First-person space survival sequel Breathedge 2 is on the way, and developer RedRuins Softworks has detailed its plans for the game in 2026.
Following on from the successful 2021 release of Breathedge, RedRuin Softworks has decided to go the sequel route rather than iterate on the existing game.
The sequel continues the adventures of one man and his immortal chicken as they survive the perils of space. This time around, though, there’s a crew to manage and the promise of far greater depth.
A demo for Breathedge 2 arrived a while back, and was intended more as a vertical slice experience to get the gist of what Breathedge 2 would be. Still, the finished product will be quite different, according to RedRuin Softworks.
Breathedge 2 Future Laid Out by the Developer
In a post by RedRuin Softworks, the developer has explained the what, where, and why of Breathedge 2. Firstly, the game is due to release in Early Access in Q3 2026.
The aforementioned demo build has been scrapped, and a new version of Breathedge 2 has been built from scratch, but lessons were learned from the demo build regarding what needed to be done for a full release, namely, increasing the depth of the survival aspect.
'’The demo, as a vertical slice, seemed to have solved most of those problems – especially the suffocating oxygen timer and a lot of the more frustrating backtracking,’’ RedRuins writes in its blog post. '’Sounds good, right? Sure. But in the process, it also got rid of something important – the gameplay.’’
It goes on to say that the sheer volume of new bits and pieces overwhelmed players in the demo, and covered a perceived lack of gameplay mechanics, and led the developer to soul-search, asking itself, '’What is Breathedge?’’
’‘Breathedge is a story-driven survival adventure with a comedic tone. Simple? Well… apparently not. It only took our tiny bird brains about 8 years to figure that out’’ RedRuin explained, ‘‘We’ve been bouncing all over the place – from hardcore survival to a single-player action game. We tried this, that, and a bit of everything. We analyzed feedback, tried to understand our core audience, ran all sorts of smart metrics… when, in reality, the answer had been right there all along – basically in every tenth comment:
‘Dude, this is just Subnautica in space – but with a chicken and a bunch of stupid jokes.’
The upside of this humorous revelation has led the developer to focus on survival, exploration, and crafting for Breathedge 2, and hopefully ensure it has the kind of lasting appeal that the likes of Subnautica enjoy.
By the developer’s own admission, Breathedge was a bit confused about what it wanted to be, so now, with a real focus on systems, including a unique DIY crafting system that bolsters your standard tools, outfits, and creations with modules to provide a variety of necessary benefits.
RedRuin goes into a lot of detail in that blog post, so head there if you want all the intricate details, but the short of it is that the developer is taking an ambitious swing for Breathedge 2.
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