The Alters News

It’s rare for a game to genuinely surprise me anymore, so when one comes along and changes my whole week, I tend to gush. And this week, no one can shut me up about The Alters.

The Alters is a moody, sci-fi survival game with base-building elements, developed by 11 Bit Studios—the same publisher behind INDIKA, another game from last year that I still try to shoehorn into every conversation.

In a word, The Alters is different. It’s high-concept science fiction that relies on a mind-bending framework to tell a grounded, personal story. At the heart of that story is Jan Dolski, the sole survivor of an ill-fated mining mission, now marooned on a distant planet. To stay alive, he must keep a mobile mining base moving, racing toward rescue and away from the incinerating light of the rising sun.

But he can’t do it alone. To fill the void left by his lost crew, Jan is forced to use experimental technology to create a new one. Using a cloning machine and a... Read more

[p]Hello everyone,
[/p][p]The excitement is in the air, less than a week left until the launch of The Alters! Today, we want to take you on a journey through the road we've traveled so far, and how a small concept created in a room by 4 people evolved into one of the most personal survival experiences. We would also like to share with you the game's pricing, as well as it's minimum and recommended requirements - as it was often requested by you.
[/p][h3]Early stages[/h3][p][/p][p]It all began when Tomasz Kisilewicz - Game Director of The Alters - started figuring out the idea behind the game together with just three other teammates. The very first prototype was… quite literally, on board! Figuring out the gameplay was the most important part, and a board game prototype was a perfect basis for testing out the preliminary idea behind the gameplay loop. The ‘board game’ went through quite a lot of different versions and plenty of discussions, which allowed us to decide in which direction we want to develop the game as the team grew bigger:

“With the team steadily growing, the pandemic reshaping the way we work, and all the usual challenges of game development, these past years have been both creatively rewarding and full of hurdles,”

“But now, as we stand on the brink of release, I’m proud to say we’ve delivered a game that stays true to its original vision - thanks entirely to the determination and talent of our incredible development team. They brought The Alters to life, and we can’t wait for players to finally experience it.”

Below, you can see photos from one of the earliest tabletop testing sessions of The Alters, which shows early concepts of modules and base arrangement in the game:

[/p][p][/p][p]That’s not all! We would like to share with you some of the initial concept arts, which were literally the first steps in shaping the unique visual identity of the game:[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][h3]One voice for them all[/h3][p][/p][p]As development progressed and the story began to take shape, it was time to find the perfect voice for our main character, as well as all his alternative selves. That’s when, a little over two years ago, we teamed up with Alex Jordan, an incredibly talented voice actor who took on the unique challenge of giving life to multiple versions of the same person. And he nailed it![/p][p][/p][p]If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our interview with Alex where he shares insights into this demanding voice work:
[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][h3]Demo version[/h3][p]
Then came the demo, and your response blew us away. It was played over 270,000 times! Your feedback was incredibly valuable and helped us improve not just the beginning of the game, but also the later chapters. Thank you![/p][p][/p][p]When a team of insanely talented and creative people start working on a project together, naturally there are continuous, never-ending efforts of refining and implementing new features - a story many game dev teams can surely resonate with! The team was hard at work to deliver an even more immersive and personal experience on launch day, than what you got as a glimpse in the demo we first launched back in June 2024. Some of the additions include:

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• [p]Expanding and improving the research tree,
  
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• [p]Adding new cutscenes,
  
  [/p]
• [p]Expanding the planet exploration with new things to discover as well as adding different types of anomalies,
  
  [/p]
• [p]Enhancing the tutorial, based on your suggestions (thank you for sharing those!),
  
  [/p]
• [p]Introducing a Hard Mode,
  
  [/p]
• [p]...and much more![/p]

[p] [/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][p][/p][p]To give you even more proof of just how far the game has come, check out the reactions from creators who had the chance to play the game during our Hands-On Event this May:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][h3]Release just around the corner![/h3][p][/p][p]And now, here we are! The Alters launches on June 13th, with a 10% launch discount for the first two weeks for Steam, GOG and EGS. Below you'll find the full release map, and system requirements:[/p][p]

[/p][p]As well as the pricing rundown:

Base Game: 34.99 USD / 34.99 EUR / 29.50 GBP / 109 CNY / 3960 JPY / 37500 KRW / 583 TWD / 218 HKD / 121 PLN[/p][p]Deluxe Edition: 49.47 USD / 49.47 EUR / 41.92 GBP / 160.20 CNY / 5742 JPY / 53640 KRW / 857.70 TWD / 311.40 HKD / 167.39 PLN
[/p][p]We hope you're just as excited as we are, and that you’ll enjoy meeting all the different versions of Jan Dolski in the game.[/p][p]Follow us on social media, join our community on Discord, and visit our subreddit r/TheAlters to share your thoughts and experiences - we can’t wait to read your first impressions![/p][p][/p][p]See you soon, at the base.[/p][p][/p][p]~ 11 bit studios Team[/p][p]
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[p]Hello Everybody, [/p][p][/p][p]With only a few days to the premiere, we would like to share with you two more little things: [/p][p][/p][h3]Benchmark Tool [/h3][p][/p][p]The official system requirements for The Alters are now available to download on Steam! Check if your PC is ready to run Jan’s journey and every version of him here:[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink] [/p][carousel][/carousel][h3]Twitch Integration [/h3][p][/p][p]We would also like to announce, that starting from the premiere, the game will support full Twitch Integration, allowing you to actively participate in the decisions made by your favourite creators while watching their stream. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Alters launch on June 13th!

Are you ready to meet all Jan Dolskis?

~ 11 bit studios Team[/p][h3]


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[p]Hello Everyone,[/p][p]We’re entering the final countdown – The Alters launches in just a few days, on June 13th![/p][p]Check out our brand-new trailer, featuring the song "We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow" by SOKO remixed by Piotr Musiał:
[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
What if every choice you’ve ever made was just an illusion?
Is escape a selfish goal?
If there were an easy way out... would you take it?[/p][p]In The Alters, survival is personal.[/p][p]Follow us on social media, join our Discord and subreddit: r/TheAlters to count down to the premiere and let’s celebrate the upcoming premiere together! ~ 11 bit studios[/p]

Hello everyone,

Today we would like to share with you 5th and the last Expedition Log before the launch of The Alters.

Before you step into Jan’s story on June 13, catch up on what you’ve missed. This Expedition Log wraps up everything we’ve shared so far about the game:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
See you soon at the base!

~ 11 bit studios Team