Why Early Access?

“ERLIK's core is complete and fully playable, the Erlik↔Tengri axis, a roster of Kam, a full arsenal of weapons with branching evolutions, meta-progression, and a 30-minute climax. We chose Early Access because a game built around a choice: who you become to survive, is best tuned alongside the players who live in it. Your feedback on balance, feel, and which paths are the most fun will directly shape how ERLIK grows toward 1.0.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We plan to be in Early Access for four to six months. This may shift depending on community feedback and how the content develops — we would rather ship a great 1.0 than rush an arbitrary date.”

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

“We plan to expand ERLIK substantially on the way to 1.0: more biomes to descend through, a larger bestiary of enemies and bosses, more weapons and evolutions, deeper meta-progression, and a fuller adaptive soundtrack. We also plan to add difficulty/ascension tiers, an endless mode, and Steam achievements. Our goal is for 1.0 to be a bigger, deeper descent.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access build is fully playable start to finish: two complete biomes — the moonlit Steppe and the Blackwood forest — each with its own signature boss fight (a 30-minute climax, then a rooted forest horror below), nine playable Kam each with a distinct starting spirit and axis lean, base weapons plus axis-gated evolutions, passives including the axis-steering Cleansing & Grace, run-to-run meta-progression (the Kut Hearth), and full interface localization in 8 languages. You can play a full run, die and retry, and build permanent progression between runs.”

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

“We plan to raise the price gradually as we add significant new content on the way to 1.0. Players who buy during Early Access will always get the game at its lowest price.”

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

“We want the community at the heart of ERLIK's development. We plan to gather feedback on balance and feel through the Steam forums and our community channels, share our roadmap openly, and let player input guide which content, characters, and paths we build next. We're also exploring community-driven design — including player-influenced characters and cosmetic designs — so the people who play ERLIK help shape what it becomes.”