01 / LIGHTAGILITY
Interceptor
Fast, light, and hard to pin down. Pick your angle and escape before the enemy can answer.
SPECIAL / PHASE DASH
Dash in your movement direction to reposition under fire.
IN DEVELOPMENT · SPACE ARENA COMBAT
Xenon Rift: Your faction.
Your ship.
Your fight.
Boost through asteroid fields. Unleash your ship’s special. Fight for the Rift in drop-in 10v10 space battles.
Mac playtest builds · iOS controller testing
Public downloads not available yet.
FIELD REPORT / XENON OUTPOST01—03
IN-GAME CAPTUREDevelopment build · click to expand
CYAN VANGUARDVS EMBER SYNDICATE
- 10v10Faction arenas
- 3 shipsDistinct special abilities
- 3 modesRotating objectives
- Solo or onlineBots keep the battle going
01 / FIND YOUR FIGHTING STYLE
Three ships.
No wrong way to fight.
Slip past the front line, pour on the fire, or stand your ground. Every class flies for either faction.
02 / BALANCEDALL-ROUNDER
Striker
Your first flight starts here. A versatile fighter with the speed and firepower to take the initiative.
SPECIAL / WEAPON OVERCHARGE
Temporarily accelerate your fire rate and press the attack.
03 / HEAVYRESILIENCE
Dreadnought
Trade speed for staying power. Bring a heavy hull to the objective and make enemies work for it.
SPECIAL / BARRIER PULSE
Push nearby enemies back and briefly reduce incoming damage.
Current development ships. Balance and visuals will evolve with playtesting.
02 / PICK YOUR FRONT
A quick dogfight.
Or a bigger campaign.
Learn your ship offline, join a faction online, or push across the experimental Rift War map.
Drop in. Make an impact.
Join Cyan Vanguard or Ember Syndicate and fight through rotating matches. Bots fill open slots, so there’s something to shoot even when friends aren’t around.
- Team DeathmatchOutfight the opposing faction.
- Capture the DepotHold their depot. Deny yours.
- Offense vs DefenseBreak the defenders—or survive the clock.
Find your space legs.
No server needed. Try every ship against bots, learn the arena, and practice a single mode or rotate through all three.
New pilot?
Start with the Striker in Practice. Get a feel for aiming, boost, and Overcharge before joining online.
OFFLINE RIFT WAR / EXPERIMENTALOne battle.
One battle.
A new front line.
Choose a live front across a 15-rift galaxy. Deploy against bots, win territory, and open the next route toward total collapse.
Session-only prototype: the map resets when you quit. A shared, persistent online galaxy is planned—not available yet.
03 / FROM THE COCKPIT
This is the fight.
Actual in-game captures from the current development build. Expand a frame for a closer look.
04 / YOUR NEXT FLIGHT
Help shape the Rift.
Xenon Rift is in active development. Interested in trying it? Get in touch about playtesting.
macOS
Development playtestKeyboard & mouse or gamepad. Includes offline practice, experimental Rift War, and online arena play.
Request Mac playtestEmail request · not a download
Builds are unsigned; first launch may need approval.
iPhone & iPad
Controller testingMobile builds are being tested with gamepads. Ask about availability before planning your first flight.
Bluetooth controller required.
No touch controls yet.
Email request · no public TestFlight invite
Device compatibility and minimum OS requirements will be listed with the public builds.
05 / ONCE YOU HAVE A BUILD
Your first flight.
Start offline. Learn your ship. Then take it to the front line.
- 01
Launch & suit up
Open your playtest build. In Pilot, choose a call sign, faction, and ship. Striker is a good place to start.
- 02
Get a feel for it
Open Practice and select Start Practice. Try thrust, aim, boost, and your special against bots.
- 03
Join the front
Open Multiplayer, enter the playtest server address, and select Join Server. Use a build matching the server.
PLAYTEST SERVER ADDRESS
game.xenonrift.com:7770Check availability with your playtest host. This is an address, not a live status indicator.
Flight controls Keyboard & mouse / default twin-stick
| Action | Keyboard & mouse | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|
| Thrust / strafe | W / S · A / D (ship-relative) | Left stick (screen-relative) |
| Aim / fire | Mouse / left click | Right stick / right trigger |
| Boost | Space | Left bumper |
| Ship special | Left Shift | Right bumper |
| Scoreboard | Hold Tab | Hold View / Select |
| Return to menu | Esc | Start / Menu |
Other controller styles and stick options are available in Settings.
Can I play without other players?
Yes. Practice runs offline against bots, and online arenas use bots to fill open team slots. The experimental offline Rift War also runs without a server.
Is the galaxy a persistent online world?
Not yet. Online servers currently host standalone arenas; their rift state resets on server restart. The 15-rift galactic map is an offline prototype that resets when you quit. Shared online galaxy progression is future work.
Can I play on iPhone without a controller?
Not yet. Gameplay requires a paired Bluetooth controller, such as Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro, or MFi. Menu taps work, but touch flight controls are not implemented.
Why does my Mac block the app?
Development builds are not signed or notarized. Only open a build you trust. Follow the instructions supplied with your playtest build; macOS may require approval in System Settings → Privacy & Security after you try to open it. Don’t disable Gatekeeper globally.
Why can’t I join the server?
Check the address and confirm the playtest server is running. Your client must match the server’s build. If you lose connection, return to the menu and rejoin; automatic reconnect is not available yet. Offline Practice still works.
How do I report a bug or give feedback?
Email playtest feedback with your device, build version, what happened, and steps to reproduce it. Screenshots help. For website issues, use the public website issue tracker ↗.
CYAN OR EMBER. THE NEXT MOVE IS YOURS.