Everyone’s hot for Hades 2’s Hephaestus

With the launch of in Early Access on Steam and the Epic Games Store, Supergiant Games, the game's developers, have provided a general roadmap for updates leading up to the official, full release. A roguelike based on Greek myth, is the first direct sequel to be developed by Supergiant, a studio known for its strong lineup of standalone games like,, and. As a direct sequel, however, represents an opportunity for the studio to more directly build on the mechanics and narrative of the first game.

Hades 2 has finally entered Early Access as of May 6 2024, and while it's a triumph for all us patient fans, some indie game devs pray you spare a thought for them during these trying times. 

Following the early access release of Hades 2, fans have mixed feelings about Chaos' redesign. Developer Supergiant Games surprised fans after shadow-dropping Hades 2, even surpassing a major player milestone in less than 24 hours. Now, more players are experiencing Melinoe's adventure and meeting new characters, albeit still unfinished.

During the first few minutes of playing as Hades 2’s Melinoë, players encounter sights like a bubbling cauldron, the silhouette of a pointed witch’s hat, and the glowing lines of a summoning circle. Between the new gameplay and the story, Hades 2 goes all in on the dark magic — and that’s one of the biggest differences between it and its predecessor, Hades.

A Fortnite leak revealed on May 6 shows off the original idea for Pandora's Box in the game. Fortnite is in the middle of a Greek mythology themed season, with Pandora's Box being part of the central focus. Near the end of Chapter 5 Season 1, a Titan’s Hand pulled the box out of the ground during a live event on March 2.

After winding up its technical test for Hades 2 last week, Supergiant Games has confirmed that early access is now live for PC via Steam and the. It even released a snazzy new trailer to showcase all the content players can expect. Check it out below.

Hades II is now available in Early Access for PC players. After performing a technical test from April 16 to 29, Supergiant Games said Early Access for the “bewitching sequel” would follow “relatively soon after.” The developer lived up to its word, as a week after wrapping the preliminary test, PC players can now buy and play the highly anticipated roguelike title for $30.

Anticipated roguelike sequel Hades II was announced back in 2022, and we knew an early access launch was coming sometime in mid-2024, but a specific release date hadn’t been provided by developer Supergiant Games. Well, surprise! Following some technical tests, Hades II officially launches into early access… today! You can check out a new trailer for the early access version of the game, below.

Hades 2 has removed one of the first game's most powerful Gods, although there's a good story explanation for why she's not offering her infamously Boons in the sequel.

It is shocking to see that Hades 2 is only in early access, and that Supergiant Games plans to let it spend at least the rest of 2024 there before it’s ready to call it version 1.0. Shocking, because it already has just about everything I want from a sequel to one of the best roguelite action games of all time. Hades 2 manages to keep everything that made the original such a masterclass of design, but it does so in a way that changes up how each of the pieces fits together and gives it its own unique identity rather than feeling like a glorified expansion. The result is a familiar, but fresh follow up that challenged, surprised, and delighted me with every triumph and failure in equal measure. There are a few things missing, with an actual ending to its story being the most substantial among them, but once it’s complete it’s hard to imagine Hades 2 not living up to the mythological legacy of the first.

Hades, the supremely successful Roguelike from the team at Supergiant Games, is discounted to its lowest price ever on Steam through May 13. Available for $24.99 at launch, you can currently pick up a copy for just $8.49, which coincidentally, is just about 66.6% off. Following a brief technical test, the Early Access launch for Hades 2 is likely right around the corner, which makes this an ideal opportunity to get acquainted with the underworld.

Supergiant Games’ technical test for Hades 2 will be coming to an end on April 29th. As promised, it went on for longer than a week and less than a month, but appears to have been successful. The team has identified and addressed “a number of key issues we weren’t able to find before.” After it ends, early access will launch “relatively soon” after.