are available in the game client and our official Discord.
We hope you find The Chaos Update makes Hades an even more thrilling experience. Many of the features in this update were inspired and influenced by feedback from you, the players, and we invite you to send us impressions of this latest version of the game on our Discord.
The Chaos Update expresses our Early Access philosophy by expanding on the game and story in unison. We’d like to thank all our players and early adopters for making our Early Access a success thus far, and we're looking forward to seeing your latest attempts to battle out of hell!
P.S.: In case you missed it, be sure to check out Hades - Developing Hell, a new documentary series from Noclip showing you what life is like at Supergiant as we work together to bring Hades to life!
Tonight at The Game Awards, we were absolutely beside ourselves with excitement to reveal Hades, the fourth game from our studio -- which you can PLAY RIGHT NOW in Early Access! It's now available for $19.99 at the new Epic Games store. Watch our official trailer to see it in action:
Hades is a rogue-like dungeon crawler where you defy the god of death as you hack and slash your way out of the Underworld of Greek myth. It’s never the same experience twice: Each time you play, you’ll combine the divine might of various Olympian gods with your own, brave nefarious new challenges, and unravel more of the story featuring our award-winning art, audio, and narrative.
Hades is a living game in active development: Expect regular updates introducing new features, events, characters, weapons, powers, environments, and more. We think developing Hades in Early Access is key to making it the best game it can be, which is our goal.
We're sure you have a lot of questions, and we have lots more to say about the game -- so head on over to our Hades FAQ to learn more. Or just dive right into the game, and experience the latest and greatest from our team!!
Last Updated March July 16, 2025: Here are answers to frequently asked questions about our fourth game, Hades!
What is Hades?
Hades is a rogue-like dungeon crawler in which you defy the god of the dead as you hack and slash your way out of the Underworld of Greek myth. We think it combines the best aspects of our previous games, including the fast-paced action of Bastion, the rich atmosphere and depth of Transistor, and the character-driven storytelling of Pyre.
It’s never the same experience twice: Each time you play, you'll combine the divine might of various Olympian gods with your own in new ways, brave a wide variety of different challenges, and unravel more of the story featuring our award-winning art, audio, and narrative. You may play for not just dozens of hours, but hundreds of hours, while still discovering new character builds and story events.
In addition to these digital versions, physical versions for the Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation launched in retail stores worldwide.
Release History: Hades originally launched in Early Access on the Epic Games Store on December 6, 2018; then on Steam in Early Access on December 10, 2019. Version 1.0 of the game simultaneously launched on these platforms as well as Nintendo Switch on September 17, 2020. Hades then launched on Xbox and PlayStation on August 13, 2021. A mobile version for iOS devices available through Netflix Games launched on March 19, 2024, though was discontinued from the service in July 2025.
What are the computer versions' minimum system requirements?
Hades for PC requires at least Windows 7 SP1, with a Dual Core 2.4 GHz processor, 4 GB RAM, 1GB VRAM with DirectX 10+ support, and 15 GB disk space.
Hades for Mac requires at least macOS 10.13.6+ on a system that supports Metal API, with a Dual Core 2.4 GHz processor, 4 GB RAM, Intel HD 5000 or better, and 15 GB disk space.
What are the differences between the PS5 & Xbox Series X|S versions vs. PS4 & Xbox One versions of Hades?
The PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of Hades feature 4K visuals at a target 60 frames per second, while the PS4 and Xbox One versions are 1080p at a target 60fps. In addition, Hades features enhanced controller vibration and lighting on the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller.
If I purchase Hades on PS4, do I get a free upgrade to PS5?
Yes! Both the physical and digital PlayStation 4 versions of Hades include a free upgrade to the digital PlayStation 5 version.
If I purchase Hades on Xbox One, do I get a free upgrade to the Xbox Series version?
Yes! Hades uses Smart Delivery allowing access to both the Xbox One version and the Xbox Series version on one disc. Additional information on Smart Delivery can be found at xbox.com/smart-delivery.
What languages does the game support?
Hades features English-language text and voiceover, and full text translations in the following languages: French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Polish, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese.
I love the music in your games. Is the Hades soundtrack available?
Yes! Music has always been a big part of our games, and Hades is no exception! We’re eager for you to hear the blood-pumping musical score by our award-winning composer, Darren Korb. The original soundtrack features two and a half hours of music created especially for the game.
Yes! Hades supports cloud saves on Steam and the Epic Games Store. You may also find local copies of your saves in Documents\Saved Games\Hades.
Does Hades support cross-saves between PC and Nintendo Switch?
Yes! Our Cross-Saves feature lets you transfer your Hades PC save data to and from the Nintendo Switch version. It's easy to use, and you can learn more about it from the Cross-Saves submenu on the Nintendo Switch version of the game.
Note: The Xbox and PlayStation versions of Hades do not support PC cross-saves like the Nintendo Switch version.
I ran into a technical issue with the game. What should I do?
We’ve done our best to launch Hades in a high-quality, problem-free state. However, you may run into problems we didn’t find. If you experienced any problems running the game and need technical support, visit our Knowledge Base, or have a look in #hades-tech-fixes in our official Discord server, which should help get you sorted.
What is a rogue-like (or rogue-lite), anyway...?
