Serious Sam Shatterverse Sam Variants and Character Roster
Quick Answer
The launch roster is five Sam variants. Steam launch news (2026-08-31) says "Pick from five totally different versions of Sam (yes, including the cartoon one)," and the Steam achievement "Sam-of-All-Trades — Use all 5 Sams' ultimate abilities at least one time" confirms a per-variant ultimate ability on each of the five. Retro Sam and Cartoon Sam are first-party confirmed by launch news and the 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 patch notes; Alien Sam, Orphan Sam, and Broken Sam are flagged as second-party-evidence only and still await a first-party confirmation on the Steam store.
The five-variant launch roster
The Steam launch news, the Achievements tab, and the 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 patch notes triangulate to a five-variant launch roster. Two variants are first-party confirmed by name, and three more are flagged here as second-party: | Variant | Confirmation tier | Source evidence | | --- | --- | --- | | Retro Sam | First-party | 2026-08-31 Steam launch news + 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 patch notes (decoy clone + Luring Intel interaction fix) | | Cartoon Sam | First-party | 2026-08-31 Steam launch news + 2026-07-31 playtest development update (modifier set: slower base movement, faster Dash recharge, larger default explosions) | | Alien Sam | Second-party | Community coverage; awaiting first-party naming on the Steam store | | Orphan Sam | Second-party | Community coverage; awaiting first-party naming on the Steam store | | Broken Sam | Second-party | Community coverage; awaiting first-party naming on the Steam store | The Steam achievement "Sam-of-All-Trades — Use all 5 Sams' ultimate abilities at least one time" confirms a per-variant ultimate ability on each of the five. Treat the three second-party names as the working roster until Behaviour Interactive Inc. or Devolver Digital names them on the Steam store, in a Steam Community news post, or in a verified X handle post. The 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 also explicitly patched a Retro Sam interaction with Luring Intel: the decoy clone spawned by Retro Sam's ultimate ability now respects the Luring Intel trigger correctly, which removes a common community confusion from the launch build. Players running Retro Sam with a Luring Intel boon should notice the decoy pulling enemies on the same beat as their own shots.
Per-variant ultimate abilities
The Steam achievement text confirms every variant has an ultimate ability, and the playtest development update confirms two of them by name. The complete launch read is: - Retro Sam: ultimate spawns a decoy clone that draws enemy fire. The 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 patch repaired the decoy's interaction with Luring Intel so the clone pulls enemies on the same beat as the player. - Cartoon Sam: ultimate modifier set makes Dash recharge faster than the other variants (to compensate for a slower base movement) and gives explosions a larger default radius. The cartoon proportions trade raw movement for survivability through Dash uptime and crowd-clear radius. - Alien Sam, Orphan Sam, Broken Sam: ultimate ability signals are not first-party published as of 2026-09-19. They remain partial. Because the "Sam-of-All-Trades" achievement is gated on using all five ultimate abilities at least once, the developer has confirmed that all five variants are usable in a single play session. The achievement is the cleanest first-party signal that the five-variant roster is the launch scope rather than a wider back-catalog.
What is still partial in the Sam variant cluster
The launch variant count and the first-party names above are locked in, but several supporting sheets are still partial: - Second-party names confirmation: Alien Sam, Orphan Sam, and Broken Sam are flagged as second-party. The Steam store page and Achievements tab do not yet name them as of 2026-09-19. - Per-variant unlock / DLC roadmap: not announced. There is no published DLC roadmap or post-launch variant unlock track. - Per-variant stat blocks (health, speed, ability cooldown): not first-party published. - Single-player variant swap: not announced. The store page lists 1-5 player co-op and cross-platform multiplayer; whether a single player can rotate between variants inside a run is unconfirmed. Until Behaviour Interactive Inc. or Devolver Digital publishes a per-variant stat sheet, the practical guidance is to use the playtest development update's Cartoon Sam and Retro Sam descriptions as the most reliable per-variant signal on the roster, then wait for the first-party sheet before quoting other variants by name.
How a variant fits into the roguelite loop
The store description pairs the multi-universe Sam team with run modifiers and stacked boons. That pairing tells you how variants interact with the rest of the loop, even without a complete ability sheet: - Variants are the operators. A Sam variant is the chassis that carries weapons, trinkets, and boons into a run, and the chassis sets the baseline movement, ultimate ability, and signature behavior. - Boons and modifiers are the variables. Per-run modifiers and stacked boons shape what a variant can do on any given attempt, which is why the store frames the loop as "stack wild boons, bend the rules with run modifiers." - The permadeath loop is the constraint. Variants reset between runs, so any meta-progression tied to a specific Sam is the natural place for unlockable content once the developer publishes the roster sheet. Reading the store description this way is consistent with the launch-window experience and the Retro Sam / Cartoon Sam signals without overpromising on abilities that have not been enumerated yet.
Where to watch for an official roster sheet
Because the launch store page does not list per-Sam abilities and three variant names are still second-party, the next signal will arrive through one of four official channels: - The Steam store page for AppID 2067210, which is the canonical fact source for any description, feature list, achievement, or character-page update. - The Steam Community hub at https://steamcommunity.com/app/2067210, where Devolver Digital and Behaviour Interactive Inc. post news and patch notes — including the 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 Retro Sam fix already in the launch window. - The verified X handle at https://x.com/SeriousSamIAm, which is the official development voice for the franchise. - The official Serious Sam franchise hub at https://www.serioussam.com/, which cross-links Shatterverse and the broader community. If and when Behaviour Interactive Inc. publishes per-variant pages on the Steam store or a Steam Community news post that names the three remaining variants first-party, those sources become the source of record.
