Cologne fuss: the Russian game "From ashes and steel" conquered the gamers of Europe

The Russian studio presented its debut video game project "From Ashes and Steel" in Germany. Foreigners liked the stand with the game, they compared it to the cult series "Gothic" and began to massively add it to the vishlist on Steam, the largest digital service. Thanks to the presentation at the August Gamescom 2025 exhibition, which took place in Cologne, 200 thousand users subscribed to the game's page. Read more about the success of the project in the Izvestia article.

What will the new game tell you about?

"From Ashes and Steel" (international title: Of Ash and Steel) is a third—person role-playing game with an open world in the spirit of classic representatives of the genre, but with a modern design. Users will explore the lands of the once-flourishing island, improve their combat skills and survive in the ruthless kingdom of Seven. They will need to learn how to fight in an unfriendly environment, for this they will learn various fighting stances, active skills and environmental features.

Screenshot from the game Of Ash and Steel

Photo: tinyBuild

The main character Tristan is a cartographer on a secret mission of the knights of a religious order. Together with the squad, he arrives on the island of Graceshaft, where volcanic eruptions occur from time to time. By this time, a new "season" of dust eruptions is just beginning, it is dangerous for humans and has unexplored toxic properties.

Players have the opportunity to choose their own fighting style: from a dexterous swordsman to a heavily armored knight. At the same time, no one prevents the hero from developing in his own direction and combining magic spells with a weighty fist, the authors of the project said. In addition to survival and gaining experience, the hero will have to complete numerous tasks, quests and make profitable alliances.

Screenshot from the game Of Ash and Steel

Photo: tinyBuild

The game was shown at Gamescom 2025, which took place from August 20 to 24 in Cologne. She was awarded a separate booth, which was a success for all four days. The project has been under active development for two years now, and before that, I spent a year in "garage conditions" when the team was putting together their first demo with naked enthusiasm, said the lead developer of the game from the Fire & Frost studio Victor Kondakov.

— The game is based on Unreal Engine 4 technology with the necessary extensions for us. Initially, it was positioned as the spiritual heir of the "Gothic" series, which is very popular in the world. In general, our approach can be described as a love message to the role-playing games of the golden era of the 2000s. Although we certainly have our own style," he added.

Screenshot from the game Of Ash and Steel

Photo: tinyBuild

The developer noted that a full demo for everyone will be released soon.

— We don't perform in a super-popular genre, but there is much less competition in it. The number of our subscribers who have added the game to the wish list has almost reached 200 thousand," the developer concluded.

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What advantages does the novelty have?

The authors are trying to revive the spirit of classic RPG (role-playing games) in the style of "Gothic" (Gothic series) and The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, said Sergey Aleksashenko, production director at Game Art Pioneers. He noted that the game is seriously addictive, even with current drawbacks such as the high entry threshold.

— The combat system is intentionally "heavy" and requires getting used to, but so far it does not give a proper sense of progress. Strong opponents can be defeated by cunning, but it turns into a grueling process. In addition, competition with the remake of "Gothic" can seriously limit the audience of the project," he said.

Screenshot from the game Of Ash and Steel

Photo: tinyBuild

For the development of a small team, the project looks attractive, with four out of five points, said Oleg Dobroshtan, an expert in the gaming industry. He pointed out that the game is not suitable for the AAA hit level, but it will find its audience — for example, those who are nostalgic for the old-school RPG.

— This is an audience of 30-year-old gamers and even older. For those under the age of 25, the main disadvantages will be the lack of multiplayer game modes, insufficiently vivid combat dynamics and the need to spend a lot of time on each game session," the expert said.

Screenshot from the game Of Ash and Steel

Photo: tinyBuild

The scale of computer characters' involvement is impressive, with over 21,000 lines of dialogue, dynamic random events, and the ability to change the fate of entire regions. For the Russian industry, where large-scale projects are rare, such an ambitious foundation looks impressive, said Daniil Arzhakov, lecturer at the Department of Esports at the Faculty of Gaming Industry and Esports at Synergy University.

— The game is especially interesting for domestic users due to localization and the participation of Russian-speaking developers. But it can scare away those who are used to a more gentle process," says IT expert Ivan Kalmykov.

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According to Mikhail Lisetsky, the creator of the Streamfest and Gamedays gaming festivals, there are technical issues with the project. The developers don't just run through episodes with dialogues at speed — they mask the weak animation of faces and the stilted behavior of computer characters. At the same time, the game is made not only with respect to the past of the genre, but also to ourselves. The second is even more important, the expert noted.