The rogue-like is a cousin of the action RPG genre that put us on the map with our best-selling titles, Bastion and Transistor. Rogue-likes are combat-oriented games where you get stronger as you fight, (almost) inevitably dying at some point, then carrying that knowledge forward into your next randomized run. What's so enthralling about them is how they can be completely different from one run to the next!
While Hades is very much an action game, rogue-likes traditionally are turn-based, strategic games -- so, the term 'rogue-lite' is also sometimes used to describe games that take influence from the genre without strictly adhering to the original format. We love the sense of challenge, player expression, and replayability inherent to such games. With Hades, we wanted to create our own take on this style, with a real sense of place and story to it, much like how we infused a sense of narrative purpose into the action RPG with Bastion, way back when. See it in action here:
Some rogue-likes are brutally difficult... is Hades?
Don't worry! Rogue-like games can be known for their steep difficulty, and indeed, Hades can present a considerable challenge. However, one of our foremost design goals on the project was to open up the thrills of rogue-like games to more players. To that end, and knowing that challenge is relative from player to player, the game offers a wide range of difficulty modifiers as well as permanent progression systems... alongside plenty of characters to interact with when you're not trying to battle out of hell. A feature called God Mode is always available to make you more resilient to damage (and a little tougher still each time you die). We also have Hell Mode for the ultimate challenge, and a late-game system called the Pact of Punishment, which makes things really interesting.... Overall, you'll be able to play Hades your way.
Now that Hades has launched, what's next?
We've always wanted to stick together as a small team and keep making games for as long as we can, one big project at a time! We're excited to figure out what's next and to share whatever that is once we think we're far enough along.
Who are you folks, again...?
We’re Supergiant Games! We're a small independent studio in San Francisco, founded in 2009 and best known for our critically acclaimed games Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and now Hades.
All seven of our original staff are still working together here in their respective roles, now bolstered by more than twice as many talented individuals who complete our team. Our ambition has remained the same through the years: to make games that spark your imagination like the games you played as a kid.
I heard Hades was an Early Access game. What is Early Access? Is it over?
Hades did launch as an Early Access game, originally in December 2018. In September 2020, we officially completed our Early Access development and launched v1.0 of the game.
Early Access meant you could play Hades while it was still in active development.
We designed Hades as an Early Access game from the ground up. Our foremost goal was to see if we could create something great in partnership with our community -- a game that was true to our values about design, worldbuilding, and storytelling, and could naturally evolve based on the feedback we'd get along the way. Every aspect of the game, from its modular structure to its approach to narrative, flowed from this idea.
How long was Hades in development?
We got to work on Hades less than a month after our previous game, Pyre, launched on July 25, 2017. Each time we’ve completed a project, we’ve found ourselves eager to dive into something new. This time around, we wanted to make something that combined aspects of all the best ideas we’d picked up over the course of working on our three previous games, as well as delve into Early Access development for the first time. All told, Hades took a little over three years for us to get to v1.0.
Your past games have had wholly original settings. Why the change?
Hades is our first game adapted from an existing mythology -- the world of Greek myth. We felt we had a unique perspective on this theme, and saw the adaptation process as a new and exciting creative opportunity to explore. Our take on Greek mythology assumes no prior knowledge of or interest in the subject. Yet, those familiar with Greek myth should find our take on it to be true to the spirit of the source material, from Homer to Hesiod. Greek myth comes from stories of ancient gods and heroes filtered through new points of view; we’re excited to share ours.
Your games are known for characters and story. How did that fit with Early Access development?
The opportunity to deliver story in a serial fashion during Early Access was one of the many reasons we were excited to go this route with Hades. In the full game, you can look forward to meeting 30 different fully voiced characters, and experiencing the story through thousands of unique events and interactions.
You can engage with the narrative as much as you like, so if you just want to dive in for a quick hack-and-slash session, Hades has you covered. We're eager for you to experience our unique approach to storytelling in this format, where you'll inhabit a living world with characters you'll really get to know, and who remember you time after time.
Why was Hades initially available only via the Epic Games store?
Hades first launched on December 6, 2018 on the Epic Games Store. We had never launched a game into Early Access before, and our players had come to expect complete, self-contained games from us ever since Bastion’s debut in 2011. With Hades, we knew we really wanted to create a game we could develop in partnership with the community, and from talking to the folks at Epic, we realized their store would be the perfect place to conduct our experiment.
Is Hades a multiplayer game, or are there any plans for multiplayer?
Hades is a single-player game. We have no plans to add multiplayer, as we created the gameplay and narrative of Hades with a solo experience in mind.
Does Hades include DRM of any kind?
No. The computer versions of Hades are DRM-free.
I have more questions!
Please feel free to reach out with questions or feedback via our Contact page or Discord.
Our sci-fi themed action RPG invites you to wield an extraordinary weapon of unknown origin as you fight through a stunning futuristic city. Our studio's second game is a critical and commercial hit that's earned more than 100 awards and accolades. We've faithfully adapted and optimized it for Nintendo Switch, taking advantage of HD rumble and the system's unique design.
Transistorfirst debuted in 2014, several years after the successful launch of our first game, Bastion (also on Switch). With it, we really wanted to prove to ourselves and our players that we could create a whole new universe with a unique sense of style and play, and looking back we couldn't be happier with the response it got. To everyone for whom Transistor struck a chord, thank you so much!
