Wayfinders, As previously mentioned, upon initiating the transfer of service from Digital Extremes to Airship Syndicate, the team began thinking long-term. How do we go about improving Wayfinder while keeping the game alive forever in a sustainable way?
Removal of Online Requirements.
Wayfinder will be removing all online requirements and will be a single-player game with optional 3-player co-op. No queues, no login, no accounts. You can choose to play solo on your Steam Deck while on the go or engage in peer-to-peer co-op with friends from your home PC. We realize this is a big shift, but a necessary one to guarantee that the game is around forever. This also means that all progress will not be carried forward due to saves being local and not on a server. This major change will be the basis for what we’re calling Wayfinder's Echoes Update.
One Price, not microtransactions.
Removing the online requirement wasn’t our only major change. The industry has also shifted in recent years. With more and more games coming out, they’re all fighting for player’s time and attention. Players have more to play than ever, and they’re being asked to log into multiple games to check their daily quests, look at a store rotation, and be drip-fed content. Players today are more apt to outright purchase a game they know is full of content and also respectful of their time. In the Echoes Update, we’ll be charging one price—$24.99 USD during Early Access (increasing upon full release). No in-game microtransactions or in-game purchases, just one price. Founders who have already purchased the game will have access, and all the exclusive items included in each pack. Our Founder’s Packs will not be going back on sale. For anyone that supported us by purchasing in-game Runesilver, we’ve converted that Runesilver into a new in-game currency used to acquire exclusive cosmetics.
Major Gameplay Changes.
These aren’t the only changes, though. We’ve touched every major system in the game, and as a result, the gameplay is not only more refined, but through our various playtests with those outside the studio, the game performs and plays better than before. Some of these changes include all weapons becoming randomized drops with various slots, armor now having stats and being collectible, thousands of cosmetics and housing items available to collect, the removal of the grind to get new characters, eased requirements for awakening characters, increased housing item limits, adding four difficulties to choose from, incorporating traditional RPG talents into your progression, and much more. This update will also launch with the latest Wayfinder: Grendel, as well as brand-new Hunts and a new Overlands zone (three times the size of our last!) that’s overflowing with content and points of interest.
When Can I Play?
While we have lots more to share on these changes in the coming weeks, we have always felt that actions speak louder than words. Therefore, we’ll be soft launching Wayfinder Echoes’ changes on May 31st. From that point forward, all online requirements tied to Steam, including all player data, will be removed, and the game will be available for anyone that currently owns any version of Wayfinder on Steam. Wayfinder will once again be available for purchase on Steam in Early Access on June 11th. These changes will come to PlayStation 5 later in the year, and we’ll keep players updated once we have a concrete timeline. PlayStation 4 support will be discontinued, with all PS4 versions being upgraded to PS5 at no additional cost. In the meantime, PlayStation 4 and 5 players can continue to access the game as normal. Relaunching in Early Access on a single platform also allows us to be agile and make changes at a faster pace than before. We plan to leave Early Access later in 2024, but during that time, we’ll be adding gameplay refinements based on feedback, a new Wayfinder, a new location to explore, new expanded housing, and more. We’re also formally announcing that Wayfinder will be coming to Xbox Series X|S during Early Access, and we’ll provide an update on timing later in the year.
The Path Ahead.
We know that the path to get here hasn’t been easy, and the game has had a rocky past. We also know that this wasn’t the original game that we envisioned or that our fans bought into. When faced with the reality of where we are, we saw our options as shuttering the game fully as other online games have done before or making this pivot and releasing the Echoes Update. During this process, we quickly came to the realization that we’re making a superior game for both current and future players. We’d love to support Wayfinder for years. We have ideas for additional characters and new content, and we have the intent to do so if the players demand it and Wayfinder finds a new audience.
From everyone here at Airship Syndicate, our fans and supporters have been irreplaceable. All of the comments and support have helped push us to make Wayfinder the best it can be and to make sure it’s here to stay now and forever.
