Why Early Access?

“This game has waited for years. It should not have to wait alone any longer.

I have carried E-xode: ROM in my head for a long time, every rule and every mechanic, down to the detail. I built several earlier versions along the way, and each time I hit the same wall: I am one person, and a world like this needs sound, music, illustration and more hands than I have. It is only with generative AI that I could finally carry a first, minimal but complete version to the end, on a budget I could afford. That version is the game you can play today.

What it needs now is not a crowd. It is a small community: a few players who love a persistent, real-time galaxy that keeps running when they log off, and who will tell me what works and what does not. I would rather have a handful of engaged pilots than a large indifferent audience.

Early Access is how I meet them while the decisions are still open: balance, the shape of the economy, what risk should feel like at the edge of the map. And it is how the game can grow, because the support of players is what lets me pay artists, musicians and developers to join the project instead of doing everything alone.

If the game does well, living from it would of course be wonderful. Realistically, the first goal is smaller and more important: that its income lets me pay people to make the assets, and spend a little more of my own time on it.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“I am aiming for roughly nine to twelve months, with an exit in the autumn of 2027. That is a plan, not a promise, and the date may move back depending on how Early Access goes.

The game runs today. What it needs is depth in each of its four pillars: exploration, economy, resource extraction and combat. How fast I get there depends on what the community tells me matters most, and on what the project can afford to bring in: every artist, composer or developer who joins is paid from the support the game receives.

I would rather stay in Early Access until the game deserves to leave than exit on a schedule. If the estimate changes, I will say so here and explain why.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“I want to deepen what already exists rather than bolt on systems for their own sake.

- Economy: richer station trade, with supply and demand that reacts to what players actually haul
- Combat: more tactical depth in fleet engagements, and risk in lawless space that feels meaningful rather than random
- Progression: a fuller quest system and character skills, so a pilot's history shapes what they can do
- Exploration: more reasons to push into the outer regions than ore alone
- World: the Codex, the factions and the history behind the exodus keep growing
- Craft: more original art, music and sound, made by people I hope to pay with what the game earns

These are intentions, not commitments. Which one lands first, and in what form, is exactly what I want to work out with the players who join me.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The game is playable from end to end today, in your browser and as a desktop client, on the same account and in the same galaxy.

What works now:

- A full-size persistent galaxy: 9 regions, 81 star systems and 729 sectors on a 3x3 danger grid
- Real-time multiplayer: the server advances the universe whether or not you are logged in
- Mining across six minerals, from common sand in secured space to voidglass at the edge
- Specialised ship hulls across three roles (mining, logistics, firepower), with fleet management from your first session
- Station trade, gates, NPC patrols, pirates, and pirate stations that trade with anyone in lawless space
- Corporations, standing with the two powers that share the stars, a passive skill tree with free respec, and a Broadcast board
- MMO, PvP and tournament modes, an in-world Codex and a guided tutorial for new pilots

What is still thin: quests and character skills are at an early stage, the economy does not yet react as dynamically as I want, and combat is the area I expect to change the most.

Worth saying here as well as in the AI disclosure: I build this game alone. I wrote most of the code myself, and I used generative AI as a tool for the rest of the development and for the images, sound and music I could not make or afford to commission. Everything was chosen, edited and integrated by hand. The design and the world are mine.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The base game is free to play and stays free after Early Access. That is the model, not a launch promotion.

Free accounts play the game in the MMO universe, with limits: one character and up to 20 ships per character. Time on your account lifts them: up to 3 characters, up to 100 ships per character, the PvP and Tournament universes, and posting on the Broadcast board. A larger fleet is a real advantage in a fight, and I would rather say it plainly than pretend otherwise.

Time is sold as one-time cards of 30, 90, 180 or 360 days. Nothing renews and nothing has to be cancelled. Buying again before your balance runs out extends it instead of restarting it.

I also see it as a way to support the project. Before anything else, what the game earns goes back into the game: paying people for artwork, video, music and sound, new features, and a little more of my own time to build them.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“The Steam Community Hub is my main room, and a small community is exactly what I am looking for.

Concretely:

- Regular update posts that explain what changed and why, not a bare changelog
- Open threads on the decisions in front of me: balance, the economy, what to build next
- A Discord for players who want a faster, day-to-day channel
- Feedback read and answered by the person building the game: there is no team and no support layer between you and development

I cannot promise that every suggestion ships. I can promise that suggestions are read, that I say what I decided, and that I explain the reasoning when the answer is no. I do not need a big crowd. A few players who care, and who are told why, are enough to shape this game.”