Abandon Ship casts its Early Access anchor this month

First demoed at the PC Gamer Weekender last year (the PCGW 2018 is next weekend—have we mentioned that already?), Abandon Ship is a procedurally-generated, tactical combat game that riffs on everything from FTL to Assassin's Creed Black Flag and Sunless Sea. It's now got an Early Access release date, too: February 21.

Filled with Doomsday cults and horrid water monsters, Abandon Ship's picture framed world is inspired by naval oil paintings, aping the distinguished styles of Willem Velde, James Wilson Carmichael and Ebenezer Colls. Death at sea is permanent, warns developer Fireblade Software, however survival is doable so long as your captain lives—even if that means selfishly abandoning a downed ship on a lifeboat. Shame on you.

Here's a wee trailer that demonstrates some of the above:

And here's Fireblade with more detail:

Become the Captain of your very own ship, hire a crew and travel the seas of a fantasy world inspired by the Age of Sail period, complete with pirates and deadly sea creatures. Battle against weather, overcome fearsome odds, and survive the depths in an ‘FTL meets Master & Commander’ gameplay experience.

Combat in Abandon Ship is very tactical, forcing you to juggle between your crew’s placement on the ship, weapons to fire, and damage to fix. Players can upgrade their vessel to fit their style. From long-ranged cannon combat to short ranged harpoon and boarding, players have plenty of options. Add to this the effects of weather and environment to the fight, and there are always many factors to consider in every encounter.

Between this and the incoming Sea of Thieves, 'tis a good time for pirate posturing. Abandon Ship enters Steam's Early Access initiative on February 21. It'll cost $19.99/£14.99 with a 15 percent launch discount when it does.