Session-based survival game Icarus is delayed to November
Pre-order players will get access to beta weekends starting August
The extraterrestrial survival game Icarus may have just made RPS's list of top games in August but, oh dear. It's now delayed until November, actually. It will still be playable for some folks next month though, it turns out. RocketWerkz have announced that they'll be running a handful of beta weekends for pre-order players focused on different areas of the game beginning at the end of August.
If "session-based PvE survival" doesn't immediately spark recognition, don't worry. You can check out Ed's Icarus preview from last month where he explains his early impressions of Icarus's survival and crafting. It's easy to get into, he says, and more chill than the threat of "session-based" suggests. The long and short is that you'll want to get back to your drop ship in time every round rather than hanging about to survive in the same place forever.
Ed did mention that he felt Icarus might need a bit more time in the oven and hey, apparently RocketWerkz agreed. They've just announced that they're delaying launch until November "to give Icarus more love by delaying the game, and improving upon our Beta process by spreading it across multiple weekends."
"We wanted to do a smart beta," says RocketWerkz CEO Dean Hall. "By focusing on a new gameplay system each Beta Weekend we can gather more useful feedback from our community as we iterate and evolve the world. Icarus is ready for players, and we weren’t afraid to delay the game so we could get as much of their feedback as possible to make it the very best it can be."
You can spot the full schedule of beta weekends down here:
The first beta weekend runs on August 28/29, which will let you focus on the basics of Icarus's survival and building bits in the forest biome. Two weekends later, on September 11/12, you'll be introduced to the threatening torrential storms that can blow through the forest. Later weekends will add in the desert and arctic biomes and eventually faction quests. The final planned beta weeekend in November is focused on "community" which RocketWerkz say they'll be sharing more information on later.
Icarus's proper launch date is now planned for November, with those beta weekends for pre-orderers beginning on August 28. You can find Icarus over on Steam at 10% off for £21.41/$26.99 in the meantime.