Every so often a game shows up that makes you wonder why nobody tried it sooner. Valor Mortis is one of those games. A first-person Soulslike set in a supernatural version of the Napoleonic Wars, built by the studio behind Ghostrunner — on paper it sounds like a fever dream, and in practice it’s shaping up to be one of the most talked-about action titles of the year.
Here’s everything you need to know before it lands.
What Is Valor Mortis?
Valor Mortis is a first-person action-RPG with heavy Soulslike DNA, developed by Kraków-based studio One More Level and published by Lyrical Games. If One More Level rings a bell, it should: this is the team responsible for the cult-favourite Ghostrunner and its sequel, both praised for their razor-sharp, momentum-driven first-person combat.
That pedigree matters here. While the wider industry keeps chasing the FromSoftware blueprint with third-person swordplay, One More Level has gone the other way and committed to a fully first-person Soulslike — a niche almost nobody is touching at this scale.
The result is a brutal, atmospheric experience built around stamina management, precise timing, and high-mobility combat that borrows a little platforming flair from the studio’s Ghostrunner days.
Among the many promising upcoming releases, Crossfire Game 2026 is another title drawing attention from players looking for their next big action experience.
Valor Mortis Release Date and Platforms
Mark the calendar: Valor Mortis launches on 24 September 2026.
It’s coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, and it’ll arrive day one on Xbox Game Pass — a significant get for subscribers, given the buzz the game has been building across previews.
The release date was confirmed during the Xbox Games Showcase 2026, alongside a fresh trailer. If you want to try before you commit, there’s already a playable demo live on Steam, so you can feel the combat for yourself rather than taking anyone’s word for it.
The Story: Napoleon, but Make It Horrifying
Valor Mortis takes place in an alternate-history 19th-century Europe where Napoleon’s endless campaign has unleashed something far worse than war — a supernatural plague that twists the dead into nightmares.
You play as William, a soldier of the Grande Armée who is killed in battle and then dragged back from his grave. The Europe he wakes up to isn’t the one he died for. His former comrades have become undead monstrosities, a conspiracy festers beneath the chaos, and William’s own resurrection is wrapped up in a mystery he’ll spend the game unravelling.
It’s a smart premise. The Napoleonic setting is criminally underused in games, and pairing real historical texture with dark fantasy horror gives Valor Mortis an identity that doesn’t feel borrowed from anyone else.
Combat
This is where Valor Mortis earns its keep.
William’s go-to weapon is a cutlass, but the toolkit runs deeper. You can block incoming blows at the cost of a little health, dodge the attacks you can’t block, or parry with the right timing to punish enemies hard. There’s also a flintlock pistol for cracking weak points and staggering foes — though ammo is scarce, so you won’t be spraying your way out of trouble.
The first-person view changes everything. Slimmed-down peripheral vision makes encounters feel claustrophobic and genuinely tense; you can’t see a flanking enemy the way you would in a third-person Souls game, so every fight demands focus.
Stamina and decision-making are the backbone. Get greedy and you’ll eat a combo that melts your health bar in seconds. The game actively rewards learning enemy patterns and exploiting the environment — hands-on previews describe waiting out an enemy’s unblockable attack to shoot an explosive barrel strapped to its back for massive damage. Risk, reward, and a bit of battlefield cunning run through everything.
Recent demo builds have shown off more variety, too. A nimble rapier trades your ability to block for serious damage output, while new traversal abilities and branching paths hint at a world with real depth to explore.
Like Blood Message, Valor Mortis appears focused on delivering a strong blend of action, atmosphere, and immersive storytelling.
Vincent Cassel Is Voicing Napoleon
In a casting move nobody saw coming, César Award-winning actor Vincent Cassel plays Napoleon Bonaparte.
You’ll likely recognize Cassel from Black Swan, Ocean’s Twelve, the iconic French film La Haine, and more recently as Victor Chevalier in Tekken 8. The studio has called him their dream casting for the role, and a name of that calibre voicing the emperor adds genuine prestige to the project — a signal that One More Level is swinging for something far bigger than a quiet genre experiment.
Is the Hype Justified?
Early impressions suggest yes — with a sensible asterisk.
Hands-on previews have been glowing. One outlet that played the game at both Gamescom 2026 and Summer Game Fest 2026 came away calling it a genuine Game of the Year contender, praising the weighty, punchy combat and the way the first-person perspective cranks up the tension. The boss design, in particular, has been singled out as tough but fair — no cheap, drawn-out wind-up attacks designed purely to frustrate.
A Soulslike living or dying on its difficulty curve and boss roster is nothing new. The real question is whether Valor Mortis can sustain its strong opening hours across a full campaign. Previewers have flagged exactly that uncertainty — the ideas are excellent, but the marathon is yet to be run.
Why Valor Mortis Matters
Strip away the marketing and you’re left with something refreshing: a studio with a proven track record taking a real swing at an underexplored idea.
A first-person Soulslike is a hard sell. It’s awkward to balance, easy to get wrong, and demands that players unlearn habits built over a decade of third-person Souls games. But if any team has the first-person chops to pull it off, it’s the one that made Ghostrunner feel like poetry in motion.
Add a striking Napoleonic-horror setting, a marquee voice performance, and a same-day Game Pass launch, and Valor Mortis has all the ingredients of a genre sleeper hit.
The Bottom Line
Valor Mortis arrives on 24 September 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, day one on Xbox Game Pass, with a demo you can download right now.
It won’t be for everyone — Soulslikes never are, and the first-person twist only sharpens that edge. But for players hungry for something that doesn’t feel like a copy of a copy, this might be the most distinctive action game on the 2026 calendar. The pieces are all there. Now we wait to see if One More Level can hold the line for the long haul.
Fans of darker settings and intense encounters may also be interested in Resident Evil: Veronica Remake (2027), which is bringing one of the franchise’s most beloved stories back for a new generation.
FAQ
When does Valor Mortis come out?
Valor Mortis releases on 24 September 2026.
What platforms is Valor Mortis on?
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
Is Valor Mortis on Game Pass?
Yes. It launches day one on Xbox Game Pass, so subscribers can play it at no extra cost from release.
Is there a Valor Mortis demo?
Yes — a playable demo is available now on Steam, letting you try the combat ahead of launch.
Who is making Valor Mortis?
It’s developed by One More Level, the Kraków-based studio behind Ghostrunner and Ghostrunner 2, and published by Lyrical Games.
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