Everything We Know About Rocketwerkz’s Icarus So Far

Hey guys! Icarus is an upcoming survival game from Dean Hall and his studio RocketWerkz. Dean Hall is probably best known for helping to create the modern survival game when he created DayZ. Now, he’s back to revolutionize the survival genre with his new game Icarus.

Dean Hall founded RocketWerkz in 2015 after the success of DayZ. They’ve released a few games, including the VR game Out of Ammo and the space station sim Stationeers. However, no game has had the same buzz as DayZ.

That is, until now. Icarus has had a ton of hype ever since it was announced earlier this year. But just what is Icarus, and why all the hype?

What is Icarus?

Icarus is described by RocketWerkz as a “session-based PvE survival game.” In this game, you’ll descend from your space station to the lost planet of Icarus in order to collect rare and valuable resources. On the planet, you’ll fight for survival and race against the clock to collect your prize and escape the planet. 

In the world of the game, Icarus was a massive terraforming project intended to create a second Earth. But, everything went wrong when the air turned toxic and the project failed due to the presence of “exotic matter.” This exotic matter may have doomed the planet Icarus, but its extreme value has caused a new gold rush.

Now, prospectors work alone or in teams in order to extract exotic matter from the planet. They operate out of space stations orbiting the planet, descending to the planet to face biomes both familiar and alien. With a little luck and hard work, they’ll be able to escape the planet with their riches in hand.

So that’s the story of the game. But what will the gameplay be like?

What can you expect to see in Icarus?

Being a survival game, Icarus will of course feature all the classic survival game trappings. You’ll have to manage food and water (as well as oxygen) in order to survive. You’ll be able to craft and build a shelter using materials in the environment. And of course, you’ll fight against enemies that lurk in the wilds of Icarus. 

One of the most unique features of Icarus is that it is session-based. What does that mean? Well, in most survival games your world is persistent, and once you start a new game, your character will exist in the same world for as long as you want to play in that world. Take for example a game like Valheim or Minecraft.

Icarus is different. In Icarus, you have a home base in the form of a space station, but all of the actual gameplay takes place on the planet’s surface. Once you start a mission in Icarus, you’ll have a specific time limit in which to craft, build, and survive in order to complete your objective. Once you complete the objective and leave the planet, everything you built there will be lost. 

However, there is still progression between rounds of Icarus. Your character will be able to expand 2 separate tech trees, the planetary and orbital tech trees. The planetary tech tree will focus on the things you can craft while on the surface of Icarus. Meanwhile, the orbital tech tree will be for the items you can create while on your space station from the exotic materials you gather on Icarus.

There will also be an extensive skill tree in Icarus, known as the talent tree. This tree of over 250 talents covers survival, construction, and hunting. Using these skills, you’ll be able to adapt your character to your play style and make them more powerful.

When can you play Icarus?

If all this info leaves you dying to play Icarus, there’s good news and bad news. Bad news first: Icarus was recently delayed from its original August 11th release date to November. 

The good news: they’re holding open betas starting on August 28