Valor Mortis: Release Date, Price, Game Pass, PC Specs and Gameplay

Updated October 3, 2026. Valor Mortis, the first-person soulslike from Ghostrunner studio One More Level, launches on October 13, 2026 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. It costs $39.99 (Deluxe Edition $59.99), it is a day-one Xbox Game Pass title, and there are no pre-orders. Below is everything confirmed so far: launch time, editions, Game Pass tiers, PC requirements, how the combat works and whether it deserves a spot in a crowded October.

Valor Mortis release date and launch time

Valor Mortis launches on October 13, 2026. That is not the original date. At the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2026 the game was dated for September 24, but a few days later the team posted on Steam that it was "moving our release date to October 13th," explaining that "September has become absolutely stacked with incredible looking games." The October date has held ever since.

The developer has not published an official global unlock map. Insider Gaming reports a simultaneous launch at 11 AM PT, which works out to the times below. Treat these as a strong guide rather than gospel until the store pages flip.

There is no early access of any kind. The studio skipped pre-orders entirely, so there is no "play three days early" upgrade either. If you want to see where it sits against the rest of the month, our October 2026 release calendar has the full lineup.

Price, editions and the no pre-order decision

One More Level announced pricing in mid-September, and it is the most interesting business decision around this launch. The Standard Edition is $39.99 / €39.99 / 149.99 zł, well below the $60 to $70 that comparable soulslikes ask. The studio's own explanation was blunt: "This Fall is stacked and there's high demand for your time and money. That's why Valor Mortis is launching on October 13 at $39.99."

Reported Deluxe cosmetics include skins for the pistol, musket, claymore, rapier and sabre, plus armorer cosmetics that have not been shown yet. Physical disc versions are listed for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The studio has also said free post-launch updates are planned, without details.

Should you buy the Deluxe Edition?

Not on day one. The extra $20 is mostly paying for a story expansion that has no release date beyond "2027" and no shown content. The base game is the real test. If the campaign lands, the DLC will still be there, and it may well be cheaper by the time it ships.

Is Valor Mortis on Game Pass?

Yes. Valor Mortis is a day-one Game Pass release, available at no extra cost to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members. Xbox Wire lists it for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and cloud, and confirms Xbox Play Anywhere support, so one digital purchase from the Microsoft Store covers both Xbox and Windows PC with shared progress.

Two caveats worth knowing:

• A Steam purchase does not come with an Xbox copy. Play Anywhere only applies to the Microsoft Store version.
• The cheaper Game Pass tiers do not normally get day-one releases, so check which plan you are on before you count on it.

For a soulslike you are not sure about, Game Pass is the lowest-risk way in. If you are weighing subscriptions, our Game Pass vs PlayStation Plus comparison breaks down what each tier actually includes, and the best Game Pass games list shows what else is already in the library. On PS5 there is no subscription route; you buy it outright.

Valor Mortis PC requirements

This is the area where official information is thinnest. The Steam page currently lists only partial requirements, with the note "TBD for final release." The most complete official spec sheet comes from AMD's featured-game page, which lists AMD hardware only. No Intel or Nvidia equivalents have been published by the developer as of today.

A few practical takeaways:

• 16 GB of RAM is the floor, not a nice-to-have. Steam and AMD agree on that.
• Plan for an SSD. AMD's sheet specifies one at both tiers.
• The minimum GPU, the Radeon RX 6700, is a mid-range card, so this is not a game built for old hardware. Owners of entry-level GPUs should wait for performance reports or try it through Game Pass first.
• AMD says the game supports FSR "Redstone", its machine-learning upscaling and frame generation suite. Nvidia DLSS support has not been confirmed in the sources we checked.

Steam also lists full controller support (including DualShock and DualSense), HDR and Steam Achievements. If you are shopping for an upgrade this fall, our best graphics cards for 4K gaming guide covers cards above the recommended tier.

Gameplay: weapons, firearms and Transmutations

Valor Mortis is a single-player, first-person soulslike. One More Level describes it as "brutal, methodical combat" built around stamina management, light and heavy attacks, parries and counterattacks. Coming from a studio known for one-hit-kill speed in Ghostrunner, this is a deliberate change of pace, though the studio says it carries over the precision and timing from that series.

Melee weapons

The demo started William with a cutlass, and the September gameplay overview trailer showed the claymore, a slow two-handed blade that trades speed for impact. The Deluxe Edition skin list also names a rapier and a sabre, which points to at least five weapon types at launch when you count firearms. The developer pitch is to "match the right weapon to the right enemy" rather than lock into one moveset forever.

