BLACKWOOD Act 1 Launches on Steam With Acts 2 and 3 Free for Early Buyers

BLACKWOOD: Act 1 is now available on Steam, opening the first part of a planned three-act single-player crime story from developer AttritoM7 Productions and publisher IZilla Games. Set in New York in 2012, the game casts players as Anton, a man maintaining two sharply different lives: operating an apparently ordinary DVD store during the day and working as a ruthless assassin at night.

The important detail for prospective players is the release structure. BLACKWOOD is launching in chapters, but anyone who purchases it during the Act 1 period is set to receive Acts 2 and 3 as free updates to the same copy. Act 2 is planned for March 2027 and Act 3 for September 2027. Those are plans rather than completed releases, so the current purchase is principally access to Act 1 plus a commitment to the remaining story updates.

At launch, the base game costs $24.99 USD, €24.99 EUR, or £23.49 GBP. The listed price is planned to increase as the project expands: $29.99 / €24.99 / £23.49 with Act 2, then $34.99 / €34.99 / £33.49 with Act 3. In practical terms, players interested in the full planned narrative may want to note that the Act 1 window is the one explicitly tied to receiving both future acts without another purchase.

A DVD-store cover for a tactical assassin story

BLACKWOOD’s premise is built around Anton’s double life rather than a single uninterrupted action fantasy. The daytime DVD-store work places a deliberately mundane front beside the danger of his nighttime identity. That contrast also gives the 2012 setting a specific role in the game’s setup: physical-media retail is part of Anton’s apparent normality, not merely background decoration.

The story is described as dark and cinematic, while its combat is framed around grounded encounters, brutal takedowns, and responsive gunplay. “Grounded” in this context does not establish a detailed list of mechanics or a claim of simulation-level realism. What it does make clear is the intended pacing: players are expected to approach fights tactically, prepare before engagements, and account for limited ammunition.

Limited ammunition matters because it changes the decision behind every shot. Rather than treating guns as inexhaustible solutions, a scarcity-based approach can make positioning, route planning, and the choice to use a takedown more consequential. BLACKWOOD’s emphasis on preparation suggests that combat is meant to reward reading an encounter before committing, even though specifics such as stealth systems, inventory rules, or mission layouts have not been detailed.

That combination gives the game a fairly focused pitch: a cinematic single-player narrative where violence is not supposed to be thoughtless target practice. The available information supports an emphasis on tactical action, but players should avoid assuming features beyond that description until they are formally outlined.

What Act 1 includes now

Act 1 is said to provide more than six hours of gameplay. Its core contains four main story missions, with side missions and additional content alongside them. That figure is useful as an indication of the opening act’s intended scale, although individual completion time can naturally vary depending on optional activity and play style.

The complete planned main-story structure is currently:

Act 1: four main missions.
Act 2: four main missions.
Act 3: five main missions.

Act 3’s fifth mission is planned to accommodate an alternate ending. This is a meaningful distinction from simply adding another standalone chapter: the extra mission is connected to how the narrative can resolve. However, no conditions for reaching that ending, no information on player choices, and no details about whether earlier acts affect the outcome have been provided.

Across all three acts, the intended main-mission total is therefore 13. Side missions are already part of Act 1, and development between act releases may add more of them. Players looking for a fully fixed content inventory should keep in mind that BLACKWOOD is designed to change between its major story updates.

Free future acts, but a changing price schedule

The phrase “one purchase, three acts” is central to BLACKWOOD’s rollout, but the timing is crucial. Buying during Act 1 grants the later acts as updates; the announced higher prices for the Act 2 and Act 3 stages mean new customers may face different pricing later. The dollar price is scheduled to rise by $5 at each stage, from $24.99 to $29.99 and then $34.99.

The euro and pound schedules are not simple equivalents of the U.S. change. The listed Act 2 euro and pound prices remain at €24.99 and £23.49, respectively, before rising to €34.99 and £33.49 with Act 3. Those regional figures are worth checking carefully rather than extrapolating from the U.S. amount.

For players weighing an early purchase, the trade-off is straightforward. Act 1 can be played now and includes the promised entitlement to the next two acts, but the later acts remain planned for 2027. Waiting may mean more of the story is available at once, while also potentially placing the purchase at a higher listed price. Neither option changes the fact that only the first act is currently released.

The approach is distinct from buying separately labelled episodic installments. Here, the developer’s stated plan is for early purchasers’ existing copies to gain Acts 2 and 3 as updates. That makes the launch version both a playable first chapter and the foundation for the project’s future expansion.

Updates may add missions, weapons, and more

AttritoM7 Productions plans to continue development between the act releases. Potential additions include side missions, collectibles, achievements, takedowns, weapons, enemy variations, patches, and technical improvements. The wording matters: these are possible areas for updates, not a guaranteed item-by-item roadmap with dates.

For example, collectibles refer to in-game items or objectives that may be added as part of ongoing support; their number, locations, and rewards have not been specified. Achievements are platform-recognized goals, but there is no confirmed achievement list. Likewise, enemy variations could broaden the types of opponents players meet, yet the exact behaviors or mission contexts remain unknown.

Technical improvements are similarly broad. They can include fixes or performance-related work, but no particular issue or hardware target has been identified. It is sensible to treat those plans as ongoing support rather than promises of a specific technical upgrade.

There is a wider PC context for games built around evolving launches and planned updates, as seen in another recently announced PC action project. BLACKWOOD’s model is more narrowly story-led: the major milestones are the second and third acts, with smaller updates positioned between them.

Supporter Edition contents

A separate Supporter Edition add-on is available for $5.00 USD, €5.00 EUR, or £4.49 GBP. It includes an exclusive cosmetic for Anton, an exclusive handgun, 5,000 Dirty Cash, and 500 Clean Cash.

The provided details do not explain how Dirty Cash and Clean Cash function, whether either currency can be earned through ordinary play, or how the exclusive handgun compares with standard weapons. As a result, the safest reading is simply that the Supporter Edition supplies cosmetic, weapon, and currency extras beyond the base game. It should not be confused with the three-act entitlement: the free Acts 2 and 3 offer is tied to purchasing BLACKWOOD during Act 1, while the Supporter Edition is an additional purchase.

What to know before buying

Available now: Act 1 on Steam, containing four main missions, side missions, and additional content across more than six hours of gameplay.
Planned next: Act 2 in March 2027 and Act 3 in September 2027.
Early-buyer offer: Purchase during Act 1 and the two later acts are promised as free updates to the existing copy.
Combat direction: Tactical encounters with preparation and ammunition management emphasized alongside gunplay and takedowns.
Potential ongoing additions: Side missions, collectibles, achievements, weapons, enemy variations, takedowns, patches, and technical work may arrive between acts.
Optional add-on: The Supporter Edition has cosmetic, handgun, and in-game-currency extras, with no further gameplay details confirmed.

BLACKWOOD’s first act establishes a story-first action game whose eventual full shape is still ahead of it. Players can enter Anton’s 2012 New York double life now, while the remaining nine planned main missions—and the alternate-ending component of Act 3—are scheduled to arrive over the following year.