Why Early Access?

“Liekos Studio has spent the last three years developing a complex digital twin that provides real-world training to veterinarians. Early on, we realized that our veterinary users enjoyed playing VetVR as much as they liked training with it. Since then, we have striven to create an application that is as entertaining as it is educational.

We have decided to release our game as early access so that we can incorporate feedback from our audience to make the best final product. Through our demo alone we have learned a lot about the features, scenarios, and animals our users would most like to see. We have incorporated that feedback into numerous levels/scenarios already in development but are eager to continue to learn what makes a phenomenal simulation game/VR training. We knew the best way to achieve this would be to open a discussion with our end users and give them access to our game while we are in the final development phase.

Early access gives us the opportunity to fine-tune our future levels to the interests and needs of our audience. Since our studio is based in a university setting, it also allows our researchers to study VR training and development.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Our full version is planned to be available in Q3 2024. We hope to release three new levels every two months, in each case responding to users' input and requests.”

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

“While the foundation is the same, we plan to include around 21 new levels of increasing complexity. These levels will introduce new veterinary techniques not currently available and will incorporate user feedback regarding what our audience is most interested in experiencing. The additional levels will be built off of skills and training taught in our early access version for a fully immersive, story-rich experience.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The current version is a solidly playable game, with around 2 hours of straight VR playthrough, and an open sandbox lobby with which to explore immersive, interactive VR.”

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

“We plan to increase the price of the game once it exits early access and after having added additional features and content based on your feedback. This price increase will only affect new players, so folks who purchase the game during early access will save money.”

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

“We will be regularly posting on Steam's community page and have opened a Reddit and Discord channel dedicated to VetVR. Through those forums, as well as our social media, we will be posting game updates and open discussions on what features, animals, and scenarios our users want to see next. As our user feedback continues to grow, we may post polls to allow the community to determine what content gets worked on first and what requests become part of the final game. We are also working directly with users through all forums as well as our website to collect bug reports, implement fixes, and continue to polish our game. Finally, since Liekos Studios’ leadership team is based at a public land-grant university, we are accessible via email if people are interested in searching us out directly. We are also available through social media DM’s with slightly slower response times.”