This blimp survival game's demo was so popular the devs want to 'expand the scope'

(Image credit: Far From Home)

Sailing over the rusted and ruined skyscrapers of post-apocalyptic Earth in a customizable airship base is an appealing idea, which is why survival game Forever Skies had such a popular demo during Steam Next Fest in October. According to developer Far From Home, over 80,000 players constructed their futuristic blimps, gathered resources, crafted gear, and went fishing for giant mutated moths in the clouds of toxic dust covering the planet.

If you were hoping to dive deeper into that devastated world this year, you're going to have to wait a little longer. Forever Skies was originally due out in early access before the end of 2022, but Far From Home announced today that release date has drifted into the first half of 2023.

It's not because people didn't like the demo, but the opposite. Players "provided a mass of positive and constructive feedback," the developer says, noting that 83% of players rated the demo an 8/10 or above. "We have decided to take a lot of this feedback onboard now and expand the scope of the game that will launch in Early Access."

Far From Home outlined some of its plans for the expanded game, including the portion of the world below the toxic dust, which looks both eerie and dangerous in the newly released screenshots you can see below. Originally this portion of the world was going to be added after the early access release, but "feedback and questions about what happens under the dust has shown us that we really should have some fundamentals of under the dust in place right from the start."

There are also plans for a greater variety in the skyscraper locations and the addition of an airship damage and repair system, which was deliberately left out of the demo. "Our toxic ravaged Earth is meant to be a substantial threat to both the player and their airship, yet what we have developed right now still needs work, so we opted to leave it out of the demo entirely. And a lot of players noted this was a crucial element they wanted."

It's a shame there's a delay, but on the plus side it sounds like the early access release will contain a lot more than was originally planned, so when it does arrive players will get to experience a lot more of the game. In the meantime, Far From Home has made the Forever Skies demo available again (and even added a few improvements) so if you missed it the first time around you can take a look now.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.