Frequently Asked Questions
### How many Sam Stone variants are in Shatterverse? Five. The Steam launch news explicitly says "Pick from five totally different versions of Sam (yes, including the cartoon one)," and the Steam achievement "Sam-of-All-Trades" requires using all 5 Sams' ultimate abilities at least one time. ### Which Sam variants are first-party confirmed? Retro Sam and Cartoon Sam are first-party confirmed by the 2026-08-31 Steam launch news and the 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 patch notes. Three more variants circulate in community coverage (Alien Sam, Orphan Sam, Broken Sam), but they are flagged here as second-party until Behaviour Interactive Inc. or Devolver Digital names them on the Steam store, in a Steam Community news post, or on the verified X handle. ### Do Shatterverse Sam variants have different abilities? Yes. Every variant has a per-variant ultimate ability, per the "Sam-of-All-Trades" achievement. Retro Sam's ultimate spawns a decoy clone (patched in 2026-09-09 to interact correctly with Luring Intel). Cartoon Sam's modifier set trades base movement for faster Dash recharge and larger default explosions. ### What changed for Retro Sam in the 2026-09-09 update? The 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 fixed Retro Sam's decoy clone interaction with Luring Intel, so the decoy now pulls enemies on the same beat as the player's shots. ### Can I play more than one Sam variant in the same run? The store page lists 1-5 player online co-op and cross-platform multiplayer, which means multiple players can drop into the same run. Whether a single player can swap between variants inside a run is not announced as of 2026-09-19. ### Is Sam Stone in Shatterverse the same Sam Stone as Serious Sam 4? No. Serious Sam: Shatterverse is a 2026 co-op roguelite FPS by Behaviour Interactive Inc. and Devolver Digital. Serious Sam 4 is a 2020 linear campaign by Croteam. The Sam Stone variants in Shatterverse are unique to the roguelite roster and are not a continuation of the Serious Sam 4 protagonist.
Sources
- [Serious Sam: Shatterverse Steam achievements list (AppID 2067210)](https://steamcommunity.com/stats/2067210/achievements/) - `official/store` - checked 2026-09-19 - "Sam-of-All-Trades — Use all 5 Sams' ultimate abilities at least one time" confirming five variants with per-variant ultimates. - [Serious Sam: Shatterverse on Steam (AppID 2067210)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2067210/Serious_Sam_Shatterverse/) - `official/store` - checked 2026-09-19 - "Pick from five totally different versions of Sam (yes, including the cartoon one)" launch framing and the multi-universe Sam team description. - [Serious Sam: Shatterverse Steam news feed (AppID 2067210)](https://store.steampowered.com/feeds/news/app/2067210/) - `official/store` - checked 2026-09-19 - 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 naming Retro Sam with the decoy clone + Luring Intel fix. - [Steam Community hub for AppID 2067210](https://steamcommunity.com/app/2067210) - `official/store` - checked 2026-09-19 - launch-window discussions, the "How do you dual wield in this game??" question thread (community/video), and the post-launch news feed.
Internal Link Requirements
- `Mental lieutenants and bosses` -> `/lieutenants-bosses/` - the five Mental lieutenant mid-run bosses that the variant team hunts each run. - `Weapons, boons, and modifiers` -> `/weapons-boons/` - the weapon, trinket, and run-modifier pool that variants carry into a run. - `Roguelite run tips` -> `/run-tips/` - early-run habits, boon stacking priorities, and modifier selection for new variants.
Fact Boundaries
- Current game: Serious Sam: Shatterverse, Steam AppID 2067210, Behaviour Interactive Inc. developer, Devolver Digital publisher, released August 31, 2026 on Steam for Windows 10/11 x64 PCs as a 1-5 player co-op roguelite FPS with online co-op and cross-platform multiplayer. - Confirmed launch roster: five Sam variants. Retro Sam and Cartoon Sam are first-party confirmed by Steam launch news and the 2026-09-09 Serious Update #1 patch notes. Three further variants (Alien Sam, Orphan Sam, Broken Sam) are flagged as second-party until the Steam store or Steam Community news post names them first-party. - Confirmed per-variant ultimates: each of the five variants has a per-variant ultimate ability (Sam-of-All-Trades achievement). Retro Sam's decoy clone interacts correctly with Luring Intel after the 2026-09-09 fix. Cartoon Sam trades base movement for faster Dash recharge and larger default explosions. - Partial: per-variant stat blocks, the first-party names of the three second-party variants, any DLC roadmap or post-launch variant unlock track, and single-player variant swap. Treat any such detail from outside the Steam store or the 2026-09-09 patch notes as community observation. - Legacy boundary: Sam Stone is the franchise protagonist, but Shatterverse variants are a 2026 Behaviour Interactive Inc. design and are not a continuation of the Serious Sam 4 protagonist or any earlier Croteam-led Sam Stone. - Source basis: every fact above is anchored to the Steam store AppID 2067210 page, the Steam achievements list, the Steam news feed for AppID 2067210, or the Steam Community hub for the same AppID, all checked on 2026-09-19.