Over the past five months, we’ve released Worlds Adrift to a wider demographic, to not only gauge how the tech handled it, but to also assess the community’s reaction. Whilst the response was generally positive, we realised that there are still some fundamental issues that need fixing. Which is precisely the purpose of closed betas, after all. We now know what we need to prioritise going forward, and how we’re going to achieve this.
For the TL:DR version, you can watch Henrique explain it himself in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imjxk1YV8SM
What we said we’d do
Firstly, a quick recap of the plan and goals we outlined when we put Worlds Adrift into closed beta:
- To release in batches in order to make sure we could fully manage queueing problems, server instabilities, lost progress, and other issues that other MMOs might suffer from in their initial stages.
- Managing the tech issues. We’re the first developer to use this brand new technology and that means there are new bugs to discover that no one will ever have run into before.
- Allow the community to have their say regarding the game’s development. We’ve listened and have understood the main concerns you guys have.
- Ensure players were enjoying it. At the end of the day, a game should be fun as well as playable.
What we’re going to do
Whilst we’d say we achieved the goals we set for ourselves, we also saw that, right now, the game isn’t ready for what people have come to expect from an Early Access title, so as of Friday next week (3rd of November), the Worlds Adrift Steam page will be reworked to more accurately describe what stage the game is at, before being turned private, with a link to find it embedded on our website. This will take the visibility of the game away from those that may stumble upon it organically through Steam and not understand what they’re signing up to.
As a studio, we can then focus solely on addressing the major issues that need fixing before we feel confident to allow Worlds Adrift to enter Early Access. Most of these issues, and the reasons why we have decided to prioritise them, have been addressed in previous posts.
The Key Things to Take Away
We’re listening to you
We do read what’s being said. That’s exactly why we’re hunkering down to ensure we can get Worlds Adrift ready for its true Early Access phase.
We’re working with new tech
New tech equals new bugs. No one else has encountered these bugs before, so we’re writing the helpsheet on how to deal with them as we go along, which takes both time and resources.
There’s no timeline
We’re reluctant to state a date, as this raises expectations and can lead to frustration if those expectations can’t be met. We aim for this phase to only last a few months, but there’s always the risk that unforeseen circumstances might affect this.
This will get us to the good stuff
Once this next phase comes to an end, we can then draw up a proper roadmap, relaunch the Early Access page, and finally get on with releasing that sweet, sweet content.
You can still play
If you’re already a Founder, you can still access the page like normal and will still receive updates. The Founders Packs and their rewards will still be around, it’ll just be more obvious to potential players what they’re signing up to.
This does not mean game development has ended
Before anyone says “The devs aren’t interested in this game!”, believe us, the reality couldn’t be more opposite. By making the page private, we are able to meet future player's expectations before they buy the game, whilst working more closely with our current community.
We can also crack on with streamlining the development process to ensure we get to a point where we can offer a consistent stream of quality content when the game is launched into Early Access in earnest.
Check out our previous post if you want to read more about what the future holds for Bossa Studios and how that affects Worlds Adrift.
It's an exciting step forward for Worlds Adrift and we look forward to sharing it with you.
See you in the skies!