Launch Delayed, Extensive Beta Incoming Soon...

In a large update to Darkfall's Official Blog, Tasos Flabouras broke the news that launch will be missed tomorrow and instead all pre-orders will be given access to the beta phase, with launch somewhere soon around the corner. From the official blog:

• We’re launching a fully playable beta version of the game as soon as we get the build ready. We have a firm ETA for Monday,December 17th. By beta version we mean the game will be running in debug mode so that we can quickly get valuable feedback from playtesting and we can identify and address issues as quickly as possible.

• Pre-orders get beta access; we’re making pre-orders available on Friday so you can download the game over the weekend.

• Some details regarding the pre-order: returning Darkfall players will get the game at the price of the subscription during pre-order. New players will get the game at a discount. Pre-orders get 30 days of game-time when the game launches, beta access for as long as that is live, plus you can reserve your character’s name. We will also explore offering a head start.  Pre-order slots may be limited and will be throttled if needed.

• We can focus on playing and working with you to identify any bugs and imbalances and will continue working closely with our players to improve the game so that by the time the game launches it will be as perfect as possible. There will be developer – player interaction on issues that come up, and we want to keep developing a user-centric culture throughout the lifecycle of Darkfall Unholy Wars.

• We will also be working round the clock on getting the game ready for a Steam launch with all the Steam features we want integrated.

• The Darkfall Unholy Wars launch should happen as soon as we’re cleared to do a Steam launch, we assume that the game will be properly tested by then as well. Our estimate is January after the holidays. We will announce a specific launch date as soon as possible. We need to estimate the exact time it takes to integrate all the Steam features, and to assess what feedback we get from our playtesters.

Guess we'll see how the beta pans out, and then look forward to launch. Are you dismayed by this news, surprised, looking forward to the testing? Let us know!

Read the rest of Tasos' post over on the Darkfall Blog.