Dinoblade: Dark Souls With Dinosaurs Hits PC in July

Dinoblade sounds like a joke on paper. Dinosaurs wielding giant swords in their mouths, fighting each other Soulslike-style? But this upcoming Steam title has quietly become one of the more genuinely impressive indie projects in development right now, and it’s almost ready for its full release. Dinoblade launches on PC July 23, and there’s a free demo available right now for anyone who wants a taste before then.

• Dinoblade is a Soulslike action RPG where players control a sword-wielding Spinosaurus.
• The game releases on PC via Steam on July 23, 2026.
• A free demo has been live on Steam since October 2025 and holds an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating.
• It started as a viral animation clip posted by developer Jean Nguyen back in 2022.
• Nguyen previously worked as an animator on Ghost of Yotei before developing Dinoblade full-time.
• The game features timed parries, dodges, multiple biomes, and a Boss Rush mode unlocked after beating the final boss.

What Is Dinoblade?

At its core, Dinoblade is a Soulslike action RPG, just with a premise that sounds completely unhinged until you actually see it in motion. Players take on the role of a young Spinosaurus wielding a colossal Great Sword clenched in its jaws, exploring a prehistoric world that’s been forever changed by some kind of cataclysmic event. Each region is guarded by a ferocious Alpha predator acting as that area’s boss fight, and players have to defeat them to push forward through the world.

It’s been compared to a strange mashup of Monster Hunter, Elden Ring, and Horizon Zero Dawn, just filtered through a prehistoric lens with teeth, scales, and oversized swords. The concept is ridiculous on its face, but the early consensus is that the execution backs it up.

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From Viral Animation to Full Indie Game

Dinoblade’s origin story is honestly part of its charm. Developer Jean Nguyen first posted an animation clip back in August 2022 showing a Spinosaurus pulling off a combo attack with a sword, and it went viral almost immediately, with viewers comparing it to everything from Monster Hunter to Devil May Cry to Dark Souls. What started as a portfolio piece turned into something much bigger once Nguyen decided to actually build a game around the concept.

The project went through an early prototype phase under the working title Dino-SWORD before officially being unveiled as Dinoblade during the Six One Indie Showcase in May 2025. Nguyen has also worked as an animator on Ghost of Yotei, which adds some real industry credibility to a project that started life as a meme-worthy clip.

Dinoblade Gameplay and Combat

The Dark Souls influence is obvious the moment combat starts. Dinoblade leans heavily on timed parries, dodges, and rolls against difficult boss encounters, with players unlocking new skills and abilities as they progress and defeat enemies. According to the game’s Steam page, players will explore a variety of biomes, from dry canyons to dense, mist-shrouded jungles, facing off against rival dinosaurs along the way, some of which carry weapons of their own.

Early hands-on impressions have praised the combat specifically, often calling it the demo’s strongest element by a wide margin. Some have noted the game runs rough on higher-end hardware and looks a bit dated visually given the small team behind it, but the actual feel of combat and the atmosphere it builds have earned consistent praise despite those technical hiccups.

Dinoblade Key Features

• PREHISTORIC SETTING — Explore an ancient land inhabited by dinosaurs.
• VARIOUS BIOMES — A vast world featuring several unique biomes, from dry canyons to dense jungles.
• SOULSLIKE COMBAT — Precision-based combat with abilities, dodges, rolls, and parries.
• BOSS RUSH MODE — Defeat the final boss to unlock a dedicated Boss Rush mode.
• FREE DEMO — Try Dinoblade right now at no cost on Steam.

Try the Dinoblade Demo Right Now

One of the best parts about Dinoblade is that you don’t have to wait until July to see if it’s actually any good. The free demo has been live on Steam since October 2025 and currently holds an “Overwhelmingly Positive” review rating, which is a genuinely strong signal for a Soulslike, a genre where combat quality makes or breaks the whole experience. Reviewers have consistently called out how surprisingly fun and well-tuned the combat feels, despite the inherently silly premise of swinging a sword clenched between a dinosaur’s jaws.

When Does Dinoblade Release?

Dinoblade is currently scheduled to launch on PC via Steam on July 23, 2026. Pre-orders weren’t live as of this writing, so for now, the best way to get a feel for the full game is downloading the free demo and giving it a shot ahead of launch. Given how positively the demo has been received, it’s a pretty low-risk way to figure out if Dinoblade’s particular flavor of prehistoric chaos is for you.

You can check out the full Steam listing, trailers, and community updates directly on the official Dinoblade Steam page, and the Steam Community hub is a good spot to follow ongoing dev updates and patch notes ahead of the full release.

More Gaming News Worth Checking Out

There’s plenty else going on across gaming right now too. Ori director Thomas Mahler recently criticized Xbox Game Pass’s content strategy, and the Nex Playground console that outsold the PS5 is launching in the UK. GTA 6 fans should also check out why a recent GTA 6 price leak got debunked. Football fans can look into the new equipment update for College Football 27, and the gaming industry also just hit a $200 billion revenue milestone in 2025.