FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2026 — Independent developer Deathbat Studios today announced that Y2Kill, its top-down arcade zombie roguelite, is available now on Steam and itch.io. Set in a grimy, fully drivable New York City stuck forever at 11:59 PM on December 31, 1999, Y2Kill answers the one question the millennium-bug panic never thought to ask: what happens when the clock hits zero and the dead get back up?
To celebrate launch, Y2Kill is available on Steam at an introductory 25% discount — $3.74 (regularly $4.99) — and as "pay what you want" (free to download, donate what you like) on itch.io.
"Everyone was worried about their bank accounts and their spreadsheets," said a spokesperson for Deathbat Studios. "Nobody wrote a contingency plan for the graveyards. Y2Kill is the party at the end of the world — one maniac, a pistol, a bad attitude, and a to-do list a hundred items long."
Buy Once, Kill Forever
Y2Kill is built around a single, escalating night that never ends. Players fight through relentless waves of the shambling dead, chaining kills into screen-shaking combos, vacuuming up cash and XP, and leveling up mid-run by drafting upgrade cards that transform a build from office temp to walking apocalypse. When the rage meter fills, a single blast deletes the entire screen. There's no loading bar and no mercy.
Every dollar looted matters. Weapons are permanent unlocks with price tags that mean something — from a trusty shotgun all the way up to the one-million-dollar rocket launcher. Stand in your own fireball. Smile. Throw grenades and molotovs while your gun never stops barking.
The City's Great Monsters
Beneath the endless horde wait the BOSS ARENAS, where players face the city's towering horrors — The Butcher, Mother Hydra, The Pale King, and Apex Rot — each on a speedrun clock, each backed by an endless swarm, and each first kill paying out a fortune. Victory grants permanent trophies that change the game itself: a 1,500-HP butcher's wagon that plows the streets and hoovers up cash, a rage blast that summons money-fetching minions, a fourth upgrade card on every level-up, and NIGHTMARE runs that start deep and pay out even deeper.
One Hundred Ways to Finish the World
A full board of 100 in-game challenges — every one mirrored as a Steam achievement — dares players to reach wave 100, kill one million zombies, put ten thousand rockets into the problem, and beat every boss in under two minutes. Die a hundred times and there's an achievement for that too. It's 1999; Deathbat respects commitment.
Key Features
- Arcade top-down zombie survival in a drivable city frozen at midnight, 1999
- Roguelite runs with in-run card builds and permanent account progression
- A permanent weapon arsenal topping out at a one-million-dollar rocket launcher
- Boss arenas with speedrun timers, huge bounties, and permanent trophy rewards
- 100 in-game challenges, all mirrored as Steam achievements
- NIGHTMARE difficulty for the certifiable
- Single-player, with Steam Achievements and Family Sharing support
Pricing & Availability
Y2Kill is available now:
- Steam (Windows & macOS) — $3.74 (25% off $4.99, introductory offer through August 30): https://store.steampowered.com/app/3552780/Y2Kill/
- itch.io — free / pay what you want: https://deathbatstudios.itch.io/y2kill
About Deathbat Studios
Deathbat Studios is an independent game developer building arcade-flavored action games with teeth. Y2Kill is its debut title.
Community: X (@y2killgame) · TikTok (@y2killgame)
Assets: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pdgfn8n21k9c79ev8t99c/Y2Kill.zip?rlkey=iqz500ceqym5nmfxxzqtmn6en&st=hrbzen9k&dl=0