In BeatSlayer, a drop in the music means another wave of enemies is coming. Solo developer klaze has shared a trailer for the upcoming bullet heaven, which sends players through swarms that move to the beat while their weapons fire along with the track.
The game is scheduled to launch on Steam for Windows on November 12, 2026, according to the developer and the official press kit. The listed price is $7.99.
Writing to Geek Vibes Nation, klaze said, “I’ve spent the past months making BeatSlayer entirely on my own: the design, the code, the levels and every enemy.”
The developer says everything in the trailer is real gameplay. Watch it below.
Trailer courtesy of klaze.
How BeatSlayer Uses the Music
You control a small ship, steering and dashing through the crowd while its weapons aim and shoot automatically. Each song is a stage, and surviving until the end lets you move on.
The timing also affects what your ship can do. According to the Steam description, dashing on the beat shortens its recovery. Kills charge an Overdrive ability, and activating it on the downbeat adds damage and a shockwave. Listening for the next beat gives you something else to work with when the screen gets crowded.
There are four ships with different abilities and 53 weapons to build around. Weapons can reach level eight, while getting two to level seven allows them to combine during a song. The developer lists 1,378 possible weapon fusions.
A Three-Act Campaign With Branching Routes
The campaign spans three acts, with a new branching map for each run. Players choose routes through combat stages, encounters, rest stops and treasure, carrying their health, weapons and relics between songs. Each act ends with a boss.
The enemies change along the way, too. The press kit describes an opening swarm of glowing bugs, followed by creatures from the deep and then moths with eyes on their wings. Across the game, klaze lists 29 songs and three difficulty settings: Chill, Normal and Hard.
Finishing the campaign unlocks Endless mode, which offers increasingly difficult songs, a weekly setlist and a leaderboard. The game is single-player, with keyboard and mouse controls and gamepad support during play.
BeatSlayer is available to wishlist on Steam ahead of its planned November 12 release. Steam currently displays a broader November 2026 window; the exact date comes from klaze’s announcement and press kit.
Related reading: For more roguelike coverage, read GVN’s Hades 2 Early Access review.
DC Fanboy! Superman is the greatest comic book character of all time. Favorite movies are Man of Steel, Goonies, Back To the Future
