Wayfinder News

[h3]Greetings, Wayfinders! [/h3]

As our Global Closed Beta draws near, we're eager for both new and returning players to embark on their adventures in the ever-evolving world of Evenor. Your valuable feedback has helped shape Wayfinder's development, and we're excited to present some of the top community-requested features, such as an all new jump dash, movement speed increases, a camera system overhaul and more! If you missed out on all of the features we’re implementing you can read about them here.

This Closed Beta, we're inviting players from around the world to participate! The test will begin on Wednesday, May 24 at 10 a.m. CT (3 p.m. UTC) and will run until Monday, May 29 at 10 a.m. CT (3 p.m. UTC) on Steam, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. We will be sending invites throughout the day on May 24, so keep an eye on your inbox!

[h2]Sign Up and Participation[/h2]

There is still time to sign up for a chance to participate and help shape Wayfinder before Early Access! If you’ve taken part in any previous Technical Test or Closed Beta, you will automatically have access without needing to sign up again! Keep an eye on your inbox and request access on the Wayfinder Store Page to sign up now if you have yet to. We have simplified the process and you will no longer be required to create and link a Digital Extremes account to join the Global Closed Beta!



[h2]What to Expect[/h2]

For returning Wayfinders, this test will include Kyros and Senja, as well as their Signature Weapons,two new boss Hunts along with many new performance optimizations, changes to the user interface and more! Please note that all account progress from previous tests has been reset, and as a reminder all progress from this Global Closed Beta will NOT carry over to Early Access when it launches later this Summer.

[h2]Invitation Waves[/h2]

To ensure a smooth experience during our biggest test yet, we’ll send out invitations in waves at, 10 a.m. CT (3 p.m. UTC), 12 p.m. CT (5 p.m. UTC), 2 p.m. CT (7 p.m. UTC) and concluding at 4 p.m. CT (9 p.m. UTC).

Steam users will receive invites directly from [email protected]

[h2]Stay Informed and Engage[/h2]

Follow our Twitter page and join the Private Discord Server for updates and to engage with the community.

While we can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the latest updates in the Global Closed Beta, remember that it remains under a strict Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA). Please share your experiences only within the private testing Discord channel provided in your invite email.

These Technical Tests and Betas have provided us with incredible feedback! We will continue to listen during this Global Closed Beta, because Wayfinders are stronger together!

See you in Evenor on May 24!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1171690/Wayfinder/

Updated May 10th @ 6:45p.m. CT.:

Greetings Wayfinders.

We want to first apologize for our delay of the Global Closed Beta. We know there were many of you who were excited to hop in and play, and even rearranged your schedules.

After a comprehensive evaluation, we’ve made the necessary decision to move the Global Closed Beta to May 24.

We’re committed to being transparent throughout Wayfinder’s development: so what happened?

Expanding this test from North America to the entire world is no small task. Since announcing our May 10th beta date, we’ve been working to ensure everything is in place to get players in and gather the critical data that these tests provide. Simultaneously, we’re also preparing the game for Early Access, which means we are preparing two large milestones at once with a relatively small team for a game of this scope. During the final preparations, we discovered substantial connection and matchmaking issues. We faced a critical decision: launch the beta with potential disconnects and matchmaking errors or delay to address these issues.

The team worked extensively over the last few days to try and solve these issues and while we had hoped for a quick fix, it’s clear now that we need a more comprehensive solution and extra time to deliver a stable and smooth experience for our players, while fulfilling our testing needs for accurate and usable data.

We’ve said from the start, these tests and betas are genuine learning opportunities for our team and not marketing events, hence our NDA. We will continue to work with this philosophy and when we feel the game is in a great state, both in gameplay and server stability, we will lift the NDA. Trust us, no one is more excited than we are to have Wayfinder out in the world, on platforms like YouTube + Twitch, and more importantly chatted about with friends old and new.

The community’s support has been nothing short of amazing, and we appreciate your understanding and patience. Making games can be hard as hell, but we’re thankful to have an amazing team as well as a growing and passionate community along for the journey.

-The Wayfinder Team

With Early Access coming this summer, we want to emphasize how invaluable our community's feedback has been in shaping Wayfinder's development. To all the dedicated Wayfinders who participated in our Closed Beta tests – thank you for your insights and support!

While we will conduct this next Closed Beta with an NDA in place – as the game is still truly in development. We are excited to share the following top requested features that have been implemented in advance of Early Access, and playable in the upcoming Closed Beta! While this is not an exhaustive list of all changes we’ve made, we wanted to highlight how our community has been integral in helping us prioritize and shape the future of Wayfinder.

Jump Dash and Movement Speed Increases
As a Wayfinder, we want you to not only feel powerful, but swift – whether it’s nimbly dancing around enemies in combat or mastering the terrain across Evenor! To assist with this maneuverability, we have added a jump dash and increased overall movement speed so you can now traverse dungeons and outplay opponents more quickly!



