Why Early Access?

“The Crimson Contract is built around a 7-Act world. We are launching with the first two Acts because the core game loop, multiplayer, weapon mechanics, enemies, and progression are all right about where we want them. We want the next five Acts and the social and meta-game systems around them to be shaped by the players who are actually putting hours into the game. Early Access gives us an engaged community to design alongside, instead of guessing in isolation.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Roughly one to two years. We are pacing the remaining five Quarantine Zone Acts at least three months apart, with smaller social, customization, and content updates landing between them.”

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

“The 1.0 release will include all seven Acts. Each new Act introduces a new Quarantine Zone map, a signature boss, new regular enemies, and new weapons and gear.

Between Act releases we plan to ship the social and meta-game features that round the experience out, including:

* Public lobby browsing (Early Access ships with Steam friends and friends-of-friends invites)
* Modular character customization
* Weapon attachments
* Daily and community-wide challenges
* More achievements and leaderboards
* Unlockable NPC characters
* Custom control mapping and accessibility features

A few additions, such as voice-over, are still under evaluation and may be put to a community vote along side various aspects of the previously stated items.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Crimson Contract at Early Access launch is a fully playable 1 to 4 player online co-op zombie survival game. Players get:

**Maps and modes**

- 1 to 4 player online co-op via Steam (friends and friends-of-friends invites)
- Two of the planned seven Quarantine Zones: BLACKWOOD (Forest) and MILLHAVEN (Town)
- Four difficulty tiers per map: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Last Stand (Last Stand is our endless mode)
- A tutorial Quarantine Zone for new players

**Combat and content**

- 13 weapons spanning handguns, shotguns, SMGs, assault rifles, snipers, and melee, most of which are earned through gameplay progression rather than handed out at the start. Heavier weapon classes (LMG, Rocket Launcher, Flamethrower, Minigun) arrive in later Early Access updates.
- A roster of zombie types tuned to each Quarantine Zone, including the signature bosses Horned Beast (Forest) and Wretch (Town)
- 9 tactical consumables: Music Box, Smoke Grenade, Barricade, Mine, Grenade, Sentry, Nuke, Health, and Stamina
- 7 provision upgrade types (Health, Stamina, Self-Revive, Speed, Damage, Rate of Fire, Armor), unlockable through Forest and Town progression at two tiers each at launch, with deeper tiers opening as later Quarantine Zones release

**Persistence and competition**

- 33 Steam Achievements at launch (with 4 more tied to weapon classes that activate as those weapons release through Early Access)
- 48 Steam Leaderboards at launch covering per-map kill counts at every difficulty, weapon-class kills, zombie-type kills, accuracy, total earnings, highest round reached, and more (additional per-map leaderboards activate as future Quarantine Zones release)
- Lifetime stat tracking across sessions
- Cross-device cloud save

**Other**

- Full controller and keyboard-and-mouse support, with on-screen prompts that match the active input device
- Server-authoritative anti-cheat protecting the in-game economy
- English text and UI at launch
”

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

“We plan a modest price increase when the game reaches 1.0 to reflect the additional content delivered during Early Access. Players who buy during Early Access keep the lower price and receive every Act update at no extra cost.”

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

“Several channels:

* A Discord server for direct, ongoing conversation between players and the dev team
* An active presence on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube, with content tailored to each platform
* A public roadmap with regular updates so players can see what is coming and what is currently being worked on
* Public lobby browsing and daily / community challenges, which create natural spaces for the community to form in-game
* Steam Achievements and Leaderboards for visible long-term goals
* Community polls on features we are undecided about, such as voice-over and customization scope
* Patch notes and dev posts that tie back to player feedback so contributors can see their input land in the game”