Why Early Access?

“God Save Birmingham aims to create a challenging survival game set in a meticulously detailed medieval town, with level design and gameplay that embrace historical detail. We envision this to come in multiple phases that are executed based on player engagement, making Early Access the right approach--especially for three areas we find constant player feedback essential.

First is creating a true sandbox experience. We hope to incorporate almost everything imaginable in a medieval zombie survival setting, and we believe it would be possible with the combined creativity of the players and us.

Second is to refine the balance, in order to stay faithful to the experience we are aiming for. Designing a realistic and challenging survival experience requires a lot of fine-tuning the balance. We would love to hear the input of players well versed in the genre to help us home in on the right experience for everyone.

Last but not least is to ensure each game update we have adds to the overall enjoyment of the game. We fully recognize that decisions we make for the game may not always be for the best despite our best intentions. But we won't know if we were wrong unless our players tell us how they feel.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“After Early Access release, we’ll be working for another year or so to complete the town itself, focusing on sandbox-style gameplay and survival challenges.

After that, we’ll spend another year or so creating light story-driven elements that allow players to explore the stories of Birmingham’s people as they fight to survive in a world gone mad.”

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

“Our plan is that the full version of God Save Birmingham will feature a much larger town, with a number of new systems, mechanics, and items to fill it, as well as lots of additional polish to ensure that every session delivers a tense, exciting survival experience.

We’re also planning to add (very) light narrative elements, like additional playable characters with unique gameplay styles and objectives.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version of the games features about one-quarter of the finished environment of Birmingham, as well as two playable characters. You'll explore the town, gather supplies, and navigate a sandbox environment to survive as long as you can.”

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

“The short answer is: we don’t know for sure yet, but it is likely to increase. As we add more content and systems, through Early Access and beyond, we may revisit pricing to better reflect the state of the game. With our plans for future content we shared above, the pricing will likely increase during or after Early Access.”

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

“At Ocean Drive Studio, we take an inside-out approach to development, starting from the core of what makes a game fun, and building from there. We take things like demos, betas, and Early Access periods extremely seriously, and consider player feedback absolutely vital to pretty much everything we do.

We invite players to follow our blog updates on Steam, drop in on Discord, share their thoughts every step of the way, and join us on our journey to deliver great games.

God Save Birmingham!”