Why Early Access?

“Era of Shadows is launching in Early Access to build balance, and expand the game alongside the community. While the core gameplay loop is already complete and fun to play, gathering real-world player feedback is essential to fine-tune difficulty settings, balance character classes, and shape upcoming content. Development will continue with regular updates to bring Era of Shadows closer and closer to a polished 1.0 release.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Era of Shadows is estimated to remain in Early Access for approximately 12 to 24 months. This timeframe provides enough room to build out planned biomes, playable characters, and classes while staying flexible enough to incorporate community suggestions. While development timelines can shift, the goal is to reach a complete 1.0 launch within this window.”

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

“For the full 1.0 release, the plan is to significantly expand the scope, variety, and replayability of Era of Shadows. The roadmap includes adding new playable levels featuring distinct biomes, additional character classes, more playable characters, and a wider roster of enemies, abilities, items, and hidden secrets. Existing mechanics and overall balance will also be refined based on community feedback.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Era of Shadows is already fully playable and currently includes 5 unique levels across 2 difficulty settings. Players have immediate access to 3 playable characters and 3 classes, along with a wide variety of enemies, bosses, abilities, items, upgrades and secrets to discover. All core features listed in the 'About This Game' section are currently implemented, and the experience will continue to be expanded and balanced throughout Early Access.”

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

“Yes, the price is planned to gradually increase as major content updates, new biomes, and additional playable characters are shipped, reflecting the expanded scope of the full 1.0 release. Early Access supporters get the game at a lower entry price and receive all future updates leading up to 1.0 at no extra cost.”

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

“Players can share suggestions, report bugs, ask direct questions and follow the development roadmap via the official Era of Shadows Discord server as well as the Steam Discussions forum. Community feedback will shape development priorities. Player input will be used to balance classes and difficulty settings, refine mechanics, and decide which new features, enemies, abilities and ideas to add in upcoming updates.”