– 33-player co-op raids are compressed into 25-minute sessions with instant matchmaking and no voice coordination required.
– The three-world structure (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) naturally reduces player count from 33 to 22 to 11, increasing accountability without requiring fixed teams.
– Launching on Steam only at 1.0—after building a reliable player base on Game Pass and other platforms—avoided the dead-lobby problem that kills many multiplayer indies.
– The 1.0 release adds the final Paradiso realm and a hidden ultimate boss, alongside deep character customization and community-driven balance tweaks.
– Full cross-play across Steam, Epic, Xbox, and Microsoft Store ensures a unified matchmaking pool.
Unique Multiplayer Concept Finally Hits 1.0
Thunder Lotus Games’ 33 Immortals is one of the more “actually” unusual multiplayer concepts to come out of indie development in years. The game has now officially launched into its full 1.0 version on Steam. The release dropped on June 10 across Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Store, capping a 15-month early access run and bringing the game’s complete three-world structure together for the first time. The price at launch is $9.97, which includes a 33% discount off the standard price.
How the Game Actually Works
The premise is quite straightforward on paper and equally bizarre in practice: up to 33 players simultaneously control damned souls rebelling against God’s final judgment. It draws inpsiration from the structure of Dante’s Divine Comedy as they fight through more and more punishing realms. What makes it work — or at least feel unlike anything adjacent to it — is the session design. Runs last roughly 25 minutes, use instant public matchmaking, and require no pre-formed groups, voice coordination, or scheduling. It’s basically raid-scale co-op gameplay compressed into a lunch break. The game uses a cross-play matchmaking pool across all platforms so everyone can play together.
Smart Player Funnel Design
The lobby funnel is the smartest structural decision in the game. 33 players enter Inferno together, that number narrows to 22 in Purgatorio, and the newly added Paradiso realm — the final world, held back from early access and shipping at 1.0 — takes just 11 players into the game’s most concentrated, demanding finale. Of course, each shrinking group increases individual accountability without turning the game into your runt-of-the-mill team-based experience. The new Paradiso world adds a complete 11-player endgame that was previously hidden during all of early access.
1.0 Update and Content
The 1.0 update also introduces a previously hidden ultimate boss encounter that Thunder Lotus kept under wraps throughout the entire early access period. It is accompanied by deep character customization, weapon and enemy balance tuning, and quality-of-life improvements shaped by over a year of community feedback. The update also includes new weapon options and a more refined progression system that better rewards continued play through each realm.
Why Steam Was Delayed
Steam’s absence during early access was a calculated bet, not exactly an oversight. A co-op game requiring 33 simultaneous players per session faces a very obvious structural risk: too small an installed base and sessions will simply never fill. Game Pass inclusion from day one — March 18, 2025 — got the title a reliable player-base while the other organic base grew on Epic and Xbox. Adding Steam only at 1.0, with a mature player pool already in place, likely helped the devs go around the dead-lobby problem that has killed several multiplayer indie launches in the past. The game is available on Game Pass at no additional cost for subscribers.
Developer Background and Availability
All platforms share a single cross-play matchmaking pool, so Steam players can directly join the same sessions as Epic and Xbox users. The game is also available through Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost. For context, Thunder Lotus is the Montreal-based studio behind Spiritfarer. It attracted over seven million players worldwide and built 33 Immortals as its first title designed completely around online multiplayer. You can read more about the game here – it’s purchasable for $9.97, thanks to a 33% launch discount. This pricing applies across all platforms and includes a permanent discount for the launch period on Steam and SteamDB.
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