Why Early Access?

“Dead Stadium: The Extinction Protocol is already playable as a full wave-based survival game, but Early Access is the right fit because the game is built around tuning, player feedback, and expanding replayability over time. The core loop is in place: fight waves, earn cash, buy upgrades, survive longer, and push into harder difficulties. Now the game needs real player feedback on balance, upgrade variety, difficulty pacing, enemy behavior, and what makes each run feel more exciting.

As a solo developer, Early Access lets me improve the game with the community instead of guessing in isolation. The goal is to keep the current playable foundation intact while adding more depth, polish, accessibility options, achievements, enemies, wave events, and long-term progression based on what players actually enjoy.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“The current plan is for Dead Stadium: The Extinction Protocol to remain in Early Access for approximately 6 to 12 months. That timeline may change depending on player feedback, the amount of balancing needed, and how much additional content is added before the full release.
The goal is not to keep the game in Early Access indefinitely, but to use that period to improve the core wave survival loop, add more replayability, polish the upgrade system, expand enemy and wave variety, improve accessibility/options, and prepare the game for a stronger full release.”

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

“The Early Access version focuses on the core survival loop: fighting waves of zombies, earning cash, buying upgrades, choosing difficulty levels, and trying to survive longer in the stadium.

For the full version, I plan to expand the game with more replayability, polish, and long-term goals. Planned improvements include additional enemy variety, more upgrade effects, better wave events, achievement support, improved audio and visual feedback, expanded accessibility/options settings, more balance tuning, and stronger progression between runs.

I also plan to continue improving the stadium itself with more atmosphere, lighting polish, interactable objectives, and systems that make each run feel more dynamic. The goal is for the full version to feel deeper, smoother, and more replayable while keeping the current third-person zombie arena survival foundation.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The current Early Access version is a playable single-player third-person zombie arena shooter with a complete core game loop. Players can fight waves of enemies, earn cash, buy upgrades in the shop between waves, select difficulty levels, use keyboard/mouse or controller, and continue trying to survive longer runs.”

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

“I plan to launch Dead Stadium: The Extinction Protocol at a lower Early Access price than the final 1.0 release price.

The Early Access price is intended to reflect the current state of the game while it is still being expanded, balanced, and polished. I currently expect the price to increase at or near the full 1.0 release after additional content, enemy variety, weapons/upgrades, polish, and replayability have been added.

I do not currently plan to raise the price with every small update. Any price increase will be announced ahead of time and tied to meaningful additions to the game.
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How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“I plan to use player feedback to guide balancing, difficulty tuning, upgrade design, enemy behavior, accessibility options, and overall game feel. Since Dead Stadium: The Extinction Protocol is built around replayable wave survival, feedback from real players will be especially useful for understanding what feels fun, fair, too easy, too punishing, or worth expanding.

I plan to monitor Steam discussions, reviews, bug reports, and player suggestions throughout Early Access. Community feedback will help prioritize future updates, including new upgrades, enemy variety, wave events, performance improvements, quality-of-life features, and polish.”