Let us start from the most important thing – huge thank you! When we opened sign-ups for the Into the Fire Public Playtests, we hoped to gather a strong group of players ready to step into New Sindra, test the core loop, and help us shape the game before launch.
What you delivered is far beyond our initial expectations. That is incredibly exciting for us but it also means we want to be more careful with the first public build we put in your hands.
Because of that, we are moving the start of the public Steam Playtests from May 20th to May 28th.
And we all know that for many of you who have been eagerly waiting to get your hands on Into the Fire such information is terrible, but this is not because we want to slow things down. It is because we want to give you a much better first experience.
On May 20th, we will run a smaller Technical Playtest with players from our Discord community.
The goal of this test is very specific: we want to gather technical data from a wider range of PC setups before opening the build to everyone on Steam.
 During this technical test, we will be looking closely at:
crashes and stability issues,
performance across different PC configurations,
graphics settings and hardware compatibility,
loading, controls, input, and basic UX issues,
anything that could hurt the first hour of the public playtest.
This is not meant to replace the public playtest. It is a short technical step that helps us prepare the build for a much larger group of players on May 28th.
We will use the extra days to improve the build in a few important areas:
additional stability and performance fixes,
quality-of-life improvements,
better PvE pressure across New Sindra,
tuning the danger level and world escalation,
improvements to the flow between the HUB and expeditions,
and work on new content, including a new fire spirit enemy.
The goal is simple – when you enter the playtest on May 28th, the island should feel more dangerous, more reactive, and more ready for the number of players waiting to enter it.
But, are the sign-ups still open, you might ask. And the answer to that question is yes! If you have already requested access on Steam, you are still on the list. If you have not signed up yet – don't worry. You can still do it directly from the Into the Fire Steam page. Everyone who requests access will be able to join the public playtest when it opens on May 28th.
Into the Fire is built around pressure, risk, and difficult decisions. You go into the ruins, gather what you can, rescue who you can, and decide when it is time to extract before the island takes everything from you. We want the first public playtest to reflect that fantasy as strongly as possible.
The response from the community showed us that this moment is bigger than we initially expected. So instead of rushing the build out on the original date, we are taking a few more days to make it stronger, more stable, and more useful for your feedback. Thank you for your patience, trust, and excitement.
Until then, add Into the Fire to your wishlist, request access to the playtests on Steam, and join our Discord if you want to follow the technical test and development updates more closely.
~Starward Industries Team