Shadowrun Online hacks into Steam Early Access

Cliffhanger Productions’ Kickstarted online Shadowrun title will be making its way to Steam’s Early Access section in just a few days time. Check out Cliffhanger Productions Co-Founder, Jan Wagner in today’s dev doc as he talks about what you can expect going forward.

Now that you got the skinny on a few of Shadowrun Online’s most asked questions, lets chat about that Early Access ‘demo’. More than just getting a taste for the final title, the demo is actually a prequel (as Wagner mentioned) and will give gamers a look at Cliffhanger’s version of the Shadowrun universe before the events of the main game even start.

I really dig that kind of stuff from a demo for the simple reason that I don’t want to play the same section of game over again when I boot up the retail release. It’s way too often that a publisher/developer just releases a smidgeon of the final game for gamers to play through as a demo and then that part of the final is no longer new or fresh when you finally dig into something that you pay for. So applause for Cliffhanger for that.

The Early Access release will give players a PvP map along with four missions to play across it, two characters to choose from, and some basic skills to try out. The missions will be combat-focused and are really just to give a sneak peek of the game to come as well as get feedback on the system that Cliffhanger has put together. Updates (including character creation, skill progression, and new missions) will be added in in the months to come and feedback from Early Access-ers will be taken under advisement and changes implemented where called for.

Shadowrun Online will see release on the PC, Mac, and iOS devices (complete with cross-play), and is expected to be available some time in the fourth-quarter of this year.