Why Early Access?

“Tidal Rush is already a fully playable arcade racing game featuring online multiplayer, local split-screen, Grand Prix tournaments, time trials, leaderboards, and multiple race environments. We are releasing in Early Access because we want to make the game available to players while continuing to evaluate its future direction together with the community.

Early Access allows players to experience the latest stable version of Tidal Rush and provide valuable feedback on gameplay, balance, online features, progression, and content priorities. It also gives us an opportunity to better understand what players enjoy most and where future development efforts should be focused.

As an independent project, community support and feedback play an important role in helping us determine the best path forward for Tidal Rush.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We currently expect Tidal Rush to remain in Early Access for about one to 1.5 years while we evaluate opportunities to expand and improve the game based on community feedback and available development resources.

Our plans include additional tracks, campaign missions, characters, vehicles, gameplay features, quality-of-life improvements, balancing updates, and further refinements to the overall player experience. The exact scope and timeline of future development will depend on community interest, player feedback, and the resources available to the project.

We want to be transparent that our focus during Early Access is on learning from players and assessing the long-term future of Tidal Rush rather than committing to a fixed roadmap.”

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

“For the full version we plan to have:
- up to 15 playable race tracks in various level environments (city, desert, etc.)
- up to 12 playable characters
- at least 10 playable vehicles
- much more polished visual style of the game
- complete soundtrack and sound effects
- An experience-based matchmaking system
- Up to 12 Powerups, maybe even more
- More character and vehicle customisation options
- Basic emoji-based interaction between multiplayer players'”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version is fully playable and contains the core Tidal Rush experience.
Current features include:

- Single Race mode
- Time Trial mode
- Grand Prix tournaments
- Online multiplayer for up to 12 players
- Local 2-player split-screen multiplayer
- Global leaderboards
- 4 playable characters including few character skins
- 2 Playable vehicles (Hydrospeeders)
- 3 playable race tracks (+2 work in progress tracks)
- 9 available items
- Crossplay matchmaking between players playing the game on PC, Mac and Linux platform,

The game is stable and represents the latest available version of the project. However, players may still encounter bugs, balancing issues, unfinished elements, or areas that may change based on feedback received during Early Access.”

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

“We are launching Tidal Rush at a lower introductory price during Early Access.

As development continues and significant new content, features, or improvements are added over time, we may adjust the price to better reflect the expanded scope of the game. Any future pricing decisions will take into account the amount of content available and the overall state of the project.

Players who join during Early Access are supporting the project at an earlier stage of its development.”

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

“Community feedback and support is one of the primary reasons we are launching in Early Access.

We plan to gather feedback through Steam Discussions, our Discord community, social media channels, gameplay data, bug reports, and direct player suggestions. We will use this feedback to better understand which features, content, improvements, and quality-of-life changes are most important to players.

We also intend to share updates on the project's progress, discuss potential development priorities, and maintain an open dialogue with the community whenever possible. Player feedback will help shape future decisions regarding the direction and scope of Tidal Rush.”