Steam Early Access Release Date - 31st May

We've now heard back from Steam and we've pencilled in a release date for Early Access of the 31st May, which is eight days from now. This may slip back due to unforseen circumstances, but one would hope not. I've submitted all the marketing materials and I just need to wait and see what I need to do to start uploading builds and the like.

I am still not 100% certain when Steam keys will go out for existing users, but hopefully that will happen prior to release. At the very least I want to give a few people Steam keys so they can test the download and update process on Steam to see if there's any nasty incompatibility surprises in wait for us. I'll post updates here once I know more about this.

Build V18.51 will form the basis of the Steam stable release, with a few updates that we will test out via hotfix or on Steam itself if we get on there in advance. The likely additions will be:

- Bugfixes

- Xenopedia descriptions will be completed (but subject to future tweaks)

- More maps (I'll look at the community ones as my first port of call)

- Balance patch (Aaron has got a balance patch to smooth the combat progression we'll probably put in)

This post is mostly to let everyone know the release date. It's gonna be a busy week!

You must mean 31st of May (not march)

I'll gladly test the Steam stuff as soon as it's up

I sent a to of work out today saying 2012.....must be the weather......even though I am in a different part of the world....weather.

I do indeed. Updated.

You have my sword.

When this goes live I will uninstall desrua version of Xenonauts and work with the Steam version.

Stay sane as I figure this must be a stressful time.

Great news!

A minor hint: I'll be on vacation starting this Saturday, and I'll have plenty of time to sink into game testing related activities. I wouldn't mind being hit with a key.

Great news, I was waiting for this, just to start playing Xenonauts again...

I really don't like Desura

Great news.... Hope to get a key for steam soon. Won't miss waiting several hours on Desura for updates to verify files and then download and install...

Owned game since just post PayPal incident, so spent many many hours waiting for updates....

I'll gladly port over to help test the Steam version if needed, Chris. Also, I found a couple miss-wordings in the Xenopedia if you'd like me to send those to you.

Nice to hear everything is started rolling. Just need that sight range problem fixed up, since with it 18.51 is really harsh (and shotgunners are near useless).

I'm also happy to be a guinea pig to test Steam keys!

i agree that the sight range up is the only major problem now. Disable the shields till you get that sorted later, but the sight range has to be corrected as well as the crash if mission fail error. Otherwise, this is a very solid release

if you need some help on steam for the new builds, you can count on me.

I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

This is excellent news! There was hassle with Desura sending out Steam keys when StarDrive made the switch, I really hope that this isn't the case here.

hi, is this "Early Access" considered a finished product?

No it is early access.

It is not yet feature complete and balancing is only just beginning.

The early access lets you get in early and influence the balancing and you should be able to play right through the game but there will still be missing content, some bugs, and probably balance issues that should be fixed up by full release.

I would absolutely love a steam key, I am not a fan of desura and my internet is spotty so I can never completely download a standalone before the system decides I've got a network error. Here's hoping they get the keys out quickly so I can move on from playing 18.3 lol

I love watching my games list on Steam. Xenonauts will be cherry on top.

But hope with the Steam version I will able to finish game:D

Congratulations on getting Xenonauts onto Steam, a significant milestone in my opinion.

Looking forward to the upcoming versions of the game.

hi, is this "Early Access" considered a finished product?

No, it's not. It still should be very playable, with minimal bugs and no "absolutely unplayable" parts, just to make sure the game gets a good rep off the get go.

Thanks for the work guys, I was waiting to have a beta version before to seriously play this game.

I'd like a Steam key as well, I did already purchase from Desura.

GG on this.

Nothing against Desura, but it just isn't working with Xenonauts. Glad to hear Steam is finally in reach!

Thanks for all the hard work. Cannot wait to add this game to my steam library