- PLAY THE DEMO! - 23 June 2026
Hey y'all! We've finally updated the demo for you to play with :D A LOT has changed in the game since the last demo in Feb 2025 so we are excited for you to see it! We are getting closer to the release of the game this summer, so please take a look and let us know what you think :) A run in the demo is much shorter than an entire run in the full game, so if you find it too easy crank that difficulty up to Hardcore for a bit more of a challenge. And if you're still not satisfied, join the discord and get a key to playtest more! You can even playtest the Online Multiplayer Coop. And we could really use your playtesting data, so do us a favor and step up to the challenge. Join Discord So what's new?There are so many things it is hard to fully explain it, but at a high-level: New Tentacle CreaturesNew Chemical ReactionsNew Weapons and EquipmentNew MapsNew LanguagesThings and creatures can n…
- Playtest the game now! - 29 May 2026
We have great news! We are getting extremely close to releaseand we need your help with Playtesting to exterminate the final creatures left in our code, aaaand to refine the game-balance. If you are interested in playing the latest version of the game, you can do so by joining our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/46tp9yCF6u Once you enter and sign up for the playtest, we will send you a steam key to the game! This is the best way for us to do it as we do not have the resources to add a feedback sheet and/or bug reporting system into the game, and we can instead use discord to collect this. Giving us more time to continue working! Why now? Online Multiplayer Testingis our next priority, which means we need more people to come and bring some friends to get this right. The game changes its difficulty automatically with the number of players, so we need diverse groups of 2,3, and 4 t…
- Chemical Reactions: New Year Update - 12 January 2026
Happy new year tentacle choppers!I hope you all head a nice break and none of your Christmas dinner leftovers turned into fungal spreading creatures from hell.I wanted to share a little update on Demon Spore. One area that we did an overhaul of recently was the chemical reactions. Whilst escaping the lab you occasionally find chemicals or other substances such as a acid, water or sticky explosive gel. These can be thrown at enemies to injure them or slow them down. But these chemicals can also be combined together to create some pretty cool effects… FREEZING WATERWater on it’s own isn’t super useful unless you’re trying to put out a fire that’s spreading too rapidly. But if you combine water with the freezing effect of fire a extinguisher, you can freeze enemies on the spot. This then allows you to use your fire axe to small them with a single strike.MIXING CHEMICALSThe sticky gel can b…
- Dynamic Fire: a Hot Update - 15 October 2025
Hi there!I wanted to share some progress we’ve been making over the last few months on Demon Spore.At the moment we’re taking every feature that’s not up to scratch and polishing it till it’s as shiny as possible. One big area that we did that with recently is fire.SPREADING FIREFire in a lot of games is often just background eye candy or just a barrier to stop you going somewhere. In the spirit of making everything as interactive as possible, fire in Demon Spore is a dynamic element that can be a dangerous threat or a useful tool.Some chemicals you find in the game are flammable, meaning you can throw these to set fire to objects like chairs, or lab equipment. When an object is on fire, that fire will spread to other objects, allowing you to create a barrier to slow down the creatures growing towards you.Fire will also spread between any entity that sets on fire, so it will also spread…
- Publisher Changes, an update from Demon Spore - 30 June 2025
Hi thereA lot has been happening these past few weeks so I thought it’s time for an update!PUBLISHER CHANGEOne big piece of news is that Null has shut down their publishing operations, so they will no longer be publishing Demon Spore.The good news is the game will still be coming out! It's really close now, it’s just bug fixing and balancing left. The current plan is to self publish the game instead, but now we have to do all the marketing ourselves and handle a bunch of other things which is going to add some extra time. So the game won’t make the July release date unfortunately. As soon as a I have a clearer idea on release, I will send another update but it's likely to be a few extra months. Thanks for all your support and patience so far, really can't wait to get the game out and see what people think of the final result!ANIMATED SEQUENCEWe recently put the finishing touches to one…
- Demon Spore Launching July 2025 - 17 April 2025
The last known transmission from Protagenics Labs was shown at the Galaxies Showcase, and it is not for the faint of heart. The entity has escaped the containment facility and is expected to reach the general public this summer, July 2025. For your safety, remember to seal all windows and doors. Don’t hesitate to gather a crew to increase your chances of survival – online co-op will be available at launch. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your thoughts as we get closer to the release date. If you’re interested in future online playtests, you can sign up here.
