Retro sci-fi co-op shooter, The Anacrusis, will be released in early access and on Xbox Game Pass this January.
As announced on Twitter, The Anacrusis will begin life in early access on January 13. As well as arriving on the likes of Steam and the Epic Games Store, the futuristic shooter will also be available to players subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, meaning that if you’ve signed up to the service you’ll be able to play the game at no additional cost.
The Anacrusis is also coming to @XboxGamePass and @XboxGamePassPC on January 13! Whether you’re on the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, or Microsoft Windows, you’ll be able to play The Anacrusis with your friends thanks to full cross-play support! https://t.co/nMez0ppbki
— The Anacrusis (@anacrusisgame) December 13, 2021
The Anacrusis was first revealed earlier this year at Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest. During the game’s announcement trailer, fans noted that footage from the game seemed to bear resemblance to what you might expect from a sci-fi-themed Left 4 Dead. While The Anacrusis isn’t being developed by Valve, the studio behind The Anacrusis (Stray Bombay) is being led by Chet Faliszek – a former Valve writer who worked on the Left 4 Dead series.
As part of a press release, Faliszek spoke about his excitement surrounding the game’s upcoming release and what players can expect come January. “We’ve built a core game that we’re really thrilled to share with the community,” he said.
“The Director 2.0 is able to push players of all skill levels to their limits, universal crossplay lets people play with their friends on all platforms, and Game Pass lets us reach a much larger audience than we could otherwise. We’re really proud of the first three episodes of the game, which we’ll be releasing in January, but we want to integrate the community’s feedback as we finish the first season and beyond.”
When The Anacrusis enters early access, the development team plans to use the period as a “season zero” for the game, which will introduce the first act of the story, the first batch of alien enemies, and a range of guns, gear, and perks that players will need to utilize to survive. During a recent devlog, the team spoke further about what they wish to gain from the early access period noting that they’re hoping to receive honest feedback from the game’s community.
“This is a really weird early access,” says Faliszek. “Because we have things like weekly challenges, we have things like there’s a meta progression because we want to test those out as well so you can give us feedback on those. So if you’re like ‘man it really sucks that I have to do these three things to get this,’ then let us know.”
Although players will be able to jump into The Anacrusis come January, Stray Bombay is yet to announce a full price for the game. As part of a thread on Twitter, the company noted that players should expect to hear news surrounding pre-order announcements “soon”.
For more on The Anacrusis, make sure to check out this interview where Chet Faliszek explains his inspirations for bringing the four-player co-op shooter to life.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
