Greedfall 2: The Dying World will launch in early access.
Citing the game’s ambition as a reason, producer Reda Isber explained in a recent livestream
The team also alerted players that saves won’t be “compatible between the various updates”, so that’s something to bear in mind if you were thinking of getting involved.
“Greedfall 2 is certainly a much more ambitious game than the first one,” Isber explained during a recent livestream, as transcribed by PC Gamer. “And so early access seemed like the right path to take. We’re relying heavily on early access to collect player feedback and see if we’re heading in the right direction.”
Greedfall 2’s new combat system – which lets you direct all of your companions – also fed into the decision to launch in early access.
“It’s not turn-based, but you still have this kind of control over your team,” Jehanne Rousseau – Spiders CEO and Greedfall’s lead writer – explained. “And for this specific reason, having the feedback of the player was something that was super important because it’s something new. We never did these type of controls before.”
Whilst that means early adopters may experience a few more bugs and issues due to the early access format, Isber says this doesn’t mean players won’t get access to the “entire beginning” of Greedfall 2.
“At launch, players will have access to the entire beginning of the game,” Isber added. “They will be able to explore new environments. And then we are planning updates at regular intervals. To be clear from the outset, saves won’t be compatible between the various updates.”
As yet, there’s still no concrete release date, but we’ve been told to expect it around summer (that’s Q3 if you’re down under) 2024.
When the original GreedFall launched in 2019, its combination of RPG action and BioWare-style player choice struck a bit of a chord despite its rough edges, quickly raising its profile through plenty of positive word of mouth – ultimately, to the tune of over 2m sales – as players got stuck into its ambitious historical fantasy yarn.
“GreedFall has more than its fair share of faults,” said Eurogamer contributor Malindy Hetfield in her review at the time, “and its curious mix of the sweet and the sour is far from a roleplaying revelation. But the elements that matter have been imbued with such love and care – so much so that I quickly forgave this ambitious RPG its shortcomings.”