Independent developer Sloclap and amateur martial artists Devolver Digital have announced Absolver, an online combat RPG, set to arrive on PC and consoles in 2017.

Absolver puts players behind the mask of a Prospect, who has taken a sacred vow and chosen to join the Absolvers, an elite corps of combatants fighting to maintain stability in the world. Monitored by the Guides, the new rulers of the fallen Adal Empire, players will wander these forsaken lands and encounter other Prospects online in order to learn their place in this world and eventually become Absolvers. Along the way, they will learn new combat styles and attacks, and acquire better weapons, powers and armor. Battles between warriors are an intense real-time flow of attacks, dodges, feints and counters, with all aspects of gameplay customizable, including combat styles, weapons and even individual attack sequences in the player's Combat Deck. Build a team of warriors to fight side by side with you in the dungeon mines of Adal (PvE) or put your skill on display in dedicated combat arenas (PvP) scattered across the land.

“The studio is excited to debut our first game with Devolver Digital and get it into the hands of gamers and media at E3; Absolver is the result of our combined experiences in game development and we believe that our team has created something special together,” said Pierre Tarno, creative lead at developer Sloclap. “We think the world would be a much better place if there were no guns. Then we could finally focus on important things, like sword fighting and how to kill a man with one punch.”

Absolver will have hands-on demos for media and industry fancypants at E3 2016 at the Devolver Digital tailgate June 14 – 17 with gameplay set to debut on Twitch June 13 at 5:00PM Pacific (June 14 at 2:00AM CET) at twitch.tv/twitch.

“Our extensive, international focus groups illustrate that people want to be able to punch faceless, nameless strangers over the internet,” notes Devolver Digital CFO Fork Parker. “Absolver is going to be your digital outlet for real-time, fluid beatdowns of those that stand against you.”