Why Early Access?

“Beards vs. Claws is being developed by a solo indie developer (me!), and Early Access allows me to work closesly with the community while contiuing to build and refine the game, often based off of precious community feedback.

The core gameplay and technical foundation are already in place, but many aspects will benefit greatly from real player feedback, especially balance and performance across different hardware.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“I expect the game to remain in Early Access for approximately 12-24 months.

This timeline may change depending on feedback, scope adjustments, and development progress, but the goal is to leave Early Access as soon as the core features are solid, stable and well-polished.”

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

“The full version is planned to include:
- More maps and environment, quantity and variety both.
- Additional gamemodes and content.
- Expanded progression and customization paths.
- More polish, balanced gameplay tuning, and quality-of-life improvements.
- Improved performance and optimization.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version is fully playable and already represents the core vision of the game.

Currently included:
- Core gameplay loop.
- Dynamic, fully destructible world enviroment.
- Five fully playable gamemodes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, Sandbox)
- Foundational UI and settings.
- Ongoing performance optimizations and tuning.

Some systems are still being actively developed or refined, and players may encounter bugs, balancing issues or temporary performance hiccups.”

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

“Yes. The game is planned to be priced lower during Early Access.

As development progresses and additional content, features, and polish are added, the price may slightly increase at full release. Early Access players will receive the game at a lower price as a thank-you for supporting development early on.”

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

“Community feedback is a crucial part of the development process.

To support this, I have built a dedicated feedback system that allows players to submit feedback directly from within the game. This feedback is collected in real time and analyzed using a custom AI-powered tool that organizes suggestions, groups similar topics, filters feedback by game version, and makes it easy to understand what players are experiencing and asking for.

This system helps me efficiently process large volumes of feedback and focus development efforts where they matter most.

While not every suggestion can be implemented, community feedback will directly influence how the game evolves throughout Early Access.”