Ex-Fable devs who announced and shelved a game on same day return with sci-fi auto battler Konfronto

Flaming Fowl Studios – the developer that announced then shelved a game on the same day back in April amid financial difficulties – has unveiled its latest project, a comedic sci-fi auto battler called Konfronto that’s due to release on PC later this year.

Flaming Fowl, which was founded in 2016 by former members of original Fable developer Lionhead Studios, first made a name for itself with the release of card battle Fable Fortune, but it’s perhaps known for its acclaimed digital adaptation of popular board game Gloomhaven.

The studio’s third release, a co-op RPG with turn-based combat called Ironmarked, was revealed back in April, but it wasn’t exactly a moment for celebration. Instead, Flaming Fowl’s unusual announcement came with the news the project was being shelved due to a current lack of funding in the industry, and worse, that it had been forced to lay off around 20 people at the studio. The hope was Ironmarked’s announcement and accompanying demo would be a way to demonstrate the team’s work and help them find jobs elsewhere.

As for the nine remaining employees, Flaming Fowl said they’d be turning their attention to a small, self-funded strategy title it was intending to release before the end of the year. And five months later, we now know that game to be Konfronto.

Konfronto is described as a “sci-fi roguelike auto battler” in which players command and upgrade an intergalactic carrier. They’ll need to outfit it with new spacecraft, equip it with “weird and wonderful” technologies, and hire its crew – all so they can battle it out in asynchronous multiplayer.

“The position of cargo items can both trigger awesome combos with other cargo or combine to create entirely new technology,” explains Konfronto’s Steam page. “Hundreds of unique items means, billions of combinations – and we’ve tested them all… honestly, don’t look into it.”

There’s no launch date for Konfronto beyond a vague “2024” window, but it’ll be arriving as a Steam early access release when it does show up. The “fully playable” initial version is said to feature “plenty of content”, but the goal is to add more ships, cargo, and crew members – alongside an improved UI and other features – as early access continues. Flaming Fowl says it expects Konfronto to remain in early access for around six months, depending on feedback.

To give interested players a taste of Konfronto’s action, Flaming Fowl will be releasing a demo of the game as part of Steam NextFest in October. “NextFest is a huge opportunity for devs that are self-publishing like ourselves,” creative director Mike West said in a statement accompanying Konfronto’s announcement. “We really hope the community enjoys what we have made, or at the very least they intend to enjoy it if they are streaming.”