As Sumo Leamington and Secret Mode Games‘ Stampede: Racing Royale continues to take stock after the completion of its latest public playtest, the development team has made a significant decision to ensure the quality of the game is at the level they envisioned. The 60-player battle royale kart racer will no longer be arriving on Steam Early Access in November; instead, Stampede: Racing Royale will be aiming for the first half of 2024 for the racing to start.
“Firstly, we’re making this change to bring you a game that we feel aligns with what you want to see. Many additions and improvements that are key to Early Access are in development right now, and some of it isn’t quite at the level we want it to be, or you folks deserve. Our team has put so much love into Stampede, and we see how excited you are for it. We’d hate to have it fall short of what’s needed and expected from all of us,” said the team in a statement.
“Secondly, this is the best decision for our team. We are a studio that seriously cares about the well-being of our people. We will not force anyone to work in an unhealthy way to hit targets and deadlines. Shifting Early Access ensures our amazing team remain healthy and supported, to do what they do best.”
The delay will now see the Early Access start for Stampede: Racing Royale falls sometime between January and June, with a specific date to come as soon as there is better visibility. This will not affect the console versions of the game that come with cross-play functionality, with those still planned for 2024 as well.
To keep everyone up to speed, the team will continue to “share content that gives you a closer look at how Stampede is transforming for Early Access,” including more details about “Special Events, deeper kart progression, Seasons and Challenges” so that precious feedback can be gathered.
Fans can also check out the game’s Trello board with the status of known hot topics as well as Dev Logs as progress is made towards the Early Access debut of Stampede: Racing Royale. An official Discord server will also be live closer to Early Access.
