Wasteland 2 Post-Funding Update #40: Beta Released!

We’ve all been waiting a little longer than expected, but now it seems that wait is finally over: Wasteland 2’s beta access has just gone live. Anyone who’s backed the game on Kickstarter for the $55 tier or above (save one exception) can head over to the Wasteland 2 Ranger Center to authorize their account and get a Steam key hooked up.

Obviously this is a pretty exciting day for RPG fans. I’ll let Brian Fargo handle the rest:

It’s hard to believe we’re finally at a place where we’re ready to put a playable version of Wasteland 2 into your hands, but today’s the day. What a road it has been to get here.

It has been an enlightening experience learning what is entailed with this new transparent development process. I admit it isn’t easy to release code before it’s complete, as I have hundreds of issues on my list still to be addressed, but it’s time for the next phase. All backers eligible for the beta from your original pledge (that is, any tier of $55 or more except the $60 late backer box) or an add-on can now log in to your Ranger Center account and retrieve your Steam key for the Wasteland 2 beta. You’ll find it at the bottom of your Donations page. I should also note that we’ve had quite a few requests to offer the game on Steam Early Access, which we will do after our backers have had first crack at it.

PLEASE DO READ THIS UPDATE BEFORE YOU START TESTING

Creating a deep RPG is a unique challenge, in that so many elements need to be working well together, with 95% of the game’s underpinnings complete before beta can begin, which is what we’ve all been working so hard on this last month. Now, however, is the stage of development where the magic happens. With most of the mechanical issues behind us, now we can really start digging deep into the game and finding ways of taking it from good to great. No amount of prepping and planning can replace old-fashioned hands-on playing, testing and iteration time, which is why we are so grateful to have you, our backers, help us hone this process like never before. So thanks once again to all of you for giving us this opportunity to make your game in this new and open way. Your input has been, and will continue to be, critical every step of the way, and Wasteland 2 will be better because of it.

For your convenience while playing, we put together a reference card. This servers as a basic guide to gameplay and the game’s interface.

All the game’s major systems are now implemented, which allows us to expedite the amount of depth, fun and subtlety that gets in, but this is an ambitious game both in terms of scale and the amount of reactivity we have planned, so please don’t forget that we are not complete, and that there are still a host of issues that need to be addressed. I’d like to highlight some of these so you know what you’re playing and how the final game will compare.

You can see the rest of the update over on the game’s Kickstarter page, which includes some guidelines for testers. Congratulations to inXile for this milestone!

As a side note, and in the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that I was graciously selected to be part of the very small pre-beta program that gave the game some feedback and QA help over the last couple of weeks. I’ve enjoyed my time quite a bit with Wasteland 2 and have had a lot of fun seeing it evolve. You can look forward to a full preview article of the beta content here at GameBanshee within the next few days, in case you happen to be missing out on the beta.