The 0.21 update will release on Thursday, May 21st. It introduces a new specimen aboard the HSS Hawking, marking the first major addition to the bestiary since the beginning of Early Access.
We wanted to take a moment, one week ahead of release, to talk about what this update represents for us and what you can expect from it without revealing too much.
Why this update matters to us
Adding a new specimen is one of the most demanding things we do: it sits at the core of the gameplay. A specimen is not just a model and an animation set. It is an entire behavioral system that has to coexist with everything already in the game, react to player creativity, remain balanced across difficulty levels and team compositions, support all gameplay phases (being hunted, destroyed, captured...), and stay readable enough for players to learn without feeling unfairly punished.
We spent most of the last sprint focusing on rare situations, edge cases, and balancing, all the things that only appear once the creature is truly stress tested. We are now finishing the elements of its dedicated “specimen room”. This is the first new specimen we are delivering since the start of Early Access, and it will be available on May 21st.
We genuinely think you are going to enjoy encountering it, or at the very least, enjoy being challenged by this new threat.
What we can say and what we will keep secret
We will not spoil the specimen here. Discovering a new creature for the first time is part of the experience, and we want you to experience that moment intact, preferably as a team.
The video below obviously gives a few hints about its type, but nothing about its behavior.
What we can tell you:
Like the other specimens, it will appear in existing missions, not in a dedicated mission. You may encounter it as early as your next run
Its behavior differs enough from existing specimens that your current habits will not be enough. You will have to understand it
This is not a reskin or a variant. It is a fully new entry in the bestiary, with its own identity
If you want to go in completely blind, we recommend discovering the specimen without Discord spoilers on launch day. Things will probably move fast.
A word for content creators
We know some of you are planning to cover the update. We are grateful for that: your videos and streams are how many players discover Species: Unknown, and for a small independent and self funded studio like ours, your support and reviews are the best way to help people discover our work.
If you are a content creator and would like to stay informed about upcoming updates for coverage purposes, make sure to assign yourself the dedicated content creator role on the studio Discord server. We will do our best to support you within the limits of what a small team can realistically provide.
We will also be active on launch day to answer questions, react to clips, and watch you discover the specimen live on Twitch. It is one of our favorite moments whenever we release an update.
What else is coming in 0.21
The update will also include a number of fixes and smaller changes that were already in the pipeline. We will detail everything in the full patch notes on May 21st. A few things we can already mention:
Improvements based on your feedback after 0.20
Several smaller quality of life changes and fixes
A Supporter Pack update featuring visuals related to the new specimen
The full list will be available in the update article when it goes live.
How to support the indie studio
If you enjoy Species: Unknown and want to help the game reach more players, here is what will have the biggest impact around May 21st:
Add the game to your wishlist if you have not already, or share it with someone who might enjoy a co-op horror game. The next update will be a great time to invite friends
Leave a Steam review if you have not done so already. Reviews are a major signal that helps the game reach more players
Play on launch day or during the following days. Player activity around an update directly influences how Steam pushes the game to new audiences
We are an independent team, and these moments, when a community rallies around an update, are what allow us to keep developing the game.
See you on Thursday
Thank you to everyone who has been with us since the beginning. The community around Species: Unknown is the reason we work every day to expand and improve this game we love.
See you on May 21st aboard the HSS Hawking.
A bientôt, the Species: Unknown team at WanadevStudio.