TLDR; Polish studio Flying Wild Hog has its work cut out for it. It doesn’t look like Flying Wild Hog minds though. The studio’s upcoming game, Space Punks, is an ambitious looter shooter that aims to incorporate live service elements as well. After being revealed in early July, the developers confirmed that Space Punks is headed to Early Access starting on July 14.
What is Space Punks?
Flying Wild Hog is a Poland-based video game development studio that’s best known for its work on the Shadow Warrior reboot games. The third title, Shadow Warrior 3, is currently set to release sometime this 2021. While Flying Wild Hog is hard at work to release Shadow Warrior 3, the studio is already preparing for its next venture. As we’ve mentioned already, Space Punks is a live service game. To say that it’s ambitious is only fitting. Flying Wild Hog has zero experience working on live service titles. However, it doesn’t look like the studio is taking any chances. By launching it in Early Access first, Flying Wild Hog can iron out all the game’s proverbial kinks with the help of user feedback, and without the burden of making sure that everything runs smoothly right from the get-go. The latest details about Space Punks come from a recent IGN interview with Michal Kuk, the studio head and game director over at Flying Wild Hog. According to Kuk, Space Punks will be available as an Early Access title on the Epic Games Store on July 14. The early access period will reportedly last for at least one year. During this time, Flying Wild Hog will work at adding full solo and co-op play to Space Punks. In addition to this, Kuk claims that Space Punks will have a story-focused campaign, a host of powerful gear to wield and loot, as well as a range of endgame activities that players can participate in once they are finished playing the game. Kuk added that the studio looked at Borderlands and Shadow Warrior for ideas on the combat system. He said that being an isometric game won’t prevent Space Punks from feeling like a first-person shooter title. Finally, Kuk likened Space Punks to Destiny in terms of activities and content for the entirety of the Early Access period.
When is the Space Punks release date?
At this point, Flying Wild Hog doesn’t have a release date for Space Punks. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if it takes until at least 2023 for Flying Wild Hog to release Space Punks on multiple platforms. A more recent example of a game that started as an Early Access title that and exclusive to Epic Games is Hades. After being in Early Access since December 18, Hades was finally released on September 17, 2020. Since then, it has gone on to win numerous awards from a variety of publications. While this isn’t to say that Space Punks could be as successful, the decision to launch it as an Early Access title first won’t hurt. Having said that, Space Punks’ inspirations should help tide you over until it releases. Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, a Borderlands spin-off, is expected to release in Early 2022. Meanwhile, Blizzard confirmed that Diablo 2: Resurrected will release in September 2021.
