Why Early Access?

“Prime Protocol’s core loop is built around risk, extraction timing, and mechanical readability. Early Access lets us tune difficulty, portal timing, artifact behavior, and instability escalation using real player data—so the system feels fair, consistent, and skill-forward. We also want community feedback on clarity (what the game communicates on-screen), balance (what feels earned vs. random), and the pacing of progression through repeated runs.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We currently expect Early Access to last approximately 6–12 months, depending on feedback, balance targets, and stability milestones. We’ll remain in Early Access until the full progression loop, content breadth, and polish meet release standards.”

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

“The full version is planned to expand and refine Prime Protocol without changing the core rule set. Areas we plan to improve include:

Additional artifact behaviors and stronger “equipment identity” across the artifact set

More hazards, platform variants, and procedural patterns

Continued tuning of instability levels (telegraphing, fairness, readability)

Expanded progression/persistence polish in the hub (stash flow, UI clarity, feedback)

Quality-of-life improvements (options, accessibility, input/feedback refinement)

Additional Steam features may be added if implemented and tested (e.g., achievements, stats, leaderboard variants)”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version is playable end-to-end with the core loop: procedural runs, physical artifact pickup/drop/swap, extraction portals with countdown behavior, and hub banking/persistence. Current development is focused on expanding and tuning artifact effects and the instability response so runs remain consistent, readable, and skill-respecting. Additional balancing, content variety, UI clarity, and polish will continue throughout Early Access.”

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

“We plan to start at a lower price during Early Access and may increase the price over time as major content and polish updates are shipped. Early Access players will receive the game at the current price while it is still in development.”

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

“We’ll use the Steam Community hub to collect bug reports, balance feedback, and system suggestions—especially around difficulty tuning, artifact behavior, instability readability, and portal timing. We plan to post regular patch notes and targeted feedback prompts (e.g., “Does instability feel predictable?” / “Which artifacts create the strongest decision pressure?”). Community input will directly guide tuning priorities and quality-of-life improvements.”