- Containment Failure: Major Update Imminent - 8 April 2025
Coming to a screen near you: Security footage straight from Protagenics Labs containing some monstrous Demon Spore announcements. In the first-ever Galaxies Showcase, we're unveiling ███████ and ███████ with ███████. The glass is already cracking in the containment facility - will you be ready when it's finally unleashed? Tune into twitch.tv/galaxiesshow on April 17th (12 PM PT / 3 PM ET / 9 PM CEST) to see the thrilling updates on Demon Spore.
- Co-op Demo Available Now! - 10 February 2025
The day has arrived - something is trying to escape the Protagenics facility, and you'll be face-to-face with an unimaginable terror. Struggle against the ultimate test in the demo, available now! Team up with up to 3 of your friends via Steam Remote Play Together or go it alone in a tense battle for survival against a rapidly spreading mutant horror. Arm yourself with experimental weapons like the scalpel thrower or Tesla coil, and ransack the lab for equipment to make you better, faster, stronger. Try to escape the lab with all 5 playable characters, rescue terrified Protagenics staff (but beware what might be lurking inside your coworkers), and try to stop the spread of the relentless creature by locking down the facility on your way to the exit. Each escape attempt offers new challenges and unique layouts. Will you make it to the elevator, or die trying? There's only one way to find…
- Stay alert! - 7 February 2025
Something has escaped the Protagenics facility, and soon you'll be face-to-face with an unimaginable terror. Prepare for the ultimate test in the upcoming demo! ████ ██ ████ ██ ██ █ ██ ████ ███████ ███ █████ ██████ ████ ████████ ██ go it alone in a tense battle for survival against a rapidly spreading mutant horror. Arm yourself with experimental weapons like ███ ███████ ███████ ██ █████ ████, and ransack the lab for equipment to make you ███████ ███████ █████████. Try to escape the lab with ███ █ ████████ ██████████, rescue terrified Protagenics staff ████ ██████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ██████ ████ ██████████, and try to stop the spread of the relentless creature by ███████ ████ ███ ████████ on your way to the exit. Each escape attempt offers new challenges and unique layouts. Will you make it to ███ ████████, or die trying? There's only one way to find out... Keep this channel open for…
- Weapon Design in Demon Spore - 18 December 2024
Greetings fellow scientists! This last month at DinoBoss HQ I’ve been busy building a bunch of new weapons for the game, so I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about my weapon creation process. Theme To get started I first needed to find the answer this question: “If this is a food technology lab, why on earth would there be weapons here?!” The answer I came up with was quite simple - because you build them! You’re a scientist after all, so why not? The advantage of this approach is that it already sets some restrictions and steers us away from the usual military guns and instead moves us towards coming up with some more creative weaponry, since we’re dealing with experimental technology. It also provides some neat ways to balance the guns since they are not meant to be perfectly constructed - more on this later. I thought it would be fun to really focus on this scrappy hand…
- An update on Demon Spore - 13 December 2024
To our players, This year, Demon Spore traveled the world through events like PAX, IGN Live, GDC, and SXSW Sydney. It’s been thrilling seeing so many people play together and hearing all the positive feedback. We’re really feeling great about all the progress we’ve made since our journey with Demon Spore began. We also found opportunities to make Demon Spore a fuller experience with deeper progression and narrative. As a result, we’re keeping Demon Spore in the petri dish a little longer and shifting the release date to 2025. This will give us enough time to meaningfully expand on the game in ways we think you’ll all appreciate. Keep an eye out for more updates in the new year. Can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve been up to!
