Shard Squad launches on Xbox with Play Anywhere support

Shard Squad, the bullet heaven roguelite from Brazilian solo developer The Root Studios and publisher Nuntius Games, is now live on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox on PC via Xbox Play Anywhere. The game stars a cast of over 20 pixel-art monsters called Shards and tasks players with surviving escalating enemy hordes while building synergies between their recruited creatures.

The Xbox version ships with the Prime Evolution system, which lets each Shard evolve mid-run to unlock an exclusive look and stronger abilities. On top of that, players can pick from more than 90 relics with unique effects to shape their build. Special events can trigger during a run and hand out extra rewards, and the studio's own tip for new players is to lean hard into the synergy system — each Shard carries three synergies tied to its element, appearance, or relationships with other Shards, and stacking matching ones gives meaningful bonuses.

Director Rennan Costa says the team deliberately built emotional depth into the roster, going beyond pure mechanics. Some Shards were inspired by the developers' own pets. "In many games, character choice ends up being based only on which one is the strongest or which ability best matches your playstyle. That's important, of course, but we wanted there to be a connection beyond the mechanics," Rennan explains. "That's why we created a universe where the Shards have relationships with one another. They can be friends, family members, rivals, or simply share important moments in the story." The goal was for players to pick a Shard because they genuinely like its personality and backstory, not just its stat sheet.

For The Root Studios, the Xbox launch is personal — Rennan describes it as "the fulfillment of a dream," noting that getting a game onto Xbox once felt impossibly out of reach, and this is the studio's first ever released title. Shard Squad is available now across all three Xbox platforms.