Skyfear will be available under Early Access on March 6th, 2025. The game will be $14.99 USD but launch with a 10% discount for the first week.
A word about my game
Skyfear is made by just me, plus a friend or two helping test. It is very inspired by games from the early 2000s, such as Quake, Halo, and Gunz. Skyfear’s purpose is not to directly compete with another game, nor is not intended to be a live service. This game is simplistic and small by modern standards - we’re going back about 15 years. This is by design.
Here’s an interview (9 minutes) I did with Call Me Pancake discussing the game’s approach. (The footage in this video is 2-3 months old)
Early access & feedback
I wanted to deliver a complete product, but the reality is that the ground to cover on every pass is a moving target, and this game has been in development since 2015. Instead of the launch being the end, I now see it as a jumping off point. The game is not yet everything it could be. The animation needs serious work, the map design needs love, and there’s lots of networking quirks that need solutions. The to-do list is long, but for a variety of reasons, I think now is the time to open the doors. The only thing I would say is set in stone is the game’s scope. For more details about development, please visit Release Cycle and Commits.
Please submit feedback! The Discord server has a feedback forum, plus there is an in-game feedback tool.
Branches
Skyfear will have 3 branches.
- Main – The intended experience. Steam default.
- Experimental – Development version with debug tools. Intended only for testing.
- LAN – A ‘slimmed down’ build with a local network only. This build will not communicate outside of your router. Intended for LAN parties, tournaments. Due to a networking quirk in Unreal’s compiler, this had to be its own branch, so this may run a little bit behind Main and not have as much priority.
What’s coming later?
The following list is of features that have been tested to some extent, but were just not going to be ready in time for the launch. For various reasons, getting a baseline product out the door first was deemed the most practical approach. Once the game is stable, new features can be added.
- Practice range / Sandbox type mode
- Single player “scenarios”, pre-arranged AI battles
- Bots filling in multiplayer servers, optional
- Leaderboards / Ranked
- Some form of “New Game +” / Leveling loop
- Matchmaking, if/when playerbase reaches large size
- Controller, keybindings
Maps, game modes, and cosmetics will definitely expand. And I’ve already mentioned animation, map design, networking, etc. The priority given to these things will be adjusted as the feedback comes in.
Final note
If you’d like to learn more, please see the FAQ and join our Discord server!
See you in the arenas on March 6!
- telekrex (developer)