Heroes of Mount Dragon brings 4-player dragon brawling to PS5, Switch, and Epic on Sept 25

Why This Caught My Eye

Heroes of Mount Dragon’s console and Epic launch lands September 25, and I’m interested because it promises a beat ’em up with a fighting game’s brain. We’ve had a great little renaissance for co-op brawlers-Streets of Rage 4, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge-but few swing for expressive, combo-driven depth and PvP on top. RuniQ, a Quebec studio stacked with vets from Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, CTR Nitro-Fueled, Skylanders, and Call of Duty, thinks a mid-fight dragon transformation is the genre’s next trick. That wrinkle could be more than marketing if the systems actually interlock the way they claim.

Key Takeaways

• Launches September 25, 2025 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Epic Games Store; Xbox Series X|S version lands later.
• 4-player local and online multiplayer across co-op story stages and competitive arenas.
• Combat leans into chaining combos, aerial juggles, and mid-battle dragon transformations-aiming for skill ceiling, not button-mash.
• Open questions: 60 fps on Switch, rollback netcode, cross-play, and whether post-launch heroes are free or paid.

Breaking Down the Announcement

After its Steam debut earlier this year, Heroes of Mount Dragon spreads to PS5, Switch, and Epic on September 25. An Xbox Series version is “later,” which usually means the team’s staggering certification and optimization rather than a hard exclusivity. At launch you’re picking from six heroes with distinct kits, with two more characters slated for late October. The press note leans on “acclaimed,” but the more useful info is structural: it’s a side-scrolling brawler with both co-op boss hunts and competitive arena modes, and each hero can transform mid-fight into a dragon to unlock a beefed-up move set.

The world of Üna and the Dragon-Soul setup feel like a nice excuse for power spikes—what matters is how the meter, cooldowns, and cancels tie together. If the dragon form works like a timed stance with unique juggle routes and resource trade-offs, we could be looking at a brawler that rewards lab time as much as couch chaos.

The Real Story: A Brawler with a Fighting-Game Brain

Marketing promises “fast, fluid, expressive” combat are easy copy, but the feature list hints at systems that invite mastery: chained strings, launchers into air juggles, and “weaving human and dragon powers.” That’s more DMC-lite than classic belt scroller. If RuniQ nails generous hit-stun, DI-less consistency, and clear cancel windows, you’ll start seeing stylish team routes—think one player wall-bouncing adds while another sets up a dragon-form finisher on the boss. Add magical power-ups and “curses” that tweak the rules mid-match and you’ve got roguelite spice without the roguelite grind.

The arena mode could be the sleeper draw. Most brawlers treat PvP as a novelty; the best ones design around neutral tools, anti-airs, and burst options. The dragon form raises obvious balance flags—does it grant armor, does it ignore projectile chip, is there a burst to escape juggles? If RuniQ wants a healthy scene, it needs to telegraph frame advantage and make training tools accessible (hitbox viewer, input display, frame step). No word on that yet, but the desire for skill-based play is clear.

Multiplayer Reality Check: Netcode, Framerate, and Cross-Play

Four-player online is only as fun as the netcode and framerate. The studio confirms online multiplayer but doesn’t mention rollback. That’s a red flag in 2025 when even indie fighters ship with GGPO-style solutions. If the plan is delay-based, expect the community to ask for a roadmap to rollback at minimum. Likewise, framerate matters more than resolution here. On PS5 and PC, 60 fps should be a lock. On Switch, it needs to be 60 in both docked and handheld to keep juggles consistent; a 30 fps cap would kneecap the entire “expressive combat” pitch.

Also missing: cross-play and cross-progression details. The press release trumpets “cross-platform expansion,” which is not the same as cross-play. If the player base splits by platform, arena matchmaking suffers and co-op lobbies get lonely. RuniQ, please clarify before launch.

Content, Balance, and Post-Launch Plans

Six heroes at launch with two more in late October sounds healthy—as long as balance patches land quickly. New characters that blow up the meta can be fun for a week and miserable without responses. We don’t know if those two heroes are free or paid; that detail matters for a co-op brawler where your friend group wants full access. Environmental hazards and stage mechanics are a nice touch for replayability, but they can tilt competitive play—ideally, the arena offers hazard-free ranked rules alongside the chaos playlists.

Localization spans English, French, German, Spanish (Spain), Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese—a strong spread for co-op adoption. RuniQ also teases books, board games, and puzzles tied to Üna’s lore. Cool, but keep the main dish hot: nail performance, netcode, and balance before expanding the universe.

Should You Be Excited?

I am—cautiously. The pedigree is legit; the Beenox/Activision lineage knows tight feel and snappy feedback. The design pitch fits a gap between breezy couch beat ’em ups and lab-heavy fighters. If you loved squeezing S-ranks out of SoR4 or optimizing taunt-cancel routes in Shredder’s Revenge, this could be your next co-op addiction. But I’m holding final judgment for three things: confirmed 60 fps on Switch, rollback netcode with decent matchmaking, and clarity on cross-play and character monetization.

TL;DR

Heroes of Mount Dragon hits PS5, Switch, and Epic on September 25 with 4-player co-op, competitive arenas, and mid-fight dragon forms that could elevate the genre. It looks promising; now it needs rollback netcode, stable 60 fps (especially on Switch), and a clear post-launch plan to turn promise into staying power.