Today, developer Dan Fornace and co. announced that Super Smash Bros. inspired fighting game, Rivals of Aether, is set to leave Steam Early Access and launch for PC on March 28, 2017.

For those that don't know: Dan Fornace first emerged onto the scene with the release of his free fangame Super Smash Land in 2011, which to date has been downloaded over 500,000 times. From here, he worked as a design consultant on games like Ori and the Blind Forest, Trials Evolution, Dust: An Elysian Tail, and more, before getting hired as a lead designer for Killer Instinct: Season 1. 

In April of 2014, he left Microsoft Studios and began to work on Rivals of Aether. What exactly is Rivals of Aether? Good question: here's an overview, courtesy of the game's Steam page:

Rivals of Aether is an upcoming indie fighting game set in a world where warring civilizations summon the power of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Choose a Rival to bring into the battlefield and manipulate the powers of the classical elements and animal movement. Untangle the mysterious conflicts of the planet Aether in Story Mode or take your combat skills online and challenge your friends across the world.

Features:

  • Choose VERSUS MODE to duke it out in competitive 1v1 or 2v2 fights, or jump into a free-for-all.
  • Play STORY MODE to learn the backstory behind each rival and begin to uncover the hidden mysteries of Aether.
  • Dive into ABYSS MODE to see how many waves of shadowy fighters you can defeat and reach the leaderboards alone or with a friend.
  • Take your skills online in ONLINE VERSUS! Play against your friends or test your skills by finding opponents through matchmaking.

As mentioned in the title, Rivals of Aether is also slated to release on Xbox One, but as of right now, this version doesn't have a concrete release date.

To celebrate the game's release date announcement, a new trailer has also been released -- you can check it out below: