Survarium Enters Alpha, Will Expand Over Time

To this very day, I continue to be followed around by a gray little rain cloud that weeps heaving droplets over STALKER 2's demise. I have named it Probably Clinical Depression - after my great grandfather, of course. But one can only linger on the past for so long. I know this. I am a mature adult with grownup feelings, coping mechanisms, and tastes in colorful breakfast cereals. So naturally, I've decided to pile all my hopes and desires on a thing that only vaguely resembles my loss, like any well-adjusted person would. Survarium's been unabashedly multiplayer since day one, and now it's officially entered invite-only alpha. Does it at least capture STALKER's spirit? I can only hope.

In the first part of an ongoing diary, Vostok explained how the alpha roll out will unfold:

"The first wave will contain about one thousand invites (including the contest winners). Our goal at the early Alpha test stage is to achieve no less than 200 players on servers throughout the day and night. We understand that not all the invites sent will reach the players, so we will continue sending out the invites until we’ve reached the desired number of players. As the testing progresses we will increase the number of concurrent players on server and invite new participants."

Currently, all that's included is a team-vs-team competitive PVP mode. The main co-op campaign, freeplay, and robust faction features will stumble into view - agonizingly irradiated and in desperate need of some soulful acoustic guitar tunes - much further down the line. Skill-based matchmaking, perks, close combat, and other basics are also disabled for now, so obviously, this is only the very, very beginning.

Did anyone end up in the first wave? It's never too early to start establishing an RPS bandit gang, you know. I will not take the joy of naming it away from you, but between words like radiation, survival, and pants, there's a veritable sea of possibilities.