Cube World ends a half-decade of silence, announces imminent launch on Steam

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The voxel-based action-RPG hasn't been updated since mid-2014.

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Remember Cube World? Don't feel bad if you don't. In October 2013, developer Wolfram von Funck reassured eager followers that despite the silence that followed its messy alpha launch in July of that year, all was well and work was continuing. In June 2014 it issued another such reassurance, and then... nothing. Von Funck's Twitter account has been updated sporadically since then, but not with anything substantial, and the Picroma website hasn't seen any action since that quest system preview.

The Steam page is already live, and contains a detailed rundown of what the Cube World is all about. It looks like Minecraft, but it's actually an action-RPG set in a procedurally generated voxel-based world, with four different character classes, craftable items and equipment, non-linear gameplay, pets, a hang glider and a boat, and support for solo and online co-op play. It sounds very ambitious, but the 16-minute gameplay trailer above looks promising. At a bare minimum it's very pretty, and despite the Minecraft-style trappings I actually get an oddly strong Daggerfall vibe from it.

A price for the Steam release hasn't been set, but von Funck said that everyone who purchased the alpha will get a Steam key. The alpha version, sorry to say, is no longer available for purchase.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

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.