“Everspace 2” Early Access A Massive Success

Launching a game in early access is always a risky endeavor, especially for a self-publishing indie developer, where the success of a game can make or break the company, especially when there are so many exciting games fighting for your attention. The first 24 hours often come define whether a game is a hit or not and has a lot of impact on if the game will get to continue production and get finished. ROCKFISH Games was just in that weird gray area for games, having released an early version of its upcoming Everspace 2, a sequel to the critically acclaimed 2017 original. However, it seems that the sudio had nothing to worry about, as ROCKFISH CEO Michael Shade said in a press release published by Gamasutra that its start has “exceeded our wildest expectation.”

The game has long been anticipated, following on from a successful Kickstarter petition in late 2019. Production on the game went swiftly, though, and it officially launched on Steam in Early Access this past week. According to Shade, ROCKFISH has been confident about the prospects for the project. He cites Everspace 2 having accrued over 260,000 wishlist entries on Steam, which shows that the demand for the game is certainly there, and that audiences have taking to the preview.

Even with their expectations high, there are few would have imagined that the early preview for Everspace 2 would land on the top of Steam’s charts for best-selling games. In fact, it reached second place in the Steam weekly totals of best-selling games, with over 3,000 concurrent players on Steam and a 94 percent positive review rating.

This positive word-of-mouth is definitely a boon for the ROCKFISH title. Overnight, it seems that it’s gone from an anticipated indie darling to an audience smash. Expectations are going to be higher than ever now, though, but all signs are pointing to Everspace 2 meeting them. Either way, it’s going to be about year or so until fans will be able to play the full game.