Sunless Sea’s follow up, Sunless Skies, has a potential summer early-access release

First there was Fallen London, a browser adventure game set in a Victorian era London that moved to an underground ocean called Unterzee. Then Failbetter Games went to Kickstarter for Sunless Sea, a survival/exploration RPG with roguelike elements and succeeded in financing the game. It went on to Steam and created a dedicated audience for its dark world. The DLC that came out in October 2016, brought with it the option to search the ghastly depths of Unterzee. Next up is Sunless Skies.

Failbetter has posted a roadmap of development on their website, with two-week periods of development they call ‘sprints’. “Once a sprint is completed, we’ll update the information below to reflect more specifically what was accomplished, and link it to the individual development blog, in case you’re curious to know more”. Early Access roadmap suggests that it might start some time in the summer, perhaps in August already. This would be in line with the game’s kickstarter, which said that they were going for early-access release in the summer, with the full release planned for May 2018.

The story is set in the same Lovecraftian-Victorian world, but this time, instead of searching the treacherous seas filled with huge monsters, the players will be traversing space in steam powered star ship locomotives. The same elements that gave you chills in the Unterzee will still be there, but this time sky is the limit, literally. Stars are not what they seem – they are the Judgements, vast intelligence that rule over all. Yet they are dying and the Victorian Empire is doing what it does best – colonizing their domains. The area is dubbed High Wilderness, and you will once again be able to generate your avatar and customize it with a backstory and skills in the creepy and fascinating world created by Failbetter.