Abyss Online was originally scheduled to enter Early Access back in April, and then on May 6th, but chapter One, Chaos, was delayed until yesterday. The game is now in Early Access on Steam, and the team is introducing what we can expect, even teasing the challenges ahead.
The Early Access launch comes after the team extended the playtest on Steam through the new date. The Old World Labs team emphasizes that the buy to play sandbox is full of opportunities for player choices and describe Abyss as along the lines of “Ultima/Albion Online meets ARK: Survival Evolved”. With a post on the game’s Steam page, they declared the May 16th date with some advice:“May 16th is the Early Access release of Abyss on Steam. Expect Chaos in every possible form. Kill the orcs and lay waste to boars, but make sure to watch your back. The newbie zone is not so forgiving this early in our adventure.”
The rest of the post features some lore details, setting up the adventure ahead, by telling a tale of the dawning of the age of the Abyss, “not just as an era of darkness, but as a dawn of rediscovery. Humanity would not only survive; it would thrive by reembracing the ancient rhythms of life that the Old World whispered to them through the wind in the trees and the earth beneath their feet”.
The Abyss team announced their Early Access plans in March, along with the playtest that did begin last month. This will help them fund continued development ahead of a full launch planned for sometime later in the year.