Movement While Queued
Freedom! You will no longer be confined while queued for dungeons. Once you queue up for a Lost Zone at the Gloom Gate, you'll be free to move around town and to continue exploring the open world!

Material Codex
We know your time is precious, and we want to help you make the most of it. To streamline your gathering and crafting experience, we've introduced a Material Codex that will give you an approximation of where to find particular materials you are looking for!



Performance, Optimization and Stability Gains
Each Beta test gives us an opportunity to dramatically improve loading times between zones, frame rates and address server stability and crashes. We’ve made significant strides in these areas to ensure a smoother experience across all platforms by increasing frames on both lower specced and high end machines to almost double the performance in some situations! We’ve also fully implemented AMD’s FSR 2.2, resulting in greater performance gains when enabled. These adjustments will continue all the way up until Early Access.

Camera System Overhaul
When adventuring in interior locations or when locking onto enemies, it could at times become tricky to track your enemies or even your own character due to the twisted and maze-like nature of some of our Lost Zones. We’ve completely overhauled the camera system to provide smart detection for both walls and enemies in the world, automatically adjusting the camera’s positioning for a smoother, less frustrating experience.

Gameplay Adjustments
We've implemented numerous enhancements to improve gameplay with clearer FX animations for critical hits and guidance on when to block and parry to help mitigate damage, and a revamp to the Gloom Gate Mission and End of Mission screen!



We can't wait for you to experience these exciting new additions and improvements, Wayfinder! This is just the tip of the iceberg, and we’ll continue to shape the game with the community’s help. If you’re taking part in the Global Closed beta we encourage you to get involved with the community and give us your feedback because we’re listening!



Sign Up Now

Don’t forget! Join us for the upcoming Global Closed Beta beginning on May 10 at 10 a.m. CT (3 p.m. UTC) and running until May 14 at 10 a.m. CT (3 p.m. UTC). There is still time to register! This time, Evenor is opening its doors to players all over the globe!



We hope to see you in Evenor, Wayfinder!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1171690/Wayfinder/

PAX East was the first player-focused event we attended and we were ecstatic to have been able to meet so many of you, Wayfinders! The team has been waiting for a chance to talk more about our upcoming game and our panel hosted by the guide expert himself, MTashed, allowed us to do just that. If you missed it live, you can watch it here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Meet the Team[/h2]
Our speakers Joe Madueria CEO of Airship Syndicate, Ryan Stefanelli Studio President, and AJ LaSaracina Marketing & Engagement Director, took us through some of the history of Airship, the time and effort that has been put into creating player-first experiences, and how all of this has helped shape our upcoming title, Wayfinder.

[h2]Inspiration Behind Wayfinder[/h2]
Wayfinder is a world filled with rich lore, a roster with personality-filled characters, and epic and changing scenery. Click here to jump to the particular panel segment.

[h2]Voice Actors[/h2]
We’d like to introduce some of the talented voices of Wayfinder. They bring the emotion and conviction of these characters to life. As you travel through the world of Wayfinder we hope you’ll learn to find courage and strength in voices that will be by your side along the way.



[h2]Stories of the Characters[/h2]
The stories behind the Wayfinders are just as important as their fight against the gloom. It’s what gives these protectors a common cause as they stand for the people of Evenor. This world will have stories to tell both in-game and out, so there will be plenty of routes to become the experts needed to save Evenor and fight back the Gloom. In fact, we had a new story to tell at the panel! Click here to jump to the particular panel segment.

[h2]New Wayfinder Revealed - Venomess[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Nothing like a mere wall will stop The Venomess from reaching her mark and completing her mission. We hope our teaser gives you some ideas on what you have to look forward to when this Wayfinder emerges from the Gloom! Looking to the future of the game, there will be main updates every three months, called Seasons. These Seasons will bring new content with them like new Wayfinders, weapons, and events for players to dominate on the path to saving this broken world.

[h2]Building a Game Alongside a Community[/h2]
We couldn’t have made it to this point without your amazing support, or the players that have helped shape the game so far in the tests that have taken place. From how loot works at a foundational level to making combat changes like parrying when YOU want, we are listening to feedback and will continue to do so as Wayfinder opens up to everyone (looking at you air dash).

[h2]Seasons + Our Battle Pass[/h2]
Click here to jump to the particular panel segment. More info coming soon!

[h2]The Next Closed Beta[/h2]
Mark your calendars for April, when the next Closed Beta begins!
Head over to the Wayfinder Steam page and request access to the Beta via the Playtest. We will be opening this Beta up to more regions and are ready to protect Skylight with you all!



Early Access comes in May and while we currently don’t have any additional news on Founders Packs, keep an eye out for more news as we get closer. Click here to jump to the particular video segment.

[h2]THANK YOU, Wayfinder![/h2]
Both the Airship Syndicate and Digital Extremes teams are working to bring you the best possible experience as a Wayfinder. The response that has been seen so far has been amazing and lets us know we are heading in the right direction. The teams are dedicated to building this world with you, for you. We thank you for your continued support and look forward to seeing you at the next event to #ControltheChaos!