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Press release:
A galaxy far away (Trieste) – July 23rd, 2026 – Italian indie studio Beatrate is excited to announce that their first game “Weather the Swarm” is set to release on Steam in the first half of 2027 with XBOX, Playstation and Nintendo Switch versions coming later on. The first official trailer of the game is just being released to celebrate this milestone.

A classic 2D run ‘n’ gun gameplay is given a breath of fresh air by adding a permanent jetpack and fully destructible environments. Procedurally generated levels together with a deep roguelike progression make every run unique.

Biomes are composed of four levels and a Boss fight. Defeating the planetary Boss will grant access to a new Planet, where a higher challenge awaits.

Leveling up during a run grants one Perk, selected out of 3 random ones. Between high risk/high reward strategies, support roles, sneaking options and speed-rewarding-powers, a huge variety of playstyles will be viable.

The other core part of every build will be weapons and abilities. From the Machinegun to the Invisibility Cloak, from the Flamethrower to the Healing pod, items will be found during the run and in different rarities. Adapting to what combination of weapons and Perks is found in every run will be the key to victory. Shops along the way will also be able to bring gear to higher levels and unlock extra passives.

The Swarm will attack the player periodically with increasingly powerful enemies. The time spent looting will have to be balanced with the threat of the Swarm, or the players will get overwhelmed by unbeatable hordes of aliens. This feature ensures a frenetic gameplay where every second counts.

The idea of this game came after a group of friends were struggling to find the right game to play together. Between live services and very competitive games, which reward endless grind or pay-to-win strategies, there was a real need to find a game that can be enjoyed together on a sofa on a Saturday night, with a good mix of challenge and multiplayer chaos.

That’s why “Weather the Swarm” will launch not only with local multiplayer but with Remote Play Together, where up to four friends can play with a single copy of the game. This won’t come at the expense of the single player mode: after all, friends are not always around, and to share your own strategies and to show off your builds and results is also part of the fun.

Quotes from the team
“Our aim is to create a challenging roguelike that can be enjoyed alone as well as with a couch full of friends.”
Lead Game Designer, Tommaso Gandini

“We grew up sharing pizza nights and videogames with friends. “Weather the Swarm” is the kind of game we always wanted to play together.”
Antonio Dal Cin, CEO of Beatrate

Key Features
● A roguelite with a huge variety of weapons and perks
● Procedurally generated and fully destructible levels
● Multiplayer online and local up to 4 people. Design to work as a couch coop!
● The Swarm will periodically attack and get stronger, ensuring a frenetic gameplay
● Diverse Boss Fights at the end of every biome
● Optimized to work with either controller or mouse and keyboard

The alpha-testing of the game is already happening on the official WtS Discord server

About Beatrate
Beatrate is a small indie videogame studio founded in 2025. It’s created by friends that after a lifetime of playing games together decided to make their own. Motivated by the AAA industry moving more and more towards the “market over people” mentality, this new project puts the experience at the center and aims to make games for gamers.