FAQ: Release, Game Pass & More
26 questions, grouped by topic, written to answer the thing people are actually searching for rather than the thing that is easy to write. Every answer says where it comes from.
Basics
- What does Valor Mortis mean?
- It is Latin. Valor is worth or value, and mortis is the genitive of mors, death, so the title reads as the value of death or the worth of death. That is not a fan translation: the game's own official site carries the line The Value of Death as a subtitle under the logo. It fits the premise exactly, since William dies for Napoleon, is resurrected with the plague in his veins, and the whole combat loop revolves around dying and spending what you gained.
- Does Valor Mortis have co-op or multiplayer?
- No. It is a strictly single-player experience with no co-op, no invasions and no multiplayer component of any kind. The Steam listing carries single-player as its only player-mode category.
- How long is Valor Mortis?
- Twenty hours. That is the publisher's own figure, stated when they revealed the price, and it is one of the few playtime estimates in this genre that comes from the studio rather than from a reviewer. Soulslike veterans will finish faster. The demo is worth discounting when estimating: it was pitched at 8 to 10 hours and landed near 5, but that was a bespoke two-level build rather than the real campaign. The full breakdown is on the how long to beat page.
- Is Valor Mortis multiplayer or co-op?
- No. It is strictly single-player: no co-op, no PvP, no invasions and no multiplayer component of any kind. Steam lists single-player as its only player mode. See the multiplayer and offline page for what that design choice buys, plus cloud saves, Play Anywhere and offline play.
- What are the Valor Mortis controls?
- There is no single published control scheme, because the demo shipped with rebinding and the layouts differ by platform. What is confirmed is the action set you will be binding, and two of them matter far more than the rest: the parry and the Transmutation wheel. The controls and settings page covers every confirmed action, the four assist options, and the dynamic FOV scaling the developer confirmed for large boss fights.
- Is there an in-game map?
- No. Hands-on coverage confirms Valor Mortis has no map screen, and the regions are interconnected and partly vertical with metroidvania-style ability gates. You navigate by memory and by lantern placement. Lanterns are the rest points and the fast-travel network, so lighting one is how you bookmark a region.
- Does Valor Mortis have a New Game Plus?
- Not announced. The publisher has said multiple free updates will arrive in the weeks and months after launch to add more ways to play, and a second playthrough mode is the most obvious candidate for one of them, but nothing has been confirmed. It matters more than usual here: the skill tree is close to linear and the arsenal is small, so a New Game Plus is the feature most likely to extend the game's life. We have reserved a section for it on the walkthrough page rather than guessing at what it contains.
- Who made Valor Mortis?
- One More Level, the Kraków studio behind the Ghostrunner series, with the game published by Lyrical Games. Valor Mortis is the studio's first wholly owned intellectual property, which the studio has described as its most ambitious project to date.
Release
- When does Valor Mortis release?
- October 13, 2026, at 11:00 AM PT. That is 2:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM BST, 8:00 PM CEST, and 2:00 AM on October 14 in China. The full conversion table for thirteen timezones is on the release date page.
- Is Valor Mortis on Xbox Game Pass?
- Yes, on day one, as part of Game Pass Ultimate. There is no early access tier and no paid head start, so the Game Pass version unlocks at exactly the same moment as a purchased copy. Game Pass on PC also includes it, and digital purchases support Xbox Play Anywhere.
Buying
- How much does Valor Mortis cost?
- $39.99 for the standard edition and $59.99 for the Deluxe Edition, which adds a major story DLC planned for 2027 plus a set of cosmetic packs. The publisher announced $39.99, €39.99 and 149.99 zł specifically as a deliberate price point rather than a discount.
- Can I pre-order Valor Mortis?
- No, and that is deliberate. The publisher answered the pre-order question directly, saying they wanted the finished game to make the argument rather than a trailer. Two practical consequences: there is no pre-order bonus to miss, and there is no preload. Because pre-orders do not exist, there is no preload window either, so the 50 GB download starts when the game unlocks rather than before it.
- Will Valor Mortis get DLC?
- Yes. A major story DLC is planned for 2027 and is bundled with the Deluxe Edition. The publisher has also stated that several free updates will arrive in the weeks and months after launch to add more ways to play, though no contents or dates have been announced for those.
Demo
- Can I still play the Valor Mortis demo?
