Beautiful Light, answered
Everything confirmed so far, with a clear line where the confirmed part stops. Last checked 14 September 2026.
What is Beautiful Light?
A PvPvPvE tactical first person extraction shooter from Deep Worlds SA, an independent studio. Six squads of three operators enter a hostile map, secure an artifact and try to extract by helicopter, while anomalies, monsters controlled by other players, hunt them.
The pitch is horror first. The interface is diegetic, the audio carries breathing, footsteps, heartbeat and gas mask muffle, and the studio is open about the steep learning curve.
When does it release?
December 2026, in Early Access, on PC. Deep Worlds has not announced an exact day. The studio intends to release as a work in progress and develop with player feedback, so the launch build is a foundation rather than a finished game.
The release date page is updated the moment anything changes.
Which platforms, and how much does it cost?
PC only for now, through Steam and the Epic Games Store. No console version has been announced. No price has been announced either, so treat any figure you see elsewhere as a guess.
Will my PC run it?
Minimum is an i5 8600K, 16 GB of RAM and a GTX 1070, targeting 30 fps at 1080p on low. Recommended is a Ryzen 5 5600X, 16 GB and an RTX 3060, targeting 60 fps at 1080p on high. DirectX 12, 60 GB of space, and an SSD is required at both tiers.
Deep Worlds marks both lists as temporary, which is normal this far from launch. Expect them to move.
Can you really play as one of the monsters?
Yes, and it is the mechanic that separates Beautiful Light from the rest of the genre. A limited number of players per raid take an anomaly slot instead of an operator slot, and their objective is to stop anyone extracting with the artifact.
Anomalies keep a progression track of their own: killing and eating operators earns experience, which feeds a skill tree that unlocks abilities and additional playable anomalies. Early Access ships with one playable anomaly and four AI controlled ones.
Do you lose your gear when you die?
Yes. Full loss rules. Whatever you carried in, and whatever you picked up, is gone unless you reach the helicopter. Leaving without the artifact is a legitimate call, and often the right one.
How does progression work?
Quests, secured artifacts and clean extractions pay out. Rewards go into an RPG style progression tree that levels your character and improves skills, or back to the traders for weapons and equipment. Traders hand out the jobs, and failing them has consequences.
How do I get into a playtest?
Deep Worlds organises playtests through its Discord and runs them in closed waves rather than open registration. No open beta has been dated. Wishlisting on Steam and sitting in the Discord are the two practical ways to catch the next one.
What comes after Early Access?
The studio's own list for full release: a mercenary and contractor system with missions you can publish or complete, a team system with stats, leaderboards, ranks, roles and management, more weapons, gadgets, cosmetics and anomalies, more maps, and a secret expedition game mode.
No date, and no indication of how long Early Access runs.
Is it the next ARC Raiders or the next Tarkov?
Neither, on the part that matters. It shares full loss extraction with both, but the asymmetric monster role is closer in spirit to Dead by Daylight or Evolve, dropped into a tactical shooter. The comparison that holds is tonal: this is the Metro end of the genre, enclosed and oppressive, not the open daylight of ARC Raiders.
Side by side: Beautiful Light vs Tarkov and Beautiful Light vs Hunt: Showdown.