InXile Entertainment’s Wasteland 3 is only eight days away from release and shaping up to a worthy successor to the series. However, one thing it will ship without is permadeath, an option featured in several CRPGs and tactical RPGs where death is a permanent consequence. In a new Steam post, the developer has confirmed that it will be adding this in after launch.
As for why it was omitted in the first place, inXile said that, “We actually went back and forth quite a bit on this as an option, mainly because we knew the amount of development work it would need. When you can welcome story critical NPCs into your party, and approach the game content in essentially any order, and those critical story NPCs can permanently die from anywhere in the story… it’s a lot to account for.”
All of this only means that it will take longer to properly implement permadeath. How long it will take after launch is unknown but the base game should be enough to keep players. The developer has cited over 50 hours of playtime with 10 unique endings.
InXile founder and producer Brian Fargo also recently said that the game is “coming in much larger than many expected” and would be “epic in size.” Releasing on August 28th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC, Wasteland 3 will also be available on Xbox Game Pass. Stay tuned for more details en route to launch.