Publisher Waku Waku Games and developer YAMAYAMADA GAMES have confirmed that Skill Eater, a turn-based roguelite RPG built around consuming enemies and stealing their abilities, will launch on PC via Steam on January 15, 2027. The release date was announced on November 11, alongside new details about the game’s combat, progression systems and pricing.
The Steam version will cost 1,280 yen in Japan. A console release is also planned, with the publisher listing Nintendo Switch among its supported platforms, although a release date for that version has not been announced.
Skill Eater follows Seina, the Demon King of Moireauxvais, who is betrayed by her subordinate Liza, stripped of her throne and transformed into a slime. With most of her original powers lost, Seina must consume humans and monsters to acquire new abilities, grow stronger and reclaim her position.
The game’s central mechanic, Devour, allows players to steal an opponent’s skills or attributes rather than simply defeating them. During turn-based battles, enemies must first be weakened without completely exhausting their health. Successfully consuming an opponent then provides an opportunity to acquire their abilities and improve Seina’s combat capabilities.
This creates a choice between eliminating enemies, consuming them for potential upgrades or retreating from dangerous encounters. Stronger opponents can provide more valuable skills and attributes, but attempting to devour them also carries greater risks.
Consuming enemies also changes Seina’s appearance, introducing a disguise mechanic that affects exploration. Human settlements can only be entered while disguised as a human, while monster settlements require an appropriate monster form.
These locations provide opportunities to purchase abilities, items and attribute upgrades, while inns allow players to recover between encounters. Choosing which enemies to consume therefore influences both character progression and access to different areas.
Skill Eater uses randomized encounters and environments, with different enemies and towns appearing across successive runs. Death ends the current attempt, requiring players to start again and develop new strategies using the skills and items available.
The game combines these roguelite systems with traditional RPG-style turn-based combat, where players select abilities, manage equipment and decide their next destination. Its emphasis on changing builds and adapting to unpredictable encounters places it alongside other upcoming roguelite releases, including Tenjutsu, which is also planned for PC and Nintendo Switch 2.
Skill Eater originally began as a smaller project created during a Unity 1 Week game jam in 2024. Its commercial version expands the original concept with updated visuals, illustrated environments, animated character artwork and additional gameplay content.
The Steam release will support English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese interfaces. The store listing also confirms single-player gameplay, Steam achievements and Steam Cloud support.
Waku Waku Games says development and balancing work will continue ahead of the January 15 launch. Players can already add Skill Eater to their Steam wishlists, while further details about the planned Nintendo Switch release remain pending.
