Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness Live in Early Access

Successfully crowdfunded back in 2018, GrapeOcean Technologies’ Baldur’s Gate-inspired CRPG Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness has now made its way into early access on both Steam and GOG, priced at $24.99 or your regional equivalent. The current build features two of the game’s eventual four chapters, and the plan right now is to release the full version sometime around Q1 2022.

Here’s the full Early Access FAQ:

Why Early Access?

“Black Geyser is a vast and complex roleplaying game in development by a small indie team, the game is designed to immerse the player in a medieval fantasy world infested by greed. Designing the world takes time, but we also want to open the world to players to gain valuable feedback on what systems do and don’t work.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We aim to release the full version of Black Geyser in Q1 2022. The exact release date may change depending on the feedback we receive from players.”

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

“The final version of Black Geyser will include the full playable story of the game, alongside additional quests and companions to access. We hope to add more story content and polish to the game and expand on some of the already existing game systems, such as crafting and skills. We are aiming to have these items broken down into two phases:

EA PHASE 2

• Northern areas
• Backer rewards: custom spells, random encounters, items, plants
• Temple system
• Optimizations and performance enhancements
• Chapter 3 of main quest

EA PHASE 3 (FULL GAME LAUNCH)

• Stronghold System
• Desert Areas
• Improved item mechanics
• Full greed system
• Pets
• Optimizations and performance enhancements
• Deeper roleplay options in quests
• New item types
• Improvements to character models
• Visual improvements
• Chapter 4 (final chapter) of the main quest

”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The scope of Black Geyser has increased since we first arrived on Kickstarter. Based on fan feedback, it has increased in scope, with a larger world and more features. The Early Access version will be a fully playable roleplaying game with most in-game areas, and some of the main story. The introduction area and first two chapters of the game will be playable on Early Access’ launch, with two more still in the making. Most in-game systems such as combat, skills, spells and crafting are finished and in the balancing and polishing stage.”

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

“We are planning to offer the game at a lower price while in Early Access.”

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

“We are looking forward to receiving feedback from our players on our Steam Forums and reviews, as well as on our Discord server. We will be implementing changes to content and balancing based on the feedback from the community in an effort to make the best experience possible for our players. We believe that player feedback is critical to the success of the game and we plan to fully integrate suggestions and fixes based on what you tell us!”