After years of development following a successful Kickstarter campaign,Dual Universeis finally gearing up for its full release date. Fans of the sci-fi genre looking for aMMOcan look forward to pursuing a variety of roles while creating their own ships, buildings, and more whenDual Universereleases on Steam.
Dual Universehas announced that its official release date will be on September 27, with the Beta servers closing down on September 22 in preparation for the launch.Dual Universeis being developed by Novaquark, a Paris-based studio founded by former Ubisoft, Sony, Apple, and Aldebaran Robotics employees. The game has been a long time coming, with Novaquark’s original CEO claiming that the idea originally took hold around 2011. The game was first revealed in 2016 after E3, and raised over $560,000 in funding thanks to investors and backers on Kickstarter.
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Dual Universeis an ambitious combination of numerous high-profile sci-fi titles aiming to create a fully user-driven sci-fi MMO similar toEVE Online’s player-dominated universe. Players are in complete control of the game’s universe and can modify the environment and build houses, cities, and space stations in a sandbox that plays out a bit likeMinecraftin space. The gameplay and economy are completely player-driven as there are no NPCs to speak of, and so every interaction will be among the players all sharing a single server. Matter can be removed or added to the voxel-based environment which is the basis for the market-based resource economy, crafting, and construction systems. Build-savvy players can even run a company selling designs to other players, while other players may wish to focus on piracy, bounty hunting, or leadership roles.
Sci-fi fans are drawn to the genre for the sense of escapism into a believable future of limitless possibilities, and that’s perhaps why players are interested in sci-fi MMOs likeEVE Online,Star Citizen, andElite: Dangerous. Whilefantasy MMOs such asWorld of Warcraftare extremely prevalent, the sci-fi genre has been historically underrepresented in the genre.Dual Universehas a unique opportunity to attract players that have been looking for a sci-fi MMO they haven’t already tried, while the MMO setting means it won’t be competing directly with highly anticipated games likeStarfieldwhich are single-player.
Dual Universeuses a $10/month subscription model rather than a single one-time purchase in an effort to maintain funding for server upkeep. Although some players may be wary of the subscription model, this also means thatplayers can try outDual Universefor $10 rather than buying in at a full $60 upfront.
Dual Universewill launch on September 27 for PC. A Beta is available until September 22.
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