The Anacrusis launches in early access this January
The cooperative shooter’s continued development will be driven by the fans.
In developer Stray Bombay’s latest video devblog, co-founder Chet Faliszek confirmed that the studio's first game, The Anacrusis, will launch January 13 in early access with its first three episodes. The video also offered some insight into how the company is taking feedback into account with the game’s development.
Formed from ex-Valve and Riot veterans, Stray Bombay hopes to distinguish itself with a new take on a classic archetype. The Anacrusis is a Left 4 Dead-style cooperative shooter that takes place on a spaceship and has major 60s vibes to the entire thing. The new footage shows hordes of humanoid monsters swarming players, really feeling like Left 4 Dead in a new skin.
The difference may come with how closely the studio is working with early access players and fans. “We want to be able to actively work on this with the community and not just simply react to bugs or stuff like that. We will meaningfully change the game based on the community,” said Faliszek.
It’s interesting that we’re now living through a trend of the Left 4 Dead-style of shooter making a comeback with The Anacrusis, Back 4 Blood, and Aliens Fireteam: Elite - albeit with veterans from the Left 4 Dead days at the helm. There’s certainly a danger of feeling like a rehash, but it’s likely that Stray Bombay is keenly aware of that road and wants to carve a new path.
For its part, Back 4 Blood certainly found a way to set itself apart, it seems. Players rewarded this with droves of concurrent players during its beta period. And developer Turtle Rock Studios continues to improve the game now that it’s out.
The Anacrusis will launch in early access on January 13, 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and will appear on Xbox Game Pass.