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EVILBANE First Steam Playtest Is Live Until October 19

Netmarble's first Steam playtest for EVILBANE runs until October 19 at 4:00 PM Asia time. Sign-ups are still open, squads go up to four, and there is no NDA.

By Aldrich Lim, RPG WriterPublished October 16, 20263 min read

EVILBANE artwork — Image credit: Netmarble

Netmarble has opened the first Steam playtest for EVILBANE, the co-op action game from Netmarble Monster. Going by the studio's announcement, the test began on October 15 at 4:00 PM in Asia (GMT+8), which was 1:00 AM PDT, 4:00 AM EDT, 9:00 AM in London and 10:00 AM CEST, and it shuts down on October 19 at the same hour. Late sign-ups are still welcome, and the studio says requests get approved within 24 hours.

How to join and bring friends

The playtest is on Steam only. Once your request is approved, you receive invite codes for up to three other people, which fills a full squad of four. There is a catch: an invite can only go to an account that has been on your Steam friends list for at least 30 days. A friend you add today will need their own approved request.

There is no non-disclosure agreement. You can stream, record and share whatever you play. Everything you earn is wiped when the test closes.

EVILBANE demo playtest NEXTARCA screenshot 1 — Image credit: NEXTARCA

EVILBANE demo playtest NEXTARCA screenshot 2 — Image credit: NEXTARCA

EVILBANE demo playtest NEXTARCA screenshot 3 — Image credit: NEXTARCA

EVILBANE demo playtest NEXTARCA screenshot 4 — Image credit: NEXTARCA

EVILBANE demo playtest NEXTARCA screenshot 5 — Image credit: NEXTARCA

What is in this build

Character creation with face, face tattoos, skin tone, hair and outfit options
13 Operations spread over Easy, Normal and Hard
18 Heavenstone Skills sorted into attack, support and recovery
Six melee weapons (one-handed sword and greatsword) and seven ranged weapons (crossbow, scattershot bow and magic orb)
Gear growth through Weapon Enhancement and Rune Engraving
Voice chat inside the game

Text is available in Korean, English, Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Spanish (Spain), Portuguese (Brazil), German, French and Russian. Feedback goes through an in-game survey opened at HQ with the R key, or the menu button on a controller. Players who finish it and then register on Discord get their name in the Special Thanks part of the credits.

PC requirements

Both tiers list Windows 10. The minimum is an Intel Core i5-9400F or AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, 16 GB of RAM and a GTX 1060 6GB or RX 580 6GB. The recommended tier asks for an Intel Core i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, an RTX 3060 or RX 5700 XT, and 32 GB of RAM.

What is still unknown

The Steam page still lists the release date as to be announced. Price and any platform beyond PC have not been stated. Netmarble also warns that this build may have bugs, rough balance, temporary text and placeholder art, and that the final game may look different.

NEXTARCA's take

Four days is short, but this is an easy test to try. The sign-up bar is low, nothing is under NDA, and swapping between a sword and a ranged weapon is the part of EVILBANE most worth judging by hand. Plan your squad early, because the 30-day friends rule blocks anyone you just met in a Discord channel.

The 32 GB recommended spec stands out for a co-op action game. If you play on a 16 GB machine, the most useful thing you can do is report how it ran in the survey. That is the feedback that can still change something before launch.