Why Early Access?

“As a procedural and replayable game, Arcticide will benefit greatly from careful balancing and from the addition of new content and features. A gradual, iterative, and community-focused development phase is the best way to incorporate such additions, and Early Access is the ideal vehicle for this. Ultimately, a period of Early Access development will allow the game to be the best it possibly can be upon full release.

As well, Arcticide will change and improve significantly during the first year of release, so having it labelled as Early Access makes this more transparent and clear to potential players.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“The intended duration of Early Access is approximately one year, however this may be extended if there is need for further refinement. New features and content will be gradually added via updates throughout the Early Access period.”

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

“The full version is planned to be more balanced and stable, and to have significantly more features and polish. The planned content includes a greater variety of enemies, weapons, equipment, biomes, and random events, as well as refinements to the existing features. Narrative polish and Steam achievements are also planned to be fully implemented.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The current state of Arcticide is a solid replayable core with survival, combat, and, exploration mechanics implemented. The Daily Challenge, Custom Run, and Campaign modes are fully functional, and there are a variety of enemies, weapons, equipment, and generated area types.

Some performance and balance issues may be found, but should only rarely impact gameplay significantly. Extensive accessibility settings are implemented, as are the localization system and partial controller support.”

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

“A moderate price increase after Early Access is planned, although this will depend on circumstances at that time.”

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

“Community feedback will be incorporated into balancing decisions as well as in deciding which features to prioritize. Feedback will also be solicited on performance and general design considerations. Community involvement methods will include the use of tools such as surveys and polls, as well as more informal discussion. The primary places for community interaction will be the Steam discussion forum, Discord, and Twitter/X. As well, regular development progress posts will be posted in these places as well as in the Steam announcement page.”