In a surprising turn of events, it would seem the sequel to Spiders’ widely acclaimed ARPG, Greedfall, will release as a Steam Early Access title. As per the recent livestream from Spiders, Greedfall 2 will pivot into relying more heavily on community feedback for future updates.
According to Spiders’ producer Reba Isber, the Greedfall community was eager to provide feedback on the original game via reviews and other means. This prompted the team to send out a survey that helped inform some of Greedfall 2‘s earliest design choices, but also helped the team conclude that they needed opinions from experienced players to realize the game’s potential to the fullest.
“Greedfall 2 is certainly a much more ambitious game than the first one,” said Isber, “and so Early Access seemed like the right path to take.”
Greedfall 2: The Dying World heads to Steam Early Access
In his talk at around the 20th-minute mark of the livestream, Isber explains that “[Spiders is] relying heavily on Early Access to collect player feedback and see if [they] are heading in the right direction.” He also says that there will be several “phases” of Greedfall 2‘s Early Access, the first of which will grant players immediate access to the “entire beginning” of the game. This will be followed upon by “updates at regular intervals,” each of which will introduce a new chunk of the experience into the mix.
Isber was quick to add that “Saves won’t be compatible between the various updates,” which means players will be starting the game anew over and over again as Greedfall 2 moves from one stage of Early Access to another. This is difficult to fault, considering the apparent complexity of the game and, besides, Early Access is supposed to be used for testing in the first place, broadly speaking.
Now, if all of this sounds somewhat familiar, you’re on the right track: it’s almost impossible that Spiders’ decision to rely on Early Access for Greedfall 2 isn’t at least partially fueled by the success of Baldur’s Gate 3. Larian Studios’ seminal hit is conceptually similar to what Spiders is trying to do with The Dying World, and it too kicked things off with a relatively large chunk of Early Access content for players to peruse early on.
In other words, this could be a winning move for Spiders, who already managed to deliver a very interesting and engaging ARPG in the original Greedfall. Things could go either way as the development continues, of course, but there’s no reason to doubt the team’s heart is in the right place. Greedfall 2: The Dying World will be released in Steam Early Access in Q3 2024, and more information about it should be dropping in over the coming weeks and months.
