Just before its deadline, Everspace 2 has cleared its Kickstarter funding goal of €450,000, finishing at €503,478 from nearly 8,000 backers. Those final numbers mean the budget for this sequel is twice as large as the original Everspace.
The developer issued a heartfelt thank you to backers, saying they can now make the game the way they want to "together with you, our fans and without having to cut important features or content from our core vision." They said the entire team was watching the Kickstarter campaign screen when it kicked over its funding goal, and "words can hardly describe how the entire team feels today."
Rockfish has reconfigured the arcade space loot shooter after a few years' worth of fan feedback following the first game's success. Everspace 2 is not a roguelite like its predecessor. Citing overwhelming fan feedback, the team decided to build an open world loot shooter with a definitive story arc. The road ahead is a long one for the game, which isn't planned to properly launch until 2021. But in the meantime, fans and backers have a number of ways to play the game sooner. Backers will get access to the 2019 convention demo before the end of the year. In September 2020, the game will come to Steam Early Access as the company has doubled down on their promise not to become an Epic Store exclusive.
The game will eventually release on Steam, GOG, and EGS. The team also said they're considering standalone VR modes for the game, but they couldn't promise anything quite yet, while they also made clear that the game would be too ambitious for the Switch's lesser specs.
Everspace launched for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on May 26, 2017. It received strong reviews, garnering an 83 score on OpenCritic, with 78% of critics recommending it.
