Amongst today's batch of Xbox Game Pass releases is Eville, which is a new multiplayer social deduction game inspired by the likes of Among Us and the party game Werewolves. Ahead of its launch, we had a chance to speak to the CEO of developer VestGames about what players can expect from it, as well as getting some comments surrounding its inclusion as part of the Game Pass service.

Without further ado, here's what CEO Hendrik Hollenborg had to say:

Pure Xbox: Hello! Firstly, could you introduce yourself and your role on the Eville team?

Hendrik Hollenborg: Hi, I’m Hendrik and I’m the Game Director and Developer on Eville.

Pure Xbox: Could you give us a brief explanation of what Eville is and how the gameplay works?

Hendrik: With a large group of other players, you play in the Village of Eville, but Conspirators lurk among them—you just aren't aware of who they are. Conspirators attempt to assassinate the villagers and are roaming Eville at night while the usual villagers are sleeping. During the day, you'll aim to uncover the conspirators and execute them during a vote, and you can protect yourself with a variety of things you can acquire or utilize specific role abilities allocated to you at the start of each game.

Pure Xbox: How does Eville differ from other "social deduction" games like Among Us and Project Winter?

Hendrik: We feel like there are lots of gameplay elements that have been unexplored in the genre at this point and there’s a lot we added to keep it interesting long term.

You live in Eville, have your own home and play over several days with a day-night cycle while you play as a unique role that you’re randomly assigned at the start of a match. They allow you to have a ton of activities during the day and night: set traps, protect areas, place wards, steal items, etc. Eville also has a lot of different strategies you can use. As you complete quests you earn coins to buy or create items. You may craft poisons to kill other players or build barricades to protect your home - these elements add a lot of depth and variety to each match.

After death you get access to a different realm as a ghost and can learn new abilities and items to influence the living: Waking up players at night, turning players invisible, granting coins and many other possibilities.

Pure Xbox: This is your first project as a studio, correct? How has the development process been, and what have you learned along the way?

Hendrik: Yes, this is our first published project. It has been a long time since the development on Eville started over 3 years ago. Thankfully we generally already had experience in software development or brought experience from other prototypes, but we certainly have learned a lot and grown since then. It has been exciting to supervise this project for such a long time. We have learned a lot about our capabilities as a team and the scope we’re capable of handling at this time.

Pure Xbox: You've chosen to launch on Xbox Game Pass, which is very exciting! How did this come about, what has it been like working with Microsoft, and what are your general thoughts on Game Pass?

Hendrik: Fortunately, we have the opportunity to offer Eville on Game Pass and thus reach many players - we are really happy about everyone who tries Eville. Buying the game is of course a barrier to entry for some players, which Game Pass thankfully removes.

Pure Xbox: How has the process been working with the Xbox One, Series X and Series S?

Hendrik: Working on the Microsoft Xbox series of devices has been both challenging and fun. Seeing Eville come to life on new devices is always a great delight and something that keeps us all excited for Eville!

Pure Xbox: Thanks for your time! Is there anything else you'd like Xbox fans to know about Eville?

Hendrik: Thank you for taking the time as well! We are really looking forward to the release of our first game. Hope to see you in the game!

We'd like to thank Hendrik for taking the time to talk to us. Eville launches today (October 10th) as part of Xbox Game Pass for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC. We'll see you in the game!