- No. The demo was a limited-time Steam exclusive that went live on June 7, 2026 and went offline on September 8, 2026. It is no longer downloadable and there is no other free trial. It contained two levels, Chapter I — Revival and Chapter VII — Witch Hunt, two bosses and roughly three hours of content at the pace a press player took.
- Does demo progress carry over to the full game?
- Assume not. The demo is a separate store app (Steam appid 4641840) from the retail game (appid 2828710), and no carry-over has been announced. Demo saves live in their own container, so treat everything you earned there as practice rather than progress.
Platforms
- Is Valor Mortis on PS5 and Xbox Series X?
- Both, and on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S get native versions with disc-based physical editions. PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch 2 are not supported or announced.
- Does Valor Mortis have Denuvo or any third-party DRM?
- Not in anything we could check. The Steam listing carried no third-party DRM notice in any of the sources we examined, and the developer's own news feed never mentions DRM, anti-tamper or anti-cheat. That is not the same as a confirmation that there is none, because a store notice can be added or removed at any time. The multiplayer, co-op and offline page explains how to check it yourself in ten seconds.
- Does Valor Mortis run offline?
- Probably, but it is not confirmed either way. Steam lists single-player as the only mode and the game supports Steam Cloud, which normally means offline play works once you have launched it online at least once. A game that checks in at launch will not start without a connection, though, and we cannot tell which this is until launch day. Anyone claiming otherwise before October 13 is guessing.
- What are the PC system requirements?
- A 64-bit OS, 16 GB of RAM, DirectX 12 and 50 GB of storage. The publisher has not published CPU or GPU requirements, and the recommended spec is currently identical to the minimum on every field that is listed, so treat the real recommended hardware as unset.
- Is Valor Mortis coming to Nintendo Switch 2?
- There is no announcement either way. The game is listed for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S only, and no Switch 2 version appears on any storefront. Anyone claiming a port date is guessing.
Difficulty
- Does Valor Mortis have an easy mode or difficulty settings?
- There is no difficulty selector. What it does have is four assist options in the settings: Target Lock, Combat Assist, Instant Restart and Quick Cast. Combat Assist makes melee swings snap toward the target, and Instant Restart skips the death screen for fast retries. The director has discussed difficulty balance publicly, so a future mode is possible, but nothing has been confirmed.
- Why is the first boss so hard?
- Partly because of where the demo put him. General Lothaire is the boss at the end of Chapter II in the retail game, but the demo placed him at the end of the demo's opening chapter, where players had about thirty minutes of practice. The studio has named that short runway as the reason he felt unfair. The fight itself is where the game stops letting you trade hits and starts requiring parries: parry the combo, break the posture, land the critical. Turn on Target Lock, spend Catalyst on maximum health and melee damage, and clear his summons before you focus him.
Gameplay
- How many bosses are in Valor Mortis?
- Ten named encounters are confirmed by the published trophy list: General Lothaire, High Justicar Aurelius, the Iron Marshall, the Sphinx, the Slaughtermill, the Bride, Experiment 83, the Orphan, Nephtis Superioris and the Entity. Two of those, Lothaire and Aurelius, were playable in the demo. Beyond the ten, the game also uses named elites such as Sergeant Gaspard Cannonhand Dubois, who has a trophy of his own without being a story boss.
Story
- What is the plague called?
- Nephtoglobin. It has swept the continent and it is the reason William comes back wrong: he is resurrected with its corrupting power inside him, which is also the in-fiction explanation for your supernatural abilities. The platinum trophy is named Nephtis Superioris after it, which is a strong hint about who or what the final encounter is.
- Who voices Napoleon in Valor Mortis?
- Vincent Cassel, the César-winning French actor. William Dowsett is played by James Alexander and The Shrike by Jennifer English, whose credits include Shadowheart in Baldur's Gate 3 and Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The full cast list, including Captain Raphael and James Stewart, is on the characters page.
Site
- Is this site official?
- No. This is an independent, fan-run reference. It is not affiliated with One More Level, Lyrical Games, Microsoft, Sony or Valve, and every claim on the site is labelled by source so you can check it yourself. The about page explains how the data is verified.
Still stuck?
If your question is not here, the four pages below cover most of the remaining ground, and the site search (Ctrl K) indexes every boss, trophy, enemy and quest by name. If something is genuinely missing or wrong, send it to hi@valormortisguide.wiki.
Release times
The unlock instant in thirteen zones.
Game Pass
What Ultimate includes and what it does not.
The demo
What it contained and why you cannot play it now.
How we verify
The four evidence tiers behind every claim.