Why Early Access?

“We want to deliver the most fun game possible, and early access is the best way for us to do so as we want to gather players’ feedback and use it to reach our quality objectives. We have already organized several open alphas in the past—during which our community got their hands on early builds of the game—but this next step is taking things to another level. Our goal is to build something great together in order to make Waven a game everyone will enjoy playing!”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We expect to launch the full game on PC, Mac and mobile around the end of 2023, after less than half a year of early access, but this date may not be definitive yet.”

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

“The core game will remain the same between early access and launch. What will be different, however, is the amount of content Waven will have to offer. Our current plan is for the final version of Waven to have a new main quest, another playable class with 5 unique heroes, new elite bosses, new islands with tons of content, and a whole new game mode: “island defense,” an asynchronous PvP mode where you will attack offline players’ islands while trying to organize the defense of your own. We also plan on adding guilds to the game and take cooperation and PvP to another level. We will of course make use of all of your feedback to polish the game and make it even better than it already is!”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“As it is, Waven’s early access represents countless hours of gameplay with huge replayability. With more than 17 islands, 25 playable heroes, 90 companions, 250 daily quests, 300 spells, 300 characters and 600 monsters, Waven is already at a very advanced stage of development, and will only get better from now on as we are working on polishing some of the game’s aspects and adding even more content. But the core content is already here, its gameplay is already very polished and many features like online co-op dungeons, PvP arenas or the in-game shop for cosmetics are already live.”

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

“Waven is free-to-play, and it will remain as such, even after launch. Every player has access to all of the game’s content for free and we do not intend to change that. The only items you can pay for are cosmetics: hero skins, cosmetic pets, visual effects, emotes and more. If you want to customize your adventure on the high seas and support the game, Founder’s Packs are also available, exclusively during early access! The shop’s offers and prices may be subject to change at launch and during the early access period, but we will not implement anything that could be assimilated to pay-to-win mechanics.”

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

“Our community has been at the center of Waven’s development process since the very beginning. We ran open alphas very early on and have been listening closely to players’ feedback ever since. Your input is really valuable and continuously helps us build something great. As such, we set up an in-game report system players can use to flag issues they encounter while playing. We also have our very own Ankama forums where everyone can share feedback, thoughts and suggestions for improvement. We are, of course, very much reading and listening to what the community has to say on social media, and—ever since our participation to the Steam Next Fest—on our Steam forum as well.

Your opinion is very valued, so make sure to write to us on our forums, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok for more information on Waven’s launch!”