Co-op dinosaur hunter Second Extinction is still slated for Xbox Series X and Xbox One but it seems to be coming to PC first. Developer Systemic Reaction has announced that the shooter will be heading into Steam Early Access this September. Along with providing a better idea of the game’s feel, early access will also serve as a means to test out and refine the War Effort model.
As explained to IGN, War Effort is basically a “community-driven environment” where new content “evolves over time.” It’s a live service experience that will bring new dinosaurs and missions to players. “War Effort tallies the stats of player matches and uses them to alter the threat level for future matches, meaning you’ll take on various challenging levels of dinosaurs.”
So for example, taking down dinosaurs in an area that’s marked Threat Level 1 will see the next area having an elevated threat level. Threat Level 1 should be manageable alone but a three person team is recommended for Threat Level 3. Expect these to be tuned throughout early access.
“For us, Early Access is not just about what the community does, it’s about how they do it. How are they coping with certain scenarios? What needs tuning? What do they want tuning? It’s also an opportunity for us to find other ways to kill dinosaurs in other modes outside of missions, like a horde mode, and see what people like. It’s a collaborative process and that is why we chose this route.”
Systemic Reaction answered further queries via an FAQ on Steam. It said that Second Extinction will remain in early access for “as long as it takes. When the community is happy with the overall direction, and when we are ready to welcome more players to the party, we will leave Early Access.”
Progress from early access will carry over into the full release as well, giving veterans a chance to “show off and strut around the community” at launch. As for launching on Xbox One and Xbox Series X, stay tuned for more details in the coming months.