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Outbound News

Play Outbound at Gamescom!

[p][/p]
We will be at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany!
[h2]Meet us and play a free demo of Outbound on-site in Cologne, Germany from August 20-24.[/h2][p][/p][p]Many of our team members, including our developers, some of our artists, and Discord moderators will be there! Come by, say hi, and play a public demo of Outbound! Our booth will be located in hall 10.2 (more infos will follow)! For more amazing indie games, feel free to check out this year's Indie Arena Booth trailer! [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p]Please note that the demo will not be available online, you will have to be there in-person to play. We understand that many of you live far away and won't be able to attend Gamescom and we can promise you that there will be opportunities for you to try out a free demo in the future![/p]

Closed Alpha Start!



Outbound was part of today's Triple-I showcase and we announced the start of the Closed Alpha on April 14th!

The Closed Alpha is an early build of the game and we want to test mechanics and overall stability with a limited number of players. With a little bit of luck, you can also join! We start to regularly invite randomly selected newsletter subscribers to join the Alpha starting on April 14th!

Join the Alpha here

The Alpha contains the first playable biome and most of the features. We will use the Alpha to iron out bugs and to overall shape and polish the game based on player feedback.

If you are a Content Creator, you can apply for a key here if you meet the requirements.
Apply as Content Creator

Alpha Trailer!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

What is part of the Alpha?

We are happy to give you an overview of the current state of the game as well as features that are planned for the future!

[h2]The First Biome[/h2]
The Alpha offers the first biome for players to explore. The first biomes consists of lush forests, open plains, wide wheat fields, mountains, and more!


[h2]Playing together[/h2]
You can already play Outbound together with up to 4 players. You are sharing one vehicle and go together on a roadtrip! In contrast to singleplayer, multiplayer is in an experimental state since we are still encountering stability issues.


[h2]Building[/h2]
You can build workstations, furniture, and decorations inside your vehicle. With a certain vehicle upgrade, you can also build foundations and walls on top of it with our modular building system! You also have the option to set camp and build certain items next to the vehicle.


[h2]Scavenging and Crafting[/h2]
Outbound already offers a wide variety of materials that can be found and put into your vehicle. The vehicle functions as a handy shared inventory that all players can access (no need to build chests!). You can also transfer materials directly from the vehicle to any workstation to process them.


[h2]Finding new Blueprints[/h2]
While exploring the world of Outbound, you will come across various points of interest and signal towers. From these you are able to download blueprints to add to your workbench or build menu. Most of the signal towers will provide multiple options to choose from. The offered options can vary from player to player, so each playthrough should feel fresh and different. From time to time, old signal towers will provide a new signal, so you can go back and complete your blueprint collection.


[h2]Source Energy[/h2]
In the beginning, the vehicle uses a bio burner that can burn biodegradable resources to fuel the electric motor. When progressing the game you will be able to expand and ultimately replace the bio burner with solar and wind energy, building a fully sustainable energy solution for your vehicle.


[h2]Dynamic Environments[/h2]
Next to a dynamic day-night-cycle, Outbound also offers a dynamic weather system. Depending on the current conditions, the same location can feel very different and will be inhabited by different wildlife.


[h2]More Features![/h2]
These are also part of the alpha!
  • Player needs
  • Various craftable tools
  • Map and compass
  • Collectibles to find
  • Farming / cultivation
  • Cooking
  • Material processing
  • Vehicle and player upgrades
  • Some environmental puzzles and interactions


What is still in development

Outbound is still in development, therefore a couple of features are still missing, but are planned for the rest of the development time:
  • The dog companion
  • Character customization
  • Fishing
  • Bee keeping
  • More vehicle options to choose from
  • Vehicle needs
  • More biomes
  • The journal
  • Controller support
  • Language support
  • Accessibility options (and some other settings)
  • More materials, building pieces, workstations, etc.
  • and more!

We have News on April 10th!



We are super happy to tell you that we will be revealing something at this showcase on April 10th, 6pm CEST/9am PDT!

There will be announcements from 30+ games from other studios like us - all in 45 minutes - with world premieres, gameplay reveals, launch dates and more. There's no hosts, ads or sponsors – just games!

It'll be streamed on Youtube, Twitch, and right here on Steam!

Feel free to check out https://iii-initiative.com/ for more information.

We can't wait to show you what we have in store, see you there!

Multiplayer Playtest - Apply now!



We are conducting a Multiplayer Playtest in March and you can apply now! The playtest will start on March 3rd and will run for at least week (or longer, depending on demand). We will send out invitations in waves, so it is possible to join later. Please note, that we can not accept every application and will select a limited number of participants.

With this playtest we want to encourage players to play Outbound together and participate in multiplayer test sessions that involve voice communication with up to 4 players. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, we kindly ask you to skip this playtest.

If you are interested to join, you can

APPLY HERE

In order to participate, you will also need to join our community Discord server, since we will coordinate the playtest and set up voice communication channels for players there.

Thanks for helping making Outbound a fantastic game!

Cheers,
Marc & Tobi

Kickstarter Campaign ended - Late Pledges Opened!



It is still hard to believe, but with an astounding 5197 backers this campaign has truly been an incredible success! What a truly AMAZING month this has been, and we really can't thank each and everyone of you who believes in Outbound enough! 🫶

The Kickstarter campaign has ended and with the raised funds we are able to create a truly amazing game! Thanks to your incredible support, we unlocked a couple of stretch goals, that will be added to the game. Namely:





We received many requests from fans that came too late to the Kickstarter campaign to be able to participate in the Alpha or that forgot to add another add-on and we decided to offer another chance to do that!

Therefore, we have set up a Late Pledge Store (powered by BackerKit) which will stay online for a limited time only.