Dean Hall Gives Details, Exact Timing for ICARUS Launch

Ahead of ICARUS releasing this weekend, Gamerunner Dean Hall gave a thank you statement that included confirmation of some of the features that will be included in 1.0. He also provided some hints at updates to come, while discussing the flexibility ICARUS’ “session-based nature” allows them to have with adding things to the game.

Those of you planning your weekend down to the minute will appreciate the fact that we now know exactly when ICARUS will release on Steam: 2pm PST Friday, December 3rd. We encourage anyone who knows they’ll play all weekend to remember to stretch, drink water, and stand up once and a while; consider some gamer-focused stretches to make sure you reach Monday with your wrists intact!

Prospectors logging in at launch will have a number of new systems to play with. Here are all the new features that have been confirmed :

• Outposts – In addition to being a great place to practice and test things, Outposts will also be the only way to create a permanent structure you can show off to your fellow Prospectors (since structures built during a mission won’t be accessible once that mission ends).
• Tier 4 Planetary Tech – The fourth tier of the tech tree was locked for the entire Beta, so it will be interesting to see how Fabricator-created gear and materials affect gameplay.
• Exotics Mining – The real reason Prospectors are on ICARUS. Presumably, Exotics will be the primary source of currency for the Orbital Workshop.
• Orbital Workshop tech – Allows you to bring tools/supplies with you on missions (like pre-fab Axes and
  MREs), and should make getting started much easier post-drop.
• Additional Missions – Whether there will be any new mission types beyond what we saw in the beta remains to be seen, but more is (usually) more!

Additionally, Dean Hall stated that the way ICARUS is designed makes it possible to add new missions, or to add powerful and rule-changing items to the Orbital Workshop — and for the planet itself to evolve, which would certainly be interesting to see. He also said that ICARUS has been a financial success, and that therefore the upcoming DLC chapters will be created as originally planned. In addition to the DLC, Hall promised regular free updates to the base game.

Did you enjoy ICARUS during its lengthy beta? Planning on no-lifeing it this weekend? Let us know in the comments!