Wasteland 2 Released on Steam Early Access

While inXile already mentioned that the tile would be coming to Steam Early Access in an earlier Kickstarter update, they’ve now given us confirmation it’ll be released on Friday in a press release they’ve sent out to announce the launch of the beta of the title:

After 20 Years,
We Welcome You Back to The Wasteland

Wasteland 2 Beta Out for Backers, Steam Early Access Friday

Newport Beach, CA December 12, 2013 For the first time, gamers are getting the chance to play inXile entertainment’s Wasteland 2, which was successfully crowdfunded through Kickstarter in April 2012. More than ten thousand backers entered the backer beta on Wednesday, through their Kickstarter or late pledges to the project. Wasteland 2 will also be entering Steam Early Access on Friday, to allow late backers to purchase and jump on immediately.

Wasteland 2 is a post-apocalyptic RPG with old-school sensibilities, with a heavy focus on tactical turn-based combat, a deep and open world and reactivity to player choices. It is the sequel to 1988’s Wasteland, with the player taking control of a party of Desert Rangers striving to bring peace to the wastes. Set 15 years after the original, the game does not require familiarity with the original’s plot but does follow up on the original’s story in many ways.

The Wasteland 2 beta consists of the first four major areas of the game and related minor maps, along with character creation, world map travel, and random encounters. More areas will be added as the beta progresses. Beta backers and early access gamers will get exactly the same content here.

(It is hard to believe that after 20 years we’re finally at a place where we can get Wasteland 2 into the hands of our backers,) says Brian Fargo, inXile CEO. (It is has been quite a road to get here. The possibility of Wasteland 2 even entering production looked like it was over until Kickstarter appeared and allowed us to finally make this game together with our fans. And now we’ll continue the process of making the game with them.)

http://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com/

About inXile Entertainment:

Founded by long-time industry veteran @BrianFargo in 2002, inXile Entertainment develops interactive entertainment software for all popular game systems, personal computers and wireless devices. The most current projects under development are Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, both financed by its fans via @Kickstarter. For more information about inXile Entertainment visit: www.inxile-entertainment.com.

Wasteland is a registered trademark of inXile Entertainment.

Update: Rather embarassingly I didn’t realize it was Friday while posting this, but the good news is that it means the beta is now available on Steam Early Access for $59.99/€54.99/£29.99. It includes two soon-to-be-released novellas, the title’s soundtrack, a digital concept art book, and a copy of the original Wasteland, all bonuses that won’t be included in the base digital copy.