Today 8 bit, a indie development studio, is launching a Steam early access version of their hack and slash, online versus, game Skara: The Blade Remains which will use the famed Unreal Engine 4.
Skara: The Blade Remains will be an online versus fighting game for up to 16 players at a time. Players will compete for dominance in a world racked by cosmic disaster. They will be given five races to choose from with the ability to customize their character’s appearances, equipment and fighting style. By creating their own factions inside every race and culture players will be able to decide who they want to fight with. They will fight as one with the goal of dominating arenas, expanding their territories and gaining renown in Skara.
“Great players will be immortalized as heroes and kings, writing Skara’s history with their successes and failures.”
The Early Access of Skara: The Blade Remains will cost gamers £12.00/$19.00/€15.00. It will feature two vs. two battles, two game modes (‘Team Death-match’ and ‘Free For All’) as well as one arena and one playable character. There are planes to have continues updates and expansions every two weeks following the Steam launch. A dedicated forum will be set up in which early adopters can specifically contribute to the Early Access stages of development via votes and comments.
“We advise gamers to only purchase the Early Access version of our game if they truly understand what Early Access means”, commented Pablo Rodriguez, Creative Director at 8-Bit. “We want our audience to participate in the creative process of building Skara with us and we’re excited at how far we’ve already come. We acknowledge that we still have a way to go, but we also want people to join us on our development journey as we move towards full scale release”.
The reason for 8-Bit’s method of charging a fee for early access is to ensure the development costs which will help with the final version which will be a free-to-play on the Xbox One, Ps4, and PC which is due to release in 2015. There are however pluses to this purchase as purchasing Skara: The Blade Remains early access players will have their payment in a sense reimbursed in virtual currency which allow them to use it in the virtual store once the game is in full launch. They will also be rewarded with exclusive armor, weapons and have their names featured in the game credits for all their support.
The final version of Skara will also feature:
• 8 vs 8 Multiplayer Battles – Brutal battles with real players
• Skill Based Gameplay – Skill, accuracy, timing and practice are required to succeed
• Fatalities – Dispatch your enemies with spectacular and unique fatality moves
• 5 Races – Each race features unique weapons and fighting styles
• Factions – Ruling Skara requires teamwork, hook up with your friends to plan organized attacks and dominate the map. Special attacks or ‘team actions’ are available to teams who work together effectively
• Customize-ability – Personalize your warrior to reflect your play style and tastes
• Game Modes – Includes: free for all, death match, capture the flag, kill the king, siege, dominion and more
• Unreal Engine 4 – Enables truly stunning next gen graphics
• PS4/XboxOne/PC versions – Skara is properly next gen multi platform
• New Genre (MOV) – Skara didn’t fit into any genre so 8 Bit made a new one! Multiplayer Online Versus
• F2P – Skara will be free to play on all next gen platforms
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Check out Skara: The Blade Remains Early Access Launch Trailer:
