Hades 2 gets major development update ahead of 2024
Supergiant Games has released a development update for one of the most anticipated rogue-lites of 2024.
In a blog post released on 14 September, Supergiant announced several big things about Hades II, the sequel to the Greek mythology-based game Hades, that we didn't know previously, including a rough release date, early access announcement and more.
What do we know about Hades II so far?
Hades developer Supergiant Games shared a lot of information about the highly-anticipated rogue-lite sequel in a recent blog post
One of the first updates in the post is that Hades II is set to release in early access in quarter two of 2024.
"You may be wondering, why can't we launch in Early Access, like, right now?! The game looked pretty far along in the first trailer!" said Supergiant in their development update. "The reason is, Hades II will have at least as much content from day one in Early Access as the original game did back when it launched in Early Access on Steam. And, even though Early Access inherently means a game is not yet complete, we still want to do everything we can to make sure Hades II is worth your while as soon as you can play it in any capacity."
This quote introduces two exciting elements: Hades II is going to have an early access release, and it will have a lot of content.
Finally, the post introduced the Technical Test, which will be happening just before early access launches in 2024. The Technical Test will be accessible to a limited sample of players, with more information being released closer to the time.
How will early access work in Hades II
Hades II early access will work in a similar way to how it was used in the first game.
According to Supergiant, several major updates will be added to the title after it is released which will add the core content of the game and refine what has already been added. The developer stated that it intends to take into account player feedback throughout this stage of development.
Each of these major updates will push the story forward, adding new characters and deepening relationships along the way. This will culminate in the v1.0 launch which will conclude the story.
Supergiant said: “Early Access was vitally important to the entire idea behind the original Hades -- we decided it would be an Early Access game before deciding literally anything else about it, such as the Underworld setting. We've approached development of Hades II knowing Early Access will be no less important this time, though now knowing a bit more of what to expect from Early Access development, as well as more about what a Hades game needs to be.
“We believe the timeframe we're planning for will be the "sweet spot" where the game is far enough along that player feedback won't mostly consist of stuff we already know isn't there yet, but isn't so far along that it's too late in development for us to act on the feedback we receive.
“We don't yet know exactly how long it will take us to get to v1.0 of Hades II, as our experience developing in Early Access has taught us (among many things) to expect the unexpected. For now, our focus is to keep building core content -- environments, characters, weapons, Boons, story events, music, and more -- as we gear up for our Technical Test and Early Access launch in Q2 this coming year.”