Firearms

Guns are period-accurate and deliberately limited. The pistol is the standard sidearm, and the musket is a two-handed option with more range and power. In the demo, pistol ammunition was scarce, so firearms work more as an interrupt or finisher than a main damage source. Do not expect a shooter.

Transmutations (magic and abilities)

William's left hand channels supernatural powers called Transmutations. The ones officially shown so far:

• Fire sets enemies ablaze for damage over time.
• Shield absorbs incoming damage, then releases a shockwave.
• Grapple pulls William to designated grapple points for traversal.

Grapple matters beyond combat. Levels are described as Metroidvania-inspired, with new abilities opening routes you could not use earlier.

Progression: Catalysts, Lanterns and Ambers

If you have played Elden Ring or Dark Souls 3, the loop will feel familiar, just with Napoleonic names:

• Catalysts are the currency. You earn them from enemies and spend them to upgrade health, stamina and parry ability. Die, and you drop your unspent Catalysts where you fell.
• Lanterns are the checkpoints where you rest, respawn and spend Catalysts. In the story they are handmade lamps placed by Lucjan Skawiński, a Polish craftsman and war veteran.
• Ambers are equippable items found in the world and slotted at Lanterns to shape your build around a preferred playstyle.

The developer has not yet detailed how deep the build system goes, how many Ambers exist, or whether weapons have their own upgrade paths. That is one of the biggest open questions for players who care about replay value.

Setting and story: an alternate Napoleonic Wars

Valor Mortis is set in an alternate-history, 19th-century Eastern Europe where Napoleon's endless war has spread a supernatural plague. You play William Dowsett, an English soldier in Napoleon's Grande Armée who rises from a battlefield grave with fractured memories and an affliction that grants him his powers. Enemies include plague-twisted former comrades and abominations from Napoleon's Eternal Guard.

The cast revealed so far:

• Napoleon Bonaparte, voiced by Vincent Cassel, whose voice lives inside William's head.
• The Shrike, a rebel leader fighting the Empire in occupied Eastern Europe, who competes with Napoleon for William's loyalty.
• James Stewart, William's closest friend in the Legion and a weaponsmith.
• Lucjan Skawiński, the Lantern maker.

The core hook is a tug-of-war between loyalty and rebellion, wrapped in plague, resurrection and gothic horror. Unlike many soulslikes that bury lore in item descriptions, this one appears to lean on spoken narrative and named characters. The developer puts the campaign at roughly 20 hours.

Development history at a glance

• August 2025: revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live as the first game from publisher Lyrical Games.
• October 2025: public Steam playtest.
• June 2026: Steam demo, Xbox Games Showcase release date (September 24), then a move to October 13.
• August 2026: story trailer at Gamescom ONL.
• September 2026: price, Deluxe Edition and gameplay overview trailer.

The demo is no longer available, so new players cannot try before launch unless they use Game Pass.

Is Valor Mortis worth trying?

Based on what has actually been shown, Valor Mortis is one of the easier recommendations to try this October, with the usual caution about buying unreviewed games.

Reasons to be interested

• Price. $40 for a roughly 20-hour campaign is a fair entry point, and Game Pass makes it free for subscribers.
• Fresh setting. A first-person Napoleonic soulslike with flintlocks and gothic horror is not something the genre has done to death.
• Studio track record. One More Level's Ghostrunner games were known for tight, demanding first-person melee.

Reasons to wait

• No reviews yet, and first-person melee with parry timing is notoriously hard to get feeling right.
• PC requirements are incomplete. With only AMD parts listed and an RX 6700 as the minimum, performance on mid-range Nvidia hardware is an unknown.
• Build depth is unclear. We have seen three Transmutations and a handful of weapons, which may or may not hold up over 20 hours.

Our take: if you have Game Pass, download it on day one and judge it yourself. If you are on PS5 or Steam, wait for reviews and early performance reports; there are no pre-orders to miss anyway. Fans of first-person challenge in the vein of Sekiro should keep an eye on it, and our best games like Elden Ring list has alternatives if it does not click.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources checked on October 3, 2026 against the Valor Mortis Steam page and Steam news, Xbox Wire, AMD's Valor Mortis featured-game page, the official Valor Mortis website and the developer's official trailers.