SULFUR 1.0

PERFECT RANDOM kept SULFUR in early access for exactly two years. Early access means paying for a game that isn't finished yet and playing it anyway. The game went up on that shelf on 28 October 2024. Today, 28 October 2026, two years to the day, it comes out with the 1.0 label. And this time it isn't PC only. The PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Switch versions go on sale the same day. The studio publishes the game itself, with no publisher in between. Now let's get to the game.

SULFUR is a single-player, first-person roguelite shooter. A roguelite is a game where you start over every time you die, but some of what you earn stays with you. On top of that there's an extraction structure: you have to get the loot you collected out in one piece. You go down into caves, a town, the sewers, a dungeon and a castle. These areas are rebuilt from ready-made pieces on every dive. If you die, you can lose the gear you're carrying. No cutscene tells you the story. You learn it by exploring and by running into the creatures. There's plenty of blood and gore too (the ESRB label on Switch also lists alcohol and drug references). So this isn't one for your kid brother.

What the game really cares about is guns. On every rifle you fit attachments, meaning extra parts like scopes and barrels. On top of those you stamp enchantments, meaning magic properties. Then there are oils. Oils change how a gun behaves. This system is what separates SULFUR from your average corridor shooter. You can do two dives with the same pistol and play two different games.

So after two years, what changed in 1.0? According to the developer's patch notes, this is what changed:

• ENCHANTMENT SYSTEM: Now finished. Five combined enchantments were added: Snowman Head, Water Bomb, Mud Ball, Evil Seed and Teslacold. Judging by the names, the studio doesn't take itself too seriously.
• QUEST BOOK: A digital quest log has arrived. You no longer have to keep track in your head of which job you left half done.
• OILS: New oils were added. Some of them counter bullet drop (the bullet falling as the distance grows). Those of you who like shooting from far away will be happy about this.
• MELEE: Hitstop was added. Hitstop means the game freezes for a split second at the moment of impact. Sounds like a small thing, but it gives every hit some weight.
• PROGRESSION: The game now has a progression line that's complete from start to finish. In other words, it has an ending.

On top of all that come balance tweaks, performance work and fixes aimed at making the game easier to use.

This version doesn't expand the game, it finishes it.

But one thing is missing from this list: a new area. There isn't a single new area in 1.0. Players who spent two years in early access will be going back to the same five areas. This version doesn't expand the game, it finishes it. There's also no online multiplayer. The developer has left it for after launch and hasn't given a date. Those of you who want to go down into the caves with a friend will have to wait a while longer. How long? Right now nobody knows.

The price side is very clear. On Steam the base price goes up from $24.99 to $29.99, and regional prices rise by the same proportion. On the US Nintendo eShop the Switch version is $29.99. With the 20 percent launch discount it's $23.99 until 5 November 2026. PlayStation and Xbox prices haven't been announced yet. There's only one version for Switch, the same version runs on Switch 2, and the store says the game doesn't behave any differently there. The download is 800 MB on Switch and 940 MB on Switch 2. Once upon a time they'd squeeze an entire game onto a single 880-kilobyte floppy. This works out to roughly a thousand floppies. Still, by today's standards it's a pretty tidy size.

What are players saying? The numbers on Steam are pretty steady. Of roughly 6,400 English user reviews, 90 percent are positive. In recent reviews the figure drops to 87 percent (657 reviews). A small dip, but you can't call it a collapse. On 20 October the developer announced it had sold 500,000 copies, early access sales included. An independent tracking site puts the figure at around 267 thousand. That's only an estimate as well, so don't lean on it too hard. The press side is close to empty. There's no score on Metacritic, just two reviews written for the early access version back in late 2024. One review from that period said the combat stayed monotonous, losing gear and progress got annoying, and the enemy swarms piling onto you in tight spaces felt unfair. The 1.0 patch notes only touch the first of these: hitstop and the balance tweaks. Losing gear is the rule of the genre anyway. As for the swarms, the notes show no clear change.

Why this score? Thousands of players staying 90 percent happy for two years is no accident. The gun-building system is deep, the enchantments are finally finished, and the price is fair. That's why the score doesn't go lower. But 1.0 doesn't show you anywhere new, there's no multiplayer, and there's no evidence that the complaint about swarm balance has been fixed. That's why it doesn't go higher either. This is a good game wrapping up properly. Not a big leap.

If you ask me, solo players who love building a gun piece by piece and don't mind losing their backpack when they die can buy SULFUR at this price with a clear conscience. Switch owners, move before the discount runs out. As for those of you who already gave two years to early access, don't expect new areas: for you this isn't a new game, it's the gaps being filled in. Write up the weird enchantment combos you find in the caves properly and send them to us. Happy hunting.