Escape from Tarkov Meets Diablo: The Creators of Gods, Death & Reapers Reveal Their Unusual ARPG Inspirations
Artis Kenderik
At gamescom asia 2025, VGTimes journalist Rodion Ilyin spoke with Gods, Death & Reapers game director Andrei Chirculete from WOLCEN Studio. The developers are working on a unique ARPG that blends role-playing systems with extraction-shooter mechanics — a genre combination the industry has never seen before.
WOLCEN Studio is best known for the isometric action RPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem (2020), which sold over 1.6 million copies after a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $400,000. Now, the team is taking on an even more ambitious project.
Gods, Death & Reapers takes place in a post-apocalyptic dark-fantasy world where all known gods and myths have been destroyed by an unknown force. Players take on the role of Death’s agents — Reapers — who explore the shattered mythological realms in search of answers. Progression is not tied to traditional character classes, but instead to weapon choice and item affix combinations — a departure from classic ARPG design.
In conversation, Andrei Chirculete shared which projects influenced their development process:
It’s hard to give a single answer. Our game essentially represents a brand-new genre, so there’s no perfect comparison. Of course, when recreating extraction gameplay, we looked toward Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown. The ARPG elements come from Diablo and Path of Exile 2. For example, players will be able to experience the game in co-op PvE. For PvP encounters, we drew inspiration from MOBA titles — V Rising, Dota 2, and League of Legends were key influences for us in shaping multiplayer combat.
Gods, Death & Reapers is being developed on Unreal Engine 5 by a global team of around 90 developers. There’s no exact release date yet, but the studio plans to launch Early Access next year. Players can already request access to closed playtests on Steam to help the team fine-tune the mechanics.
The full interview with Andrei Chirculete can be read here.
VGTimes has been operating since 2011, and over 14 years the editorial team has attended major gaming expos around the globe — from gamescom 2019 and IgroMir to Tokyo Game Show 2024 and the Central Asian CAGS. This year, the team also visited ChinaJoy — one of Asia’s largest gaming events, featured in a separate report.
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