Xaviant seeks help for The Culling closed alpha

The Culling, announced last week, is a little bit Rust and a little bit Running Man: 16 players crammed into a tropical island paradise with nothing but crafting resources and 20 minutes to kill each other dead. It's being developed by Xaviant, the studio behind Lichdom: Battlemage, and it sounds like good, murderous fun, even though it's still very early in the development process. Which brings me to the point. A closed alpha is coming, and you may now sign up to take part.

In this particular case, Xaviant is looking for help “stress-testing our server infrastructure and identifying other issues we may have missed” prior to the Early Access launch on Steam. The studio clarified that taking part in the alpha will not entitle you to a copy of the Early Access release, and asked that everyone please ensure they meet the minimum system requirements before signing up. Fortunately, they are fairly undemanding:

OS: 64-Bit OS Required: Win7 SP1, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i3 560 / AMD Phenom2 X4 945
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: DX11 GPU with 1GB VRAM: NVidia GTX 460/ AMD Radeon 5850
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 8 GB available space

The Culling will go live on Early Access on March 8 and sell for $15/£15, which doesn't really seem fair, with a ten percent discount offered from March 8-14.

Update: Xaviant has issued a statement explaining why the price for The Culling is the same in both dollars and pounds, which results in UK customers paying a premium of more than 25 percent. “Our Euro and GBP pricing follows the Steam store’s standard recommended conversions, which account for the value-added tax levied in those countries," Producer Josh Van Veld said. "We feel that The Culling is a bargain at those prices and we hope fans worldwide will agree.”

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.