Xbox One Release Soon

And Premier Edition for PC/Mac

I've been getting lots of questions lately about the Xbox One release, and I'm happy to say we're on track for a Q1 release. In addition to fixing a number of bugs, we're also adding new content in the form of additional audio and text logs to collect and new original music from Lifeless Planet composer Rich Douglass. There's also a number of visual upgrades throughout, most notably the addition of normal-mapped terrains. This visual effect is quite striking and adds lots of apparent depth and detail to the landscapes:

We're targeting February for the Xbox One release, but that may slip to March. I'll post again when we have a firm date. There's still some optimization work to do, but otherwise I think we have all the major issues dealt with. This project has been a serious undertaking, but the fantastically talented Jazon Burnell is taking the lion's share of the effort. Wonderful to not be working alone anymore! What a concept, right?

Premier Edition Coming to PC/Mac

In the spirit of giving, I'm happy to announce we are also planning to release the Lifeless Planet Premier Edition for PC and Mac, shortly after the Xbox One release. This new version will bring the improvements and additions from the Xbox version to the PC and Mac. I know PC users have been waiting for an update for a while now, but the last few months we've had to concentrate on the Xbox build. Part of that Xbox One work has meant moving the game to a newer version of the Unity game engine (the original version was built in Unity 3). This was a serious undertaking, but the benefit is that the update coming really is a major new release. There will also be very significant performance improvements which should make the game more playable on laptops and slower desktops.

The best part? I'm happy to let you know that the Premier Edition will be a free upgrade to anyone who currently owns the game! And if you don't already own a copy, it's on sale right now (for a few more days) at 50% off...

We're still a very small team here, but I hope you see we're working hard to keep improving the game. There will be even bigger things to come in 2015 (the film project isn't dead, for one thing). Very big things... Thank you for sticking with me, sending the kind words about the game, and for all your patience when I'm not always able to respond quickly to your emails. I'm amazed at what we've been able to accomplish together!

Happy Holidays from Lifeless Planet!

-Dave