DwarfHeim, the co-op fantasy real-time strategy game coming from Merge Games and Pineleaf Studio, has shifted gears. Following a multiplayer beta test in June, the developer has announced that DwarfHeim will head into the Steam Early Access program this fall, allowing the player community to help guide the rest of development as the studio finalises the game.
“We want to make sure DwarfHeim is the best co-op RTS experience out there,” says Hans-Andreas Kleven, Pineleaf CEO, in a post to the game’s Steam page. “Our Early Access launch this fall will allow us to keep developing the game together with our community, seeing what features engage players the most, and learning what can be done to make DwarfHeim more fun.”
Early Access could prove invaluable to a co-op game like DwarfHeim, which will depend heavily on its sense of challenge versus balance. The idea is to lead a band of dwarves and help them establish a settlement, then protect it from assaults from hostile creatures and rival clans.
Here’s the trailer, in case you missed it:
Pineleaf also announced a new planned mode for DwarfHeim called skirmish. In skirmish, you’ll be taking on an increasingly challenging series of AI opponents, each on its own map that offers its own new obstacles and difficulty.
There’s no date set yet for the Early Access launch, but Pineleaf expects it to be sometime in the early fall. DwarfHeim will also run another closed beta August 7-16, and you can find out how to participate in that by checking out the official Discord server where they’ll sort you right out with a beard and helmet.