- Happy Halloween from Demon Spore! - 31 October 2024
Hi there! Since it’s Halloween I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favourite 80s monster movies that inspired Demon Spore. Alien (1979) I was so terrified by this film the first time that I actually stopped watching it after 30 mins! But when I finally was brave enough to sit through I just was completely absorbed into that world of absolute terror. I just love how every moment of the film you never know what to expect as you’re learning bit by bit what this creature is, how it evolves through its lifecycle, its defence systems, its strengths and weaknesses… I also like that it’s a bunch of completely unarmed nobodies trapped inside a single space and totally unequipped to deal with this deadly unknown organism. The Fly (1986) One of the greatest body horror films ever made, I still squirm whenever I remember the scene in the bathroom where now-useless bits of his body are co…
- Demon Spore is coming to SXSW Sydney! - 8 October 2024
Null is heading down under! We’re bringing Demon Spore to sunny Australia, and will be in attendance at SXSW Sydney from October 16th to the 20th. If you’re interested in catching some Demon Spore and live nearby, feel free to swing by the Games Showcase and find our booth to get your hands on this roguelite inspired by sci-fi horror films of the 80s. In addition, Ed Kay, developer of Demon Spore, will be participating in a stage talk about the development of the game with AJ Lamarque, conference curator for SXSW Sydney. Join them in the Alienware Arena inside Fortress Sydney on Thursday, October 17, from 8:30 to 9:00 PM. Here’s the current schedule for the game’s public availability: Demon Spore - Booth #28 - Thursday 17th - 10am-2pm - Friday 18th - 10am-2pm - Friday 18th - 4pm-8pm - Sunday 20th - 11am-5pm We hope to see you there!
- How To Escape From Grabbing Tentacles In Demon Spore - 2 October 2024
Hi there! Just wanted to share a quick update on some of things that we’ve been working on for the last few months. First of all is the new keyart for the game which you can see below. Jeanna at Null Games did an amazing job at really capturing the feel of the game and getting the tentacles to look as gross as possible! The work that goes into an creating something like this is huge, and it takes a massive amount of patience to get every detail correct and also ensure that the image can be cut up to work for various different aspect ratios. I’m super happy how it turned out! TAKING MORE THAN ONE HIT After playing the Steam Next Fest demo, people gave some amazingly positive feedback but there were also a few complaints of how unforgiving the demo was. Dying in a single hit can create a lot of tension in a game, and tension is super important for the horror genre. For this reason, I alwa…
- Check Out Demon Spore's New Key Art! - 13 September 2024
Demon Spore was inspired by horror movies of the 70s and 80s, such as The Thing and The Blob, which makes Friday the 13th the perfect day to reveal our new key art! You’ll be seeing this art in a lot of places as Demon Spore continues its development. It features our main character, Alex Livins, as he witnesses the horrors that have been unleashed in the Protagenics laboratory after his genetic modification experiments have gone awry. His co-workers Bob Mason and Rani Visani are also in peril as the Demon Spore spreads and attempts to consume anything in its path! We recently took a new build of Demon Spore to PAX West, where it was well-received by hundreds of people who swung by the Null booth. Knowing that the couch co-op was a hit at IGN Live and PAX East, we decided to double up the couch stations, allowing up to eight players to get in on the action at once. Even so, we had to mak…
- Demon Spore Demo for Steam Next Fest - 5 February 2024
A failed lab experiment gives birth to a rapidly growing viral horror in this intense action rogue-lite inspired by 80s Monster movies. Use the lab to your advantage and improvise an escape plan before this constantly evolving life form spreads out of control. Check out a gameplay deep dive and gameplay footage of the Demon Spore demo, available for Steam Next Fest!
- Demon Spore Demo for Steam Next Fest - 5 February 2024
A failed lab experiment gives birth to a rapidly growing viral horror in this intense action rogue-lite inspired by 80s Monster movies. Use the lab to your advantage and improvise an escape plan before this constantly evolving life form spreads out of control. Check out a gameplay deep dive and gameplay footage of the Demon Spore demo, available for Steam Next Fest!
- New Environments for Demon Spore - 9 August 2023
Hi I just wanted to send a quick update on the new environments that are starting to come together for Demon Spore. Originally I just started with a lab where the organism first breaks out of. But I’ve always wanted to have multiple floors for the facility which not only look different but also have other elements to them that have an impact on gameplay… THE LAB This is where the creature escapes and everything kicks off. It’s a clean and organised space that has a lot of work surfaces full of equipment and chemicals. Many of these you can use to your advantage, such as picking up a vial of acid and throwing it to melt through some tentacles, or setting fire to creatures using flamable chemicals. THE BASEMENT This is a dark and messy industrial area where secret experiements are carried out. It has a lot of equipment that can be switched on to make noise and distract the creature, and s…
