Mystic, ILHAM’s unique survival game, to enter Early Access in a few days
Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2025 5:45 pm
Mystic, ILHAM’s unique survival game, to enter Early Access in a few days
Richmond, VA - October 24, 2025
Embargo: October 28, 2025 at 6 AM PST.
ILHAM has announced Mystic, an action-survival game with RPG elements inspired by Middle Eastern and South Asian traditions. The Early Access goes live on Tuesday (28.10.2025), 6 AM PST.
Mystic is an action survival game that combines close-quarters combat and light RPG progression with systems for resource gathering, crafting, and campsite management. Players face human adversaries, wildlife, and supernatural threats while exploring environments shaped by Arabian and Desi-inspired architecture and folklore. The world, ravaged by evil forces of all shapes and sizes, is a harsh place to live in. However, your task is to survive, to thrive and to uncover many truths about the surrounding reality - both tangible and ephemeral.
Mystic brims with references to Islam and various Middle-Eastern and South Asian folk beliefs. Some of the games that ILHAM was inspired by while making Mystic were Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia or even Red Dead Redemption 2.
Mystic is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 and is currently being created for PCs, with a high likelihood of console ports in the future. Some of the characteristics of the game include:
A deep story heavily inspired by the culture of the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, and Islam.
Survival-heavy gameplay.
Cutting-edge graphics and animations.
In-game solutions and mechanics
Hand-made environments that contain real-life architecture reminiscent of Arabic and Desi buildings.
A wholehearted attempt at showing a culture that’s rarely been presented in video games.
A spirituality mechanic - uncover what is unseen by people of small faith in the overworld.
Parkour-like movement.
Plenty of enemies to defeat - humans, animals and Jinn.
Early Access
The game will be released in Early Access on the 28th of October 2025. ILHAM’s team has stated that they take player input quite seriously during development. This way, they will be able to tweak the mechanics and create content that will be designed with players first in mind.
Steam Store Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3797740/Mystic/
About ILHAM
ILHAM is an independent studio based in Virginia, developing gameplay-driven experiences informed by diverse cultural perspectives. Founder & CEO Sajid Farooq previously led initiatives at Microsoft (DirectX, Mixed Reality Graphics Lab) and guided innovation programs at Nike. ILHAM’s development philosophy blends engineering discipline with accessible worldbuilding.
Farooq has contributed directly to Unreal Engine, built and scaled cross-regional engineering teams, and taught computer graphics and game programming at the university level. His mix of technical expertise and creative leadership informs ILHAM’s philosophy: grounded gameplay, responsive systems, and culturally specific worldbuilding.
ILHAM aims to be a small but robust studio with experienced leadership (incl. James Rackliffe - ex-Rockstar and ex-EA, among many others) combined with young blood’s boldness and eagerness to explore, build and enjoy the creative process.
Richmond, VA - October 24, 2025
Embargo: October 28, 2025 at 6 AM PST.
ILHAM has announced Mystic, an action-survival game with RPG elements inspired by Middle Eastern and South Asian traditions. The Early Access goes live on Tuesday (28.10.2025), 6 AM PST.
Mystic is an action survival game that combines close-quarters combat and light RPG progression with systems for resource gathering, crafting, and campsite management. Players face human adversaries, wildlife, and supernatural threats while exploring environments shaped by Arabian and Desi-inspired architecture and folklore. The world, ravaged by evil forces of all shapes and sizes, is a harsh place to live in. However, your task is to survive, to thrive and to uncover many truths about the surrounding reality - both tangible and ephemeral.
Mystic brims with references to Islam and various Middle-Eastern and South Asian folk beliefs. Some of the games that ILHAM was inspired by while making Mystic were Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia or even Red Dead Redemption 2.
Mystic is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 and is currently being created for PCs, with a high likelihood of console ports in the future. Some of the characteristics of the game include:
A deep story heavily inspired by the culture of the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, and Islam.
Survival-heavy gameplay.
Cutting-edge graphics and animations.
In-game solutions and mechanics
Hand-made environments that contain real-life architecture reminiscent of Arabic and Desi buildings.
A wholehearted attempt at showing a culture that’s rarely been presented in video games.
A spirituality mechanic - uncover what is unseen by people of small faith in the overworld.
Parkour-like movement.
Plenty of enemies to defeat - humans, animals and Jinn.
Early Access
The game will be released in Early Access on the 28th of October 2025. ILHAM’s team has stated that they take player input quite seriously during development. This way, they will be able to tweak the mechanics and create content that will be designed with players first in mind.
Steam Store Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3797740/Mystic/
About ILHAM
ILHAM is an independent studio based in Virginia, developing gameplay-driven experiences informed by diverse cultural perspectives. Founder & CEO Sajid Farooq previously led initiatives at Microsoft (DirectX, Mixed Reality Graphics Lab) and guided innovation programs at Nike. ILHAM’s development philosophy blends engineering discipline with accessible worldbuilding.
Farooq has contributed directly to Unreal Engine, built and scaled cross-regional engineering teams, and taught computer graphics and game programming at the university level. His mix of technical expertise and creative leadership informs ILHAM’s philosophy: grounded gameplay, responsive systems, and culturally specific worldbuilding.
ILHAM aims to be a small but robust studio with experienced leadership (incl. James Rackliffe - ex-Rockstar and ex-EA, among many others) combined with young blood’s boldness and eagerness to explore, build and enjoy the creative process.