The Worlds Adrift closed beta has been pushed back 'a few weeks'

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The Worlds Adrift closed beta, which late last year was pushed back to early 2017, has suffered another delay—although this one, developer Bossa Studios said in a video update, will only be a matter of weeks, and not months.

"As a result of all the valuable feedback we've been getting—and there's a few important features that aren't quite done yet—we've decided to delay the game," designer Luke Williams explained. "One of the main reasons for the delay was just to make sure the closed beta was as good an experience as possible. Alpha six really did highlight quite a lot of shortcomings, and we weren't happy to release with any of those really bad issues still in there."

Williams said the main feature Bossa is currently working on in the leadup to the closed beta release is the character creator, which will enable players to name their characters, select hairstyles and colors, and take advantage of "various other customization options." The studio is also making changes to the world map and the wilderness biomes, meaning that players will "start finding a lot larger islands, a lot more of them, in a much bigger space."

Bossa is also taking steps to combat griefing through the "glider-bomb combo" by changing how bombs are produced and making them non-stackable, meaning players will only be able to carry a couple of them "at most" on a glider suicide mission. The gliders themselves have been reworked as well, and will now go down more easily when they lose speed.

A new date for the closed beta hasn't been set, but Williams emphasized that "it's only going to be a few weeks," and he asked that current playtesters "pile on" so the studio can uncover and resolve as many underlying issues as possible before it begins.

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.