Due to COVID-19 and the cancellation of many gaming and trade shows, developer Rockfish Games has decided to delay the launch of Everspace 2 in Early Access as well as push back the dates for the closed Alpha. Originally scheduled to launch in September on Steam, it will no launch in December 2020.
The closed Alpha has been pushed back until May and the closed Beta until August.
In addition to COVID-19 issues, Rockfish Games also saw that Square Enix releasing Outriders in September and CDProjekt Red was launching Cyberpunk 2077. These two releases would have had an impact on Everspace 2, so it made sense to delay.
Everspace 2
In the meantime, Rockfish Games has been working on ship designs and, in particular, the cockpits of these ships. The cockpits have been designed “to
to offer pilots who prefer first-person view in EVERSPACE 2 the best possible immersion, while at the same time being able to tell at any time which ship they are currently piloting.”
Additionally, the Assault Fighter has been redesigned to give it a far more aggressive look. The team has removed the original bi-wings and given it a multi-winged look. It’s now the team’s favourite ship.
As a space-based loot shooter, Rockfish Games understands the importance of certain elements of the genre. For example, each ship in the game has its very own ultimate ability.
Each ship has a powerful offensive or defensive power that can be charged by shooting down enemies, unlocking the right perk, or other collectables. Each Ultimate (ULT) is tied to a specific ship subclass, designed to utilize its full potential.
For example, a certain heavy subclass might have an energy shield that reflects incoming shots back to the attackers, while one of the light subclasses unleashes a power that allows the ship to quickly teleport between targets, leaving behind a shredding energy trail, corrosive mines or web fields.
While it might be disappointing to see the game, the Alpha and the Beta delayed, at least it gives the team time to polish it ahead of release.
Everspace 2 will enter Early Access in December 2020.
