Why Early Access?

“We love this game and we love working on it. We’ve made something we believe is high quality with many hours of content that already offers good value for money, but there’s still a lot more we’d like to add. We feel Early Access is a good way to get the game into player’s hands while we continue to improve and expand it, leaning into what players are enjoying most and refining any rough edges to make it the best game it can be.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Our plan is to continue development for around 12 months to get to v1.0. This is based on a set of planned major content updates consisting of new areas, activities and mechanics, as well as more frequent minor patches. We do however want to allow for some flexibility in the timeline to explore new ideas that might come from the community.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“We have a handful of themed content updates planned, with each update centered around a new area with new buildings, new hand made contracts as well fun parts to play with and new cargo to deliver in the procedurally generated side jobs. The final update will bring everything together with a final goal that will offer a sense of closure, though procedurally generated content will keep things fresh for those who want to continue playing.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The game has received a lot of love and is quite polished already. There are many hours of hand-crafted challenges to play through, over 50 different vehicle parts to unlock, a vast environment with day/night cycle to explore, as well as procedurally generated side jobs. It also has fully implemented dynamic audio and an original soundtrack composed and performed by Dan Golding. Online co-op for up to 4 players is supported at launch too.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“As we will be adding a lot more content to the game, we are planning to increase the price once it comes out of Early Access to reflect that.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We are very keen to hear from players during Early Access, both what they are enjoying and how the game could be improved through constructive feedback and suggestions. Players can engage with the developers directly through the Shape Shop Discord or provide feedback through the Steam forums or via email or social media. There will also be an in-game feedback and bug reporting system. We will be clearly communicating any upcoming milestones and updates with the community ahead of time. We also have our own strong vision for the game and while we find player feedback and suggestions invaluable, we also want to remain faithful to our own vision and avoid making a game that tries to be everything to everyone, but ultimately ends up feeling unfocused.”