Why Early Access?

“APEX is a deep simulation with a lot of interacting systems: rival desks, commodity corners, board votes, a regulator, and an antagonist that plays by the same rules as you. A handful of testers can't tell us how those systems hold up across thousands of different strategies. We want players in the market with us while the biggest decisions are still open: how hard the war against APEX should be, whether the clean road or the dirty road should be tougher, how the first hours teach a game this deep, and which new scenarios and systems to build next. Players will directly shape the content we add, not just the balance.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We expect about six months. We'll leave Early Access when the roadmap below is delivered and the community agrees the war against APEX, the two roads to victory and the opening hours feel right. If players push the game somewhere bigger, we'd rather take longer and get it right.”

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

“Planned for the full release, with the order and details shaped by player feedback:
- A new scenario, and an earlier-years scenario set before the main campaign begins
- APEX fighting back when you attack its commodity corners, buying against your shorts instead of letting a corner break quietly
- An optional historical corner model, where cornered commodities can be driven far above their normal price, as the Hunt brothers did with silver
- Quarterly client orders to give the long first act more structure
- A reworked onboarding and tutorial, based on where new players get stuck
- Rebalancing of the war against APEX and of the clean and dirty roads, from real campaign data
- A Steam Deck pass
- Expanded leaderboard and Daily Tape features, guided by what the community uses”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The core game is fully playable today: the complete 1985 to 1989 campaign through Black Monday, both the clean and dirty roads to bringing down APEX, three scenarios, the Daily Tape, online head-to-head play over Steam, 25 achievements, the global leaderboard and a full player's guide. Expect balance changes as we tune the war, the economy and the difficulty with real players, and expect new content to arrive through updates.”

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

“Yes. The price will rise when the game leaves Early Access, so early players get the full release, and everything added along the way, for less.”

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

“Through the Steam forums and regular update posts. Each major update will ask players about specific decisions, such as which road should be harder, what the next scenario should be and how tough APEX should be, and the results will feed into what we build. Players can report bugs and balance problems in the forums, and the end-of-campaign records and the Daily Tape give us real data on how strategies play out. We'll publish what we've changed and why in each update's notes.”