Greetings, pilots!
Gosh, I genuinely wanted to share just a short and snappy announcement about Erik, our Community Ambassador and Content Creator, sharing a new location of the Khaït Nebula in Friday’s gamedev & community stream on our Twitch and YouTube as well as here on Steam — I promise, you won’t regret joining us!
But when I playtested the latest build for the first time a few days ago, not knowing what to expect, I sincerely lost it when I entered the Ancient Citadel. This is even after I was already blown away by the new(!) Ancients puzzle mechanics, introduced earlier in the upcoming update.
In case anyone is shocked I don’t know what our team is working on in detail: a) my business partner and CFO/COO, Christian, and I trust our exceptional team knows what they’re doing as they’ve proved many times over the course of 15+ years; b) my main responsibility is to spread the word about our work and get the media, platform owners, and, most importantly, our fans excited for what’s next. I wait as long as possible until playtesting a new build to get that first impression from a player’s perspective, so I can be as nitpicky as any of you might be, while genuinely sharing my excitement about our game—still in the making—with our community.
Imagine, this is just an impromptu 1st-person-view screenshot taken in Photo Mode by Erik during our weekly Marcom chat to make sure we’re talking about the same location which will be revealed this Friday. It’s 100% undoctored except for me slapping the EVERSPACE 2 logo on it. Man, I really have the best job in the video games industry I could wish for...
When I explored the Khaït Nebula, I had some serious Uncharted vibes and I’m loving the (slight) shift from the EVERSPACE’s franchise signature core gameplay of fast-paced combat and hunting for loot to deeper exploration, with mystery taking center stage along with storytelling and more complex puzzle-solving in the new star system.
That said, action fans don’t worry! There’s still a ton of looting & shooting on the way! Get ready for an all-new faction featuring new enemy types you’ll encounter in the new star system—Erik will also show some red-hot concept art of the Redeemers on Friday. Also, to anyone not a fan of puzzles, most of them are optional, especially the tougher ones. I still haven’t figured out where that third Ancient Rune belongs to unlock the next step in one in particular… there’s gotta be a solution!
New Full Release Date: Early 2023
Alright, here comes the bad news: As some pilots might have read in yesterday’s big announcement, we shared that we decided to push back the full release on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation to early 2023. Yeah, we can feel your disappointment through the digital ether, but hear me out because it’s complicated and there’s also an upside for all pilots on all platforms. I know, it sounds like 101 sugar talk, but most of you should know me by now, so here’s the real deal:
First off, we’re super happy with where the game is currently at: EVERSPACE 2 is sitting at 91% positive overall on Steam, and SteamSpy’s owner estimate is pretty accurate—as in we’re doing fine thanks to 150K+ daring space pilots trusting us that we’ll deliver on our promises. That’s a huge compliment to the team, making us all feel fuzzy inside, so big thanks again for all your glowing feedback and for voting with your wallet to help us make a game that we couldn’t be more passionate about.
I know, I know… I must sound like a broken record to frequent update readers, but when I’m sitting behind the keyboard, working on yet another way-too-long news update, I’m thinking about what I, as a passionate gamer myself, would love to know from a developer and what our team would like me to share with our community. It always centers around us deeply appreciating the support and commitment from our fans. Sorry, where was I? Right, the new full release date… it sucks, we know. Here’s the meta...
EVERSPACE 2 Coming to Game Pass for PC
So, big news for the Felsenfische, huh? Yep, you bet, and I’m more than happy to share why this is great news for everyone. If anyone is not happy getting the most bang for their buck when backing us on Kickstarter or jumping in the cockpit during Early Access against the off-chance EVERSPACE 2 being added to Game Pass for PC while the game is still in development, we get it. Buuuut, there’s more to this.
Now, before anyone leaving an angry comment that if they had known that EVERSPACE 2 is coming to Game Pass for PC as Game Preview they would have not backed us on Kickstarter or bought the game on Steam, let me assure you, we genuinely didn’t expect that Microsoft would offer a deal too good to pass on and pick up the game before completion. For several reasons, we’re genuinely excited about partnering with our friends at Microsoft again to bring EVERSPACE 2 to the Windows 10/11 Store as Game Preview AND Xbox Game Pass for PC. And, as early backers, this should excite you, too!
First off, if one of the biggest platform holders decides to partner with an independent studio (again!); that alone is a huge achievement because a) such deals can be game-changers for independent studios like us especially since they are rare with so many other great titles competing for the spotlight worldwide; b) a handful of very knowledgeable individuals working at massive companies are putting their neck out by trusting that we will deliver on our promises even if things get messy; and c) thanks to significant license fees being paid without any strings attached regarding change of creative direction is arguably the very, very best that can happen to an independent studio. Did I mention there is NO exclusivity?
Anyone not familiar with our story, we’ve seen it all, like work for hire under tough terms, raising cash from VCs while putting the house on the line, to AAA publishers pulling the plug only hours after counter-signing a 2-year full-production agreement for a team of 30. No hard feelings, though, we wouldn’t be at the greatest spot in our careers without some vital deals falling apart, forcing us to reinvent ourselves and conquer new territories… Right! Full Release pushed back to early 2023, I’ll get to the point now, promise!
If the past few years (should have) told all of us anything, it’s Shigeru Miyamoto’s iconic statement never gets old: “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad!”
THIS right here is why partnering with Microsoft again is a blessing for everyone: Thanks to this major deal, we can afford to work another 6 to 9 months on the full release and make sure that the endgame of EVERSPACE 2 will be worth your while, too. We're also bringing additional external artists and devs to the roster, spending even more budget on final polish of all handcrafted locations and in-game cutscenes (watch for more details with the official release of the Khaït Nebula update) while avoiding the anticipated fierce competition from several major, delayed AA and AAA titles releasing in the second half of 2022. Long update short, you’re going to get an even better, even more polished game for the low, low cost of patience.
I cannot stress enough how grateful we are that nobody is breathing down our neck to ship a title to hit some arbitrary financial goals no matter if the game is finished or not, and I share nothing but my deepest sympathy for any developer, no matter if indie or AAA, being forced to make some very, very tough decisions around cutting content, compromising on quality, and/or putting their team under enormous pressure to meet a deadline.
Keep it civil on the forums, and see you in space! 🚀💥🙌
Michael and your dedicated ROCKFISH Games Team