The Underworld will soon see signs of life again. Hades II, the sequel to 2020’s award-winning indie gem, is set to hit Early Access in Spring 2024, which puts its release sometime between next April and June.
HADES II Development Update! 💀🌒🌕🌘💀
— Supergiant Games (@SupergiantGames) September 14, 2023
We've been making steady progress since our reveal at The Game Awards, and getting close to an Early Access launch some months from now, in Q2 2024.
More details and answers to your questions here:https://t.co/qioX4wKUuU pic.twitter.com/GomZuQLPyF
In an official blog post, developer Supergiant Games addressed the wait between the game’s first announcement during last year’s The Game Awards and this latest 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,” it added.
Pricing details and system requirements will be revealed closer to the date, with a technical test planned for shortly before the game launches in Early Access. However, only a limited sample of players will be involved in this process of finding and solving any technical or compatibility issues that the studio might have missed.
The approach is built on past experience, where the Early Access period proved important to the development of the first game.
“Similar to how we approached Early Access with the original, following our Hades II Early Access launch, we’ll have several Major Updates adding the rest of the game’s core content and refining what’s there based on player feedback,” Supergiant added. “The story will expand with each update, as we introduce more characters, and deepen relationships with existing ones.”
Indeed, new faces can be expected in spades. Where Zagreus served as protagonist for the first Hades, its successor shines the spotlight on his sister, Melinoë. The title’s debut trailer also teased the appearances of some new gods, including Apollo and Nemesis, so there’ll be plenty of merrymaking and befriending to go around… or fighting.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Ryan Michael Chin
