Publisher and developer Rockfish Games today announced that Everspace 2 now has an official Early Access release date. After going through a period of closed beta testing last year, the title is ready to take its first steps on both Steam and Gog.com later this month, on January 18.
Everspace 2 launches in Early Access with “at least 25 hours of gameplay”, more than 12 of which will be spent with its voice-acted story campaign. Players will also get to play through some of its side quests as they roam the first two available star system and, naturally, get accustomed to core mechanics like space combat, exploration, mining, puzzle solving, traveling, and trading.
As soon as Everspace 2’s Early Access release date occurs, you will be able to try out five ship subclasses alongside a swathe of items that – once found or crafted – alter your vessel’s capabilities. Player and companion perks also play a role in how strong you are but, ultimately, numeric stats are nothing without piloting finesse.
To that extent, Everspace 2 will launch in Early Access with “fully configurable HOTAS support and presets for popular Logitech and Thrustmaster joysticks hardware setups,” which is great news if you don’t fancy using keyboard and mouse or controllers when playing space games.
“Of course, the game is far from being finished. On top of the two star systems EVERSPACE 2 pilots will be able to explore in Early Access at launch, we plan to have four to six more as well as several additional player ship subclasses beyond the Interceptor, Sentinel, Striker, Gunship, and Scout at launch, to be gradually added on a quarterly basis.” said Michael Schade, CEO & co-founder of Rockfish Games.
“In the final game, players will also be able to enjoy twice as much story content plus lots of worthwhile endgame activities. We look forward to working closely with our community over the course of the next 12 to 18 months to make an outstanding narrative-driven open-world space looter shooter.”
Everspace 2’s full launch will come with “a reasonably increased price” and is currently expected to happen at some point in the first half of 2022. The developer has confirmed that this version will include UI and text support for the following languages: German, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
If you’re eager to jump in now, you’ll find Everspace 2 on Steam and Gog.com on January 18, for the price of €37.99/$39.99/£31.99 or your regional equivalent.
Keep updated on the latest PC Gaming news by following GameWatcher on Twitter, checking out our videos on YouTube, giving us a like on Facebook, and joining us on Discord.
