Hello Raiders! 🧙♂️
We're incredible excited to share that "Raiders of Blackveil" will release in Early Access on December 15th, 2025!
It's actually pretty difficult for us to put into words how exciting this is. For over 2 years we've been working our butts off trying to make this dream come true, and to build a game that we can be proud of, together with a community that we're equally proud of.
It's surreal that we're this close to releasing the game in Early Access - and while this is just one step along the road up to the full 1.0 Release, this milestone is still incredible to be able to reach, and we're just extremely proud and very grateful to have had the oppertunity to work on something like this.
Being able to share the experience with our community, is a great priveledge, and for that we say "THANK YOU" to everybody who have helped out along the way.
It means the world to us <3
Our Early Access Philosophy ✍️
We wanted to take some time here to explain our thoughts around Early Access, and how we've gone about development leading up to Early Access - as well as what we're going to focus on throughout Early Access and leading up to 1.0 Release later next year.
For us the focus, leading up to Early Access, has been to make sure the core gameplay loop, as well of the "feel" of the gameplay is where we want it to be.
The way we see it is that if the gameplay is not fun, or if the core loop is not working, it really doesn't matter whatever else you put in the game - and we have been 100% focused on establishing this core of the game up until now.
We have been doing tons of iterations throughout the development, and we have received so much feedback through the community that has helped us tweak and steer the game in the directions that felt best.
While we have also focused on adding a bunch of extra content (more on this below), this first phase here has been about solidifying the core of the game, and making sure we have a strong foundation to expand the game upon, and to get to a point where we feel comfortable stepping into the next phase of development, which will be more heavily focused on adding a lot of extra content to the game.
We are now at that point where we feel comfortable moving into the next phase of development, and this phase starts on the other side of our Early Access release.
What's new in Early Access? 🧐
While our focus has been on solidifying the core of the game, there will of course be a lot of new content, features, systems, and general improvements and additions to the game that we are really excited about. Let's have a look!
One of the biggest things is that we're introducing an entirely new biome called "The Harvest Operation".
This new biome takes us to a new part of the the world, where we'll get a chance to see how Blackveil operates outside their big Meat Factory. Essentially it's the first expansion of the world, and one of many to come.
The biome comes with new levels, new enemies, new bosses, new traps, new gameplay features, and an entirely new enemy spawn system. We wanted to add some new elements to the level flow for this new biome, most of all to spice things up a little, but also to experiment with alternative gameplay for new biomes to come.
In addition to the new biome, we have made some major updates to the perk system.
The perk system, as you know, is for many players the bread and butter of the game - and for that reason it's extremely important for us to continously improve and update the system.
There has been sooo much feedback on the system, and a lot of requests for improvements in certain areas - and that you shall have!!
In EA we introduce 3 entirely new keywords to the perk system; Fury, Taunt, and Barrier - and with these new keywords comes A LOT of new perks and duo perks for all classes.
We have also added a lot of perks in general, as well as improvements to class talents, vfx, and the overall powerlevel that can be obtained through perks alone.
Furthermore, we have chosen to do a big overhaul to the equipment system. What we've seen throughout the Demo, has been an immense interest and focus around the equipment system - and as with the perk system, there has been a lot of cool feedback for how we could improve the system.
We have looked through all of it, and have done a lot of effort to improve the system for Early Access.
Essentially this means that we have changed what stats are obtainable through items, balanced the power of these items, made a bunch of new items, and tried to focus on being able to create different sets for different runs.
We want to make sure that more items are viable in your runs, to avoid ending up with a meta that's too narrow.
We will continously improve this sytem, but we hope that the changes that you see in EA are a step in the right direction.
In Early Access we are also introducing some improvements to the The Liberator (lobby) that makes the meta progression and late game a bit more interesting. We will continue to add to our systems here, and to improve the time you spend between runs while hanging out and prepping at The Liberator.
Finally, without going into every granular detail of what's being added to Early Access, we would like to add that we have had a big focus on the technical stability and optimization of the game. We have made great strides since the demo came out, and the most recent update was received very well by the entire community - and we're continously focused on improving this aspect of the game as we step beyond Early Access.
You may be thinking "Yeah yeah, that's cool n' all - but what lies beyond Early Access!?".
Well, let's have a look!!
What lies beyond Early Access? 🗺️
As mentioned previously, the next phase of development will have a slightly different focus than the one we've had up until now. So, let's dive into it and talk a bit about what that means.
So, the focus up until now has been to solidify the core gameplay experience, the core gameplay loop, and to make sure the game runs smoothly without any lag.
The next phase will have a much larger focus on adding new content to the game.
This means that we'll be adding new biomes, new playable characters, new enemies, new items, new perks, new meta progression, new game systems, and a lot of polish and improvements to already existing features and content.
On top of adding a ton of new content after Early Access, we will continously develop the game alongside our community - meaning that we will continue the trend of picking up on every single bug, feature request, or design suggestions that we're already receving a ton of.
We may be at a point where a lot of the core gameplay is solidifying, but there are still a lot of areas we can improve, and we are in this for the long haul - so we will do our absolute best to continously improve the game with you, and to add a ton of new content next year that will expand the game tremendously, and create a more immersive and full experience for you all.
We are super excited for new year, and for all the new content we have planned for you!!
After Early Access we will continue to share news and updates with you as we go along, and we're currently trying to figure out how we can create a better overview for all of you that makes it a little easier to see what we have in store after Early Access.
More on all that as we move into the future.
Out of fear of making this update too long, let's start round off with some emotion!
How are we feeling? ❤️
Even though this is about a game, a piece of entertainment, there are a bunch of humans involved - and it feels weird for us to not share some emotions and let you know how we're feeling going into Early Access with Raiders of Blackveil.
To put things very mildly it's scary as hell, frightening, and we're all super nervous to how the game will be received going into Early Access.
For many of us this is the first time we're releasing a game, and this is essentially what we have dedicated our lives to - so with all our journeys leading us to this Early Access release, there's just so much emotion involved!
However, right next to all the scary emotions, there is a beautiful air of excitement. We are super duper proud of what we have managed to create. We have been so overwhelmed by the support that we have gotten from our community, it's been surreal. Knowing that there is this kind of support for the game, that we've put our hearts and souls into, is the most motivating and heartwarming thing in the world, and it means everything to us.
We could not be more grateful for the community that we have, and for the support we have gotten. It's difficult to explain here how much it means to us, and how much this makes us want to deliver the best possible experience for you.
Again, we are fully comitted and in it for the long haul - and we hope to be able to continously share the journey with you!
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so so much ❤️
This is it for the announcement ☺️
We hope to see as many of you as possible over in our Discord - and we're super excited to play with you when we hit Early Access December 15th!!!
Have wonderful days everyone!
Much love,
Wombo Games ❤️