What is Malefact: Evil Unchained?
A: Malefact is a suspenseful, atmospheric first-person horror-fantasy boomer shooter designed for Windows PCs.
In Malefact, the player takes on the role of the Malefact Killer, an infamous undead serial murderer so vile that even the Devil imprisoned him in the deepest pit of Hell. In a catastrophic act of hubris, God transforms him into a weapon of mass destruction against the forces of Hell, only to lose control of him. Malefact rises as an Antichrist-like figure and sets out to annihilate all life in the universe and beyond.
Is this a mod for Doom?
A: No. Although Malefact runs on a modified Doom engine, it is not a Doom mod. You do not need to own Doom or any other Doom engine game to play Malefact. All necessary files are included with the game.
Who is making this game?
A: Malefact is self-published by GoreMaxxed Productions. The development team currently consists of two primary contributors: hardcore_gamer (pseudonym) and Stefan Ljumov. Certain aspects of development were also handled through occasional freelance work.
Is Malefact a free game or a paid game?
A: Malefact: Evil Unchained is available in two versions: a paid edition that includes all current and future content, and a free Community Edition that contains only the game assets. The Community Edition does not include any of the paid version's levels, but it can be used to play user-created levels and mods or to create your own.
We chose this approach because, while we enjoy making money, we also believe in building a community and don't want to lock potential talent behind a paywall.
Where can I get the game?
A: You can purchase it on Steam. The free Community Edition is also available on Steam, or alternatively can be downloaded from ModDB.
Will you ever release the game on GOG?
A: Maybe. We're undecided and aren't ruling anything out. For the moment, STEAM is the only place where the game can be purchased.
Will there be a physical release?
A: There's a decent possibility of that. We've already spoken with Big Box Releases, which specializes in limited physical runs, and they've expressed interest in the game. However, any such release would only happen once all episodes have been released.
How does the release schedule work? When will the other game episodes be released?
A: We cannot provide definite release dates. However, our general goal is to release a new episode every six to twelve months. As of this writing, a playable demo is already available, and our current target is to release Episode 1 along with the Community Edition near the end of this year (Q4 2026). The Community Edition will also be updated with the new content following each episodic release.
Is the game available on platforms other than Windows?
A: In theory, any platform that can run UZDoom can also run Malefact. However, all official testing is conducted on Windows, so performance and compatibility on other systems may vary.
Is there multiplayer or co-op support?
A: The game is single-player only. However, because UZDoom supports multiplayer, modders could theoretically create their own multiplayer modifications if they are inclined to do so.
Does the game have mod support?
A: Yes! In fact, the game is specifically designed to make mapping and modding as easy as possible. It uses the same tools as other UZDoom games, so if you're familiar with programs like Ultimate Doom Builder and SLADE, you're already most of the way there.
We also have a wiki and, in the future, will likely publish a YouTube series on the official channel to help newcomers get started. Mods are distributed through Discord and later uploaded to the mod browser.
Why does Malefact not have different difficulty levels?
A: When was the last time you played Doom on anything other than Ultra-Violence?
Most players do not replay the same level pack or campaign multiple times. Rather than wasting development time balancing multiple difficulty settings, we chose to focus on creating a single, highly refined experience.
That said, re-adding difficulty levels is trivial. In fact, the game already ships with the code required to support them, making it easy for modders to add their own difficulty settings if they wish.
Does this game use AI generated assets?
A: Our stance on AI in game development depends on the specific use case:
Graphics & Visuals: Never used. We firmly believe that a game's visual identity is critically important and that AI-generated assets should never be used for this purpose. If you can see it in the game, it was created by a human being. Period.
Sound Effects & Music: Acceptable when used alongside other sounds rather than being relied upon exclusively. We generally use sounds from commercial sound libraries whenever possible, but occasionally we need something more specific. As a micro-developer, most of our budget goes toward the game's graphical assets and animations. There simply isn't enough funding available for expensive music licensing or specialized audio production. Even so, we use human-created audio whenever possible.
Dialogue: Malefact contains little dialogue, but the few lines that do exist are usually recorded by real people, aside from a handful of minor sounds (such as the player's grunts when taking damage or brief clips). We may use AI tools to modify or enhance human voice recordings.
Code: AI coding tools are used. However, we ensure that all generated code is fully understood, properly organized, and reviewed before being incorporated into the game.