Just a month before it was set to go live, Endless Dungeon developer Amplitude Studios has decided that "there's still more work for us to do," and so it's delayed the release to October 19.
"This will give us more time to incorporate community feedback and make the game as great as it can be," the studio said. "During this extra time, we'll be working on meta-progression, balancing, in-game economy, as well as loads of general polishing and bug-fixing.
"The feedback we've gotten over the past OpenDevs has proved to us that we truly have something special on our hands, and we want to make sure that the game reaches its full potential," the studio said. "Your implication throughout the development has been invaluable and your support is a huge motivator for the whole team."
Features producer Mollie Taylor took Endless Dungeon, a spiritual successor to Dungeon of the Endless, out for a test drive a couple weeks ago, and it does show a lot of promise—although, interestingly, she preferred the singleplayer experience to the multiplayer because of the way the game demands coordination and planning in order to ensure the mission gets accomplished. That's great for an experienced group who regularly plays together, but not so hot for pickup games.
"In co-op, every resource is shared and every individual's decision contributes to the overall run," she wrote. "With the goal being to guide a tiny crystal bot to a bulkhead door located somewhere on each randomized floor, everyone has to communicate about where they're going and what they're doing.
"Opening doors inches the game closer to triggering a wave of enemies who'll scramble to get their hands on your crystal bot and any resource generators you have on the map. It means you can't really have everyone split up to do a bit of map exploration for the fear that someone will trigger a wave before you can appropriately defend the path between enemies and your precious cargo."
Important update for ENDLESS™ Dungeon. Full details here: https://t.co/i0pVylAbC5 pic.twitter.com/6lUjkMN4miApril 12, 2023
Amplitude Studios explained the late delay in a blog post, saying that "several factors" based on tester feedback went into its decision to pump the brakes.
- Meta Progression: in the past OpenDev “Final Rodeo” there was a feeling of randomness when unlocking it, now we are moving to a more player-driven unlock scheme, so it feels more rewarding to players.
- Economy: we are tweaking the economy in the game slightly. We want the 3 resources (science, food, industry) to all feel important to avoid the feeling that “industry is king”. The scarcity of resources is important so that your decision of what to invest in feels impactful.
- Balancing in general: there are a lot of elements in the game (beverages, heroes, upgrades, monsters, etc.), that require a lot of feedback, which is why the playtest with the community is essential.
- And other things, such as more variety in the districts, improving the multiplayer, onboarding new players, etc.
The delay of the game also means that the planned closed beta test is also being pushed back, although Amplitude said it "will absolutely still be happening." The studio is also looking for more players to take part in its currently ongoing playtest sessions, and said specific announcements about applying to that will be made on its blog and social media channels.
