Blindfire was released back in October 2024 with a unique hook: It was an online first-person shooter set in the dark and was built around finding your enemies or remaining out of their sight. Sadly for developer Double Eleven, it never found much of an audience. Now, a year after its last patch, Blindfire will get one last big update and will go free, with devs promising to keep the servers on because they are “proud of it” and want to preserve it for others.
On May 7, Double Eleven posted an update on Blindfire’s official Steam page announcing that the game was now named Blindfire: Lights Out and was now completely free to download and play across console and PC. This likely came as a surprise to anyone still following the game, as Double Eleven had not been actively working on Blindfire for “about a year” according to the team. So why come back to a game that flopped and make it free for everyone?
“We are doing this because we believe games are art and they deserve to be preserved,” said Double Eleven. “We refuse to bury what we built just because things didn’t go perfectly. We are keeping it alive because we are proud of it. You won’t see adverts or marketing campaigns trying to drag you back in. This is just a gift to those who want to see what we created.”
This final update, live now on all platforms, includes two new weapons, new achievements, and fresh skins to unlock. It also adds a new “Audio Aim Assist” accessibility feature based on feedback the team received from blind and partially sighted players who told the studio that Blindfire was “one of the first shooters they could truly compete in.” This new option adds audio cues to help players orient themselves and track down enemies. “To us, it feels like a fitting final addition to a game about fighting in the dark,” added Double Eleven.
While it is unlikely that this last update will suddenly lead to it becoming the most popular FPS on Steam this weekend, it will ensure that Blindfire won’t vanish into the void just because it failed to connect with a big enough audience. All games, even online shooters, are creative works by talented teams of hardworking humans. Watching them disappear and become unplayable sucks. So I commend Double Eleven for doing the work to preserve Blindfire and keep it around for, hopefully, years and years. This is sadly a rare occurrence in an industry that kills off big gambles like Highguard and Concord in weeks and months, leaving them completely unplayable forever.
“We loved making [Blindfire],” said the studio on Steam. “Watching playtesters get to grips with our twist on the FPS was a massive highlight for us and seeing some big streamers jump into our world was a proper thrill. Blindfire was a flash in the dark. It was weird, loud, and ours. It is staying online for anyone who wants to play it today, tomorrow or years from now. Thanks for being part of the journey.”