Burning Sword: Death Sun is sharpening up for Steam Early Access on Tuesday, 17 November 2026, with Bangkok-based developer Nomadic Games and publisher Rising Tide confirming a launch-time creator challenge worth $1,000. Yes, there is an actual leaderboard involved. It would hardly be a martial-arts showdown without somebody insisting they can do better than everyone else.
The wuxia-inspired action game is due to unlock at 15:00 UTC and has a planned US launch price of $19.99. That is the publisher’s dollar pricing, not a confirmed UK storefront price. A free Steam demo is available ahead of Early Access, so there is an opportunity to try the combat before committing.
Five stages, seven bosses and a lot of room to improve
Unlike a procedurally assembled roguelite, the announced campaign is built around five handcrafted stages with deliberate routes, hidden areas and secrets worth revisiting. There are five main bosses and two additional secret encounters for those who prefer to poke around every suspicious-looking corner.
Players follow Zhang Yixian on a path of revenge, with skill choices and combat technique shaping how they tackle each encounter. The developer describes a system in which the Burning Sword responds to elegant fighting, while Quick Shot supplies ranged options and Qi Drain lets players siphon energy from marked enemies. A hub and character progression systems are included in the Early Access build.
What interests us is the emphasis on learning a fight rather than relying on a lucky layout. An encounter you struggled through yesterday can become an entirely different experience once the timing finally clicks. Of course, until we’ve played the release build, that remains an exciting design promise rather than a hands-on verdict.
A $1,000 launch-day Arena challenge
Alongside the campaign sits Arena Mode, an endless score-attack format built for repeated combat runs. Nomadic Games and Rising Tide are planning a creator competition on launch day, with $1,000 for the highest eligible score.
Accepted creators who opt in are expected to livestream one Arena Mode run after the game unlocks on 17 November. The developer team plans to join the streams’ chats during the event. For viewers, that gives the action an unusually clear focus: a run, a score, and a very visible reason not to miss the next dodge.
Crucially, requesting a review copy does not require entering the competition. The contest has separate rules and an opt-in on the creator access form. We are reporting the opportunity, not announcing that Coloured Static Press is entering or promising a livestream.
Early Access is a beginning, not the full journey
The team’s longer-term roadmap outlines additional authored chapters and stages, more bosses and skills, and planned content drops approximately every eight weeks. Those are forward-looking developer plans, so they should not be mistaken for content already included on 17 November.
There is a useful distinction here. The game seems to be aiming for the deliberate level design of a traditional action adventure, with the repeated-score itch of an arcade fighter running alongside it. Whether those two halves fit together will come down to the combat itself, not the size of the prize pot.
Our take
We’re especially curious about the choice to make the main stages handcrafted. It gives the designers the chance to build memorable encounters rather than ask players to forgive another corridor chosen by a random number generator. Arena Mode, meanwhile, looks positioned to offer the chaos and replayability those carefully constructed stages deliberately avoid.
See the game: Burning Sword: Death Sun on Steam. Find the developer’s early access outline and, for eligible creators considering the optional event, competition information and rules.
This is independent news coverage based on information supplied by Rising Tide and Nomadic Games and their public announcements. We have not reviewed or played the launch build. All imagery is official game artwork.