Why Early Access?

“ Dead Meridian is a survival game, and survival games get so much better when real players get their hands on them. We want to see how people actually play: where they go, what they build, how they team up with friends, and what makes them quit or keep coming back. That's something we just can't find out testing on our own.

The game is already fun to play with a lot of content in it, but there's still plenty we'd like to add and polish. Early Access lets us build the rest of it alongside the people playing, fix the bugs you find, and shape the bigger features around your feedback instead of guessing.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“ I am expecting Dead Meridian to be in Early Access for roughly a year, but honestly it depends a lot on what we learn from players along the way. If the community wants bigger features or we find areas that need more work, we'd rather take the extra time and get it right than rush it out. We'll keep everyone updated as things move along.”

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

“Early Access is where I want to build Dead Meridian together with the people playing it. The core is already here: you wake up on the island with up to 3 friends, scavenge Meridian City and the farms, fight off hordes and blood moons, and try to survive the Blast Zone. For the full version, we plan to grow everything around that core.

I am plan to add more of the island to explore, with new towns, landmarks and points of interest, and to keep filling out the city so more buildings are worth going into. We'd like to bring in more zombie types and bosses, more raider behaviour, and more weapons, vehicles and crafting options. I also plan to deepen the survival side with things like farming, base building and trading, and to keep improving co-op so playing with friends feels smoother.

Beyond new content, a big part of Early Access for us is polish: fixing bugs, improving performance, balancing difficulty, and tightening up the menus and controls based on what players tell us. Your feedback will shape a lot of what comes next, so if something feels off or you have an idea, I really want to hear it.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“ Dead Meridian is already fully playable, solo or in co-op with up to 3 friends. You pick a beach, wash up on the island and try to survive for as long as you can.

Right now you can explore a big open island with jungle, farms, wrecks and landmarks, plus Meridian City on the northeast coast. The city has a downtown, an old town, a harbor and a walled quarantine zone, and hundreds of shops and buildings you can go inside and loot. In the middle of the island is the Blast Zone, a radioactive wasteland full of irradiated and exploding zombies.

You'll be harvesting, crafting, building and defending a base, fishing, farming, trading with survivors and taking on landmark jobs. There are lots of zombie types (runners, spitters, screamers, crawlers and a giant mutant boss), raider gangs that drive around and raid your base, blood moons, night hordes, storms and random events like heli crashes. You can create multiple worlds with different difficulties or fully custom settings, and there's a map maker for building your own maps.

It's Early Access, so you will run into bugs and rough edges, and balance and performance are still being worked on. I updating it regularly and listening closely to feedback.”

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

“ I plan to raise the price a bit once the game leaves Early Access and has more content in it. Anyone who buys during Early Access gets the game at a lower price and keeps everything that's added later at no extra cost. It's our way of saying thanks for jumping in early and helping shape the game.”

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

“ Dead Meridian is made by one developer, so player feedback directly shapes what gets built next. I read every review, Steam discussion post and Discord message, and I use them to choose which bugs to fix first and which features come next. You can find the Discord link on this store page. I'll post regular updates and patch notes on Steam so you can see your suggestions make it into the game.”