The offbeat musical RPG brings its cursed battle of the bands to PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, alongside a free major update for PC players.
There are RPGs about saving kingdoms, defeating gods, and restoring balance to dying worlds. Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands takes a slightly different route: it throws a dysfunctional three-piece band into a cursed music contest where every performance can turn into a fight for survival.
Originally released on PC in 2023, the musical party-based RPG from Deathbulge and Five Houses LLC is now available on consoles, bringing its strange blend of turn-based combat, hand-drawn humor, and music-driven chaos to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
The Xbox Store also lists support for PC and handheld play through Microsoft’s ecosystem.
The story is about Faye, Ian, and Briff, three musicians who enter what appears to be a normal battle of the bands, only to discover that the contest is anything but harmless. The setup quickly spirals into a bizarre RPG campaign where bands can attack through music, doors are meant to be kicked down, and survival may require the group to work together despite their best instincts.
Combat is built around a turn-based structure with a musical twist. Deathbulge uses so-called Measure Effects, actions and consequences that happen between turns, adding a more reactive layer to battles than the usual attack-and-wait rhythm.
Players can also customize the band through nine music-themed classes, each with its own abilities and outfits, while additional perks can be gained through patches sewn onto the group’s battle jacket.
A roughly 15–20-hour adventure, more than 100 skills, over 50 accessories, hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation, a broad soundtrack, more than 120 unique NPCs, visible enemies instead of random encounters, and a late-game dating segment with multiple endings.
The console launch also arrives alongside version 2.0.0 on PC, released as a free update. This new version adds an Easy Mode for players who want a smoother ride through the story, while late-game players looking for a harsher challenge can enter The Mad Zone, a new bonus area featuring tougher boss variants.
The update also includes new items, a new animated startup cutscene, optimizations, bug fixes, and audio-engine improvements aimed at benefiting both the console ports and the PC version.
On Steam, Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands currently sits at a Very Positive user rating, with 98% positive reviews among the reviews counted on the store page. For console players who missed its original PC release, this new launch is a chance to discover one of the stranger and more distinctive comedy RPGs of recent years.
Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
