Hello everyone! Since we first mentioned our plans for an Early Access (EA) release, many players have asked us questions like, "What is EA?" and "Why choose this method?" Today, we’d like to share our thoughts with you.
What is Early Access?
For those familiar with indie games, EA might not be a new term. According to Steam’s official definition, EA is: "A tool that allows the community to experience the game before its official release and gives customers the understanding that the product is ‘unfinished’ but has a playable state with plans for continued development."
In simpler terms, EA is when a game is not fully completed but already has playable content. It is released in this state using the Early Access model.
Why use this approach?
Steam explains that EA helps "bring the community into the development process and provides the developer with funding to complete the game." This perfectly fits our situation.
A Beneficial Cycle
Players who have been in our community from the start will notice that the current version of the game is vastly different from the early versions. Initially, the combat difficulty, controls, and UI were very "rough" (some might say user-unfriendly). This stemmed from our early "closed-door" development approach. Daojian Jianghu Lu is also our team’s first indie game, and we quickly realized this wasn’t the best method.
Once we opened the demo, the first wave of players joined our chat groups and provided invaluable and practical suggestions. The game has steadily improved through this positive feedback loop. We learned that engaging with the player community keeps the game on the right development path, creating a win-win for both developers and players. (PS: Our three active chat groups are full as I write this, with players who have earned top activity badges, proving we’ve been listening to your feedback.)
While this is a bold project for our first game (in terms of development costs), Daojian Jianghu Lu is still an indie game, not a AAA title. We mention this not to excuse any shortcomings but to acknowledge that we still have a long way to go. Rather than letting expectations skyrocket while we "promise more and more," we’d rather put the game in your hands now so we can all continue building this wuxia dream together.
Practical Considerations
We’ve often mentioned the content included in the EA version—700,000 characters of narrative, 24 martial arts styles, 12 light movement techniques, 17 internal arts, 3 story-driven sects, and many more open-world features (baby raising, companion and servant development, etc.). These account for about 55% of the full release, which is expected to launch in Q3 2025.
However, our current development costs have reached the limit of what we can handle. Our loyal fans know that our lead developer, Laomeng, has taken on loans and mortgages to push the game to this point. As this is our first game, it was a very bold decision. Using Early Access will help us gather the funding needed to complete the game.
What content can you expect in the EA version?
It seems we can't avoid this lengthy explanation. The EA version includes:
10 large maps
700,000 characters of narrative
24 martial arts styles
12 light movement techniques
17 internal arts
3 story-driven sects
Open-world features like factions, child-rearing, companion and servant development, brothel gameplay, martial arts schools, bounty hunting, prison break, and more NPC interactions.
This content covers about 55% of the full version. If you find these descriptions a bit abstract, our demo will remain available for you to experience firsthand. You can try it and then decide if the content aligns with your expectations.
We emphasize content details to ensure players have a clear understanding of what the EA version offers.
The EA version focuses mainly on story and combat, with less open-world sandbox gameplay. If you're mainly interested in the open-world features, we recommend waiting for the full release.
Post-EA Update Plan
We’ll provide a detailed update plan after the EA release.
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