(Executive summary to long-winded blather: you can buy Antihero First Access right now.)
Antihero is, honest-to-goodness, gearing up for launch. As a perfectionist, I’m super-paranoid about getting everything just right before my work goes out to the public… though as a game designer and software developer, I’m worried about not getting enough eyeballs on a game before it launches, and having it fall on its face.
But let’s not bury the lede any further: Antihero is available NOW (in extremely limited quantities! act now, etc). We’ve just launched Antihero First Access on itch.io!
(Itch.io is basically hipster Steam; it’s an online store exclusively for indie games, and it has the tools we need to do a key-limited “open alpha” release.)
This means that you can pay us some dollars (incidentally: fewer dollars than you’ll spend when the game launches) and get access to the current development build, which contains the game’s tutorial, an online multiplayer mode, and offline skirmish and hotseat multiplayer.
Antihero First Access is not the full version of the game, which will contain a story-driven single player campaign and more multiplayer content. But as a First Access purchaser, you’ll get the full version (as well as a Steam key) when it launches in 2017.
We’re looking for intrepid tastemakers (who aren’t bothered too much by the occasional bug) to put the Antihero multiplayer through its paces. I should stress that, while Antihero First Access is not content-complete, it is essentially system-complete — the game rules are all in place; the UI is polished; and the thieves, thugs, urchins, and everyone else are all delightfully illustrated and animated.
At least for now, Antihero First Access is key-limited, which means we’re selling a limited number of copies. This is not (only) to give you that smug feeling that comes from exclusivity – it’s about making sure our servers don’t fall over, and that we discover any degenerate strategies that need to be addressed before release.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this release also contains the game’s new “Masquerade” multiplayer scenario, which sees you stealing invitations to an exclusive masquerade ball so that your urchins and thugs can sneak in and make off with priceless heirlooms.
