Hades

Hades is Supergiant Games’ Greek mythology roguelike franchise, spanning two entries developed and published by the San Francisco independent studio. The original Hades released in full September 17, 2020, and is cited among the greatest games ever made, winning multiple Game of the Year awards and demonstrating that the roguelike genre could support deep narrative storytelling across hundreds of repeated runs. Hades II released September 25, 2025, for PC and Nintendo platforms, arriving on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S on April 14, 2026, and was named the best-reviewed game of 2025 by both Metacritic and OpenCritic.

Supergiant Games Before Hades

Supergiant Games was founded by Amir Rao and Gavin Simon in 2009 in San Francisco and produced three critically acclaimed games before Hades. Bastion in 2011 was a narrator-driven action RPG that demonstrated the studio’s interest in audio and story integration as a design priority. Transistor in 2014 was a science fiction action game built around a sword that absorbed the abilities of defeated enemies, with Darren Korb’s music and Jennifer Hale’s voice performance carrying much of the emotional weight. Pyre in 2017 combined fantasy world-building with a sports game structure and a non-failure narrative that allowed the story to continue regardless of match outcomes. Greg Kasavin wrote all three games and served as creative director, with Jen Zee as art director and Darren Korb as composer across the studio’s entire output. The Pyre experience of wanting players to return to the same content multiple times and discover different outcomes informed the decision to build Hades as a roguelike.

Hades (2020)

Hades entered early access on December 6, 2018, following its surprise announcement at The Game Awards earlier that evening, running as a commercial early access title on PC for nearly two years before the full version 1.0 release on September 17, 2020, for PC, Mac, and Nintendo Switch. PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S versions followed August 13, 2021, and an iOS version released March 19, 2024. The game follows Zagreus, the son of Hades, attempting to escape the Underworld against his father’s wishes to reach the surface and find his mother Persephone. Each escape attempt is a full roguelike run through procedurally arranged chambers of the Underworld, with Zagreus collecting Boons from Olympian gods and building a run before dying and starting again with persistent upgrades and new story conversations.

The integration of narrative with roguelike structure was Hades’ defining contribution to the genre. Characters responded differently to Zagreus on subsequent visits, storylines developed across deaths and runs rather than resetting with them, and the relationship building mechanics incentivized playing with a wide variety of weapons and build types to unlock new conversations. Darren Korb’s soundtrack blended ancient Greek musical references with electronic production. Hades sold over one million copies on Nintendo Switch alone and won Game of the Year at multiple ceremonies including The Game Awards 2020.

Hades II (2025)

Supergiant announced Hades II at The Game Awards in December 2022 as the studio’s first-ever sequel. Hades II entered early access on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store on May 6, 2024, and ran as a commercial early access game for seventeen months. The full version 1.0 release arrived September 25, 2025, for PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2, with a physical edition releasing November 20, 2025. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S versions launched April 14, 2026, alongside Xbox Game Pass availability.

Hades II follows Melinoë, the daughter of Hades and sister to Zagreus, who has trained under Hecate beyond the Underworld in preparation to defeat Chronos, the Titan of Time who has imprisoned Hades himself. The game features hybrid magic and melee combat that expands the original’s weapon variety, a new cast of characters including Hecate and Melinoë’s own training companions, and Olympian gods returning to offer Boons with new relationships and dynamics. Composers Darren Korb and Austin Wintory collaborated on the soundtrack. Hades II became the best-reviewed game of 2025 according to both Metacritic and OpenCritic, with IGN and GameSpot each awarding it a 10 out of 10. Supergiant described it as the biggest game the studio has ever made.