Why Early Access?

“Fortune's Run is a complicated game with a large scope being made by just two people. Because of it's open ended nature, the game requires a lot of player experimentation in order for us to understand how to create the best experience possible! We want to develop the game side-by-side with the community so that we can focus on the strengths of the experience and iron out its shortcomings. So far, releasing the demo and updating it over the course of a year has helped us greatly with refining the design, improving the quality of the game and hammering out bugs. We believe that this will continue to enable us to create a great game going forward!”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“At the speed we are currently working, we expect to be finished with the full version by the end of 2026. Since that is far into the future, we've decided to structure the game as standalone chronological missions so that you can enjoy regular updates instead of having to wait three more years to play the full version. We will also be live-patching the game with bug fixes and smaller features throughout the year, of course! You can see our track record on the demo, which is usually patched within the week when bugs are found.”

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

“The full version will contain eight levels with a runtime of over an hour each. These levels will be connected by a hub area. We will be adding new weapons, enemies, mechanics, animated cutscenes and dialogue. The content will be released in chronological order as we move forward. We want to try to make these individual units be as representative of the final version as possible in order to satisfy people who are worried that they will not enjoy the full experience due to the early access model.

Once development of the core single-player game is complete, we will shift into polishing the multiplayer to release a coop and deathmatch mode!

In addition to this, the full version will contain various community-driven improvements, balance changes and bug fixes as we are able to address them during the EA period.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“As of EA launch, there are three areas and several animated cutscenes and dialogue totalling about 3 hours of runtime. There are six weapons available and all the game's mechanics are fully implemented, including advanced combat such as combos, parries, specials, etc. There are eight enemy types including two miniboss type enemies and two additional bosses which are fully complete. In addition, we are including the content from the demo (another 3 hours) which adds a hub, another huge combat level, three more weapons, four enemy types and two more bosses. The runtime can vary due to it being dependent on dialogue and exploration. These numbers are based on averages from our internal play-testing. The current content is mostly final and you can expect it to be representative of the final version, minus bug fixes.”

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

“We are currently planning to price the same after EA.”

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

“We have a very active Discord where we have been doing organized play-testing. We are also active on Steam Forums where we read all the feedback, track bugs and implement design changes which we find relevant. Going into Early Access, we are going to keep the same strategy; play-test semi-internally in the Discord and collect feedback on Steam Forums. That being said, we have a strong vision for this project and will not implement every requested change. Our goal is to make a game which is artistically coherent with a unique design direction. But some of you have great ideas, so we are always reading and listening. : )”