LONDON, UK – 15th September, 2015 – Indie studio 8-bit’s multiplayer hack em up, SKARA: The Blade Remains, will close sales of its Early Access build by September 30th and move to a new, invite-only model until the full F2P version launches early 2016.
Having enjoyed an incredible level of support from fans and gamers across the world so far, the team want to emphasize that this new direction puts players first, especially those who have supported the title from day one by backing it on Kickstarter, through Steam Greenlight and on to the Early Access stage. Skara’s incredible community have provided invaluable feedback, helping the dev team shape the game at every step of the development adventure.
“Of course, anyone who already owns Skara will get to keep playing it!” commented Pablo Rodriguez, Skara’s Creative Director. “We wanted to make sure ‘limited edition’ actually means something: Exclusive access to the game’s development while we finish testing, the rewards we detailed in the packages, and eventually their money back in virtual currency upon the game’s full F2P release.”
The team hopes this new direction will also help players interested in the game who are unable or unwilling to part with cash, since they will now be able to have a go and get involved with the final stage of development.
“There are a lot of people waiting to play Skara for free.” said Cesar Ortega, Skara’s co-founder. “This way they’ll now get a chance to try the Early Access if they want to, without being unfair to those who supported us first.”
Progress on Skara, a competitive hack’n’slash made by European indie developer 8-bit Studio, continues. This week the team released a new build with a playable tutorial, new combat features, a refined UI, and a player ranking system. Several more builds improving the game are scheduled in the coming months.
“We’re going to have new characters, new environments, new skills,” said Pablo. “There’s a lot of exciting stuff to look forward to.”
SKARA: The Blade Remains is aiming for full release in early 2016.
A list of the new Features found in the 0.5.4 version:
A new playable tutorial (including a new environment: The Khilma dungeons).
Power up items in the arenas (specifically health power ups and damage buffs).
Try all three characters without leveling up! This is something a lot of our users requested and we were very happy to change.
Class skills are now attached to different buttons (Q&E on the keyboard, X and Y on Xbox controller)
The Melee combat is faster now, the Hit stun is reduced. Also the free target mode has been modified to allow characters to dodge without losing focus on the target.
Rankings! Who will be the best? Find it in the War Log in the UI.
We also changed the Duel Game conditions to make it feel more like a Versus fighting game.
We’ve worked on the animations for all characters to make them more realistic and more spectacular. Characters should blend to sprint mode now and a lot of other features: Check them out!
New in-game HUD: Now you can check your enemy’s shield meter as well as the skills they’ve equipped. There’s also a new effort meter when sprinting.
Bug and crash fixing to make the game more stable. Please as usual send us feedback if something isn’t working by either writing in the forums, sending us an email, or filling out a bug report.
See the latest build in action in the new Skara trailer here.
Skara’s presskit and the latest screenshots and concept art are here.
Sign up for an invite to the new build of Skara here.
Find the Early Access build of Skara before sales are closed here.
Press Contact: Sam Brace Decibel-PR e: Decibel Mailto s: sambrace
More about SKARA: The Blade Remains
Sharpen your skills: Versus style combat is now a third-person multiplayer! An indiegame with AAA graphics, SKARA is a dangerous world designed by a small team of indie developers who dreamed of making a multiplayer hack’n’slash with the soul of an RPG.
Key features:
Awesome Graphics: SKARA delivers the highest quality visual experience possible with great attention to detail.
Versus Mechanics for Multiplayer: Combos, Finishing Moves, and Fatalities: All of these are ingredients that will make SKARA’s version of third-person arena combat unique.
Many Game Modes: Every arena in SKARA serves for a different game mode, from versus duels, to free-for-alls with a boss, to siege battles and team death matches. SKARA will be fun for five minutes or five hours.
Soul of an RPG: Players will get to keep and develop their character as they progress through SKARA, having more choices and more advanced options for customising their character’s fighting style, all while maintaining a level playing field.
Players are Protagonists: The inhabitants of SKARA are struggling to survive after cosmic destruction ruins the world they know and love. With that background, gameplay will define the future, spun into artful lore by SKARA’s development team where real players are the heroes and villains.