Why Early Access?

“White Dwarf is built around the way its different systems interact. The fun is not just in finding a strong upgrade or beating a particular boss. It is in seeing what happens when the choices we make during a run start working together. There are far too many possible combinations for us to test all of them ourselves. We can play for hundreds of hours and still only discover the builds we already expected to work.

The core game loop is finished and stable. What we need now is a much wider range of players and playstyles. We want to see the build we thought was a bad idea turn out to be incredibly strong, the wave everyone keeps dying on for a reason we never noticed, or the ability that nobody seems to pick. Those are the kinds of things that tell us whether the game is actually balanced, and they are difficult to see when you are the people making the game.

Early Access lets us develop the rest of the game around how people actually play it instead of relying only on our own assumptions. We would rather make those adjustments together with the people playing White Dwarf than spend a year polishing a finished version and only then discover that some of our assumptions were wrong.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We currently expect Early Access to last somewhere between six months and a year, depending on how the content and balance work develops.

That timeframe is an estimate, not a deadline. The whole point of Early Access is being able to respond to what players actually experience, and some problems only become obvious once enough people are playing. If the game needs more time to get the balance right, we would rather take that time than leave Early Access on schedule with a game that is not ready.”

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

“We want to keep expanding the game in the direction it is already going rather than adding unrelated systems just to make the game bigger.

We plan to add more enemy types and bosses, while keeping the same rule that the current ones follow: when you defeat something, it does not simply disappear. It becomes part of the run and can show up again as you continue playing. We also plan to add more active abilities, deeper upgrade paths, and more perks, including hidden ones that can emerge when two different builds come together. We would also like to add more optional choices where taking on extra risk can lead to a greater reward, expand the progression that carries between runs, and give players more ways to spend that progression.

Alongside new content, we plan to keep working on balance based on player feedback, as well as performance, accessibility and quality-of-life improvements. We may also add more languages if there is enough demand.

None of this is a fixed list, and the order can change based on what we learn from players. Nothing here is a promise of a specific feature on a specific date.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The game is playable from start to finish. It is not a demo or a small slice of the full game. Everything described on the store page is already in the build: the complete run from the first wave to the run that eventually kills you, upgrade choices throughout the run, perks that emerge from the builds you commit to, bosses that can return as regular enemies after you defeat them, and progression that carries between runs.

The current build also includes achievements with lifetime stat tracking, Steam Cloud so your progress can follow you between machines, keyboard and mouse as well as controller support with full rebinding, ten languages, and a settings menu with graphics, display and accessibility options, including a flash-reduction mode.

For us, Early Access is mainly about expanding the game and tuning the balance, not about making the basic mechanics work. The mechanics currently in the game have been tested and are working. Balance is the part that is still evolving, so numbers may change between updates as we receive feedback, and new content will continue to be added. We intend for saves to carry forward across updates.”

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

“We plan to raise the price gradually as significant content updates are released, and the full version is intended to cost more than it does now. Buying the game during Early Access is intended to be the cheapest way to get it, and everything added during Early Access is included. There is nothing extra to buy on top of it.

There is one currency in the game. You earn it by playing, and it cannot be bought with real money. There are no timers, daily systems or season passes. We do not plan to change that during Early Access or after the full release.”

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

“The Steam Community Hub is our main channel, and we want it to be part of the development process rather than just a place where we post announcements. Bug reports, balance complaints, "this build is broken", "this wave is a wall", "I never once pressed this button" are all useful to us. We read them, and we want the balance changes between updates to be based on what players are actually experiencing.

We plan to include patch notes with every update explaining what changed and why. That way, players can see what feedback led to a particular change. When we have a real choice about what to work on next, we want to ask the community first and let their responses influence the decision.

The most useful thing you can tell us is not just whether you liked or disliked something, but what happened during the run. What build were you using? Which wave were you on? What killed you? A run we can actually picture is much more useful to us than a rating on its own, and it gives us a much better chance of understanding what needs to change.”