PERISH – Official General FAQ

Learn more about our game! If you want to learn more about our indie co-op shooter, this is the place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PERISH single-player or co-operative?

• Both! You can play alone or with up to 3 additional players. Please refer to our Technical FAQ for more detailed information.

Is PERISH a roguelike with randomly generated levels, or is it a linear story campaign?

• There are no randomly generated levels. PERISH is about surviving the wastelands of Purgatory to reach Elysium, so each level is linear and handcrafted to tell a story about the Dread Realms that stand between you and eternal oblivion.

However, each time you die, the roster of objectives in each level will cycle to a new objective, so each attempt at reaching Elysium means you will be performing new tasks to reach Elysium, and sometimes taking entirely new routes to get there.

Is there crossplay between these different PC platforms?

• Yes! We are using the Epic Online Services backend to get Steam, GOG and EGS versions to talk to each other. You do not need to log into EOS if you don’t want to. You will join your friends via a “Room Code”, rather than using the Steam Overlay. Please refer to our Technical FAQ.

In what game engine was PERISH made?

• PERISH was created using Unreal Engine 4, using NVIDIA’s NvRTX engine branch.

Who made PERISH?

• PERISH is made by ITEM42, a small indie studio based in Brighton, UK. It is currently formed of just two members, brothers Bret and Regan Ware, artist and programmer respectively. Our aim with PERISH was to see how far two people could push an FPS in both gameplay and story.

We also received excellent dev assistance from Default Interactive, a long time friend and collaborator, and we urge you to check out his work.

We also received some wonderful voicework and consultation on some Greek lines from a good friend and excellent voice actor, who helped bring a central part of the game’s story to life.

Since 2020, HandyGames, a subsidiary of THQ Nordic, have become the official publisher of our game.

PERISH would genuinely not have been possible to complete to the extent that we originally envisioned without their generous help and investment in the project, particularly with their wonderful producers and dedicated QA team who have been assiduously testing PERISH for all manner of bugs and quirks for months and months. We thank them from the bottom of our heart.

We also received an Epic Megagrant, for which we are very grateful.

Who made the original soundtrack?

• Joe Campbell-Murray of British modern mathcore outfit ZILF created a blistering and extensive 26-song soundtrack that you can purchase directly on Steam. Two OST tracks were authored by Bret Ware.

Every level in the game has at least one unique song, sometimes two or three unique songs! Currently the OST can only be experienced in-game or purchased as mp3 or wav files via Steam.

Is the game inspired by ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian or Christian mythology?

• The answer is a fervent mix of all four! We took our favourite elements of various classical mythologies and further fictionalised them to create a wasteland world of punishment and redemption.

It is therefore worth mentioning that although PERISH was created with research into and love towards these mythologies, it does not authentically represent any of them. The lore of PERISH is a warped chimaera of ancient stories viewed through a modern lens.

Will there be post-release updates?

• We will be urgently fixing any gameplay and multiplayer bugs as a top priority in the weeks and months to come. We can’t say too much about post-release content yet but we will keep you updated in all the relevant places!

I heard that there is both a good ending and a bad ending in PERISH, how do I get them?

• It’s a closely guarded secret… but make sure you speak to Hipparchia and listen to what she says.

What languages does PERISH support?

• English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (ES), Spanish (Latin America), Czech, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (BR), Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Thai and Turkish.

How on earth do I pronounce ‘ΡΣRΙΖΗ’ as written in the game’s logo?

• You can say ‘perish’ in any way you want, we wholeheartedly acknowledge that our stylisms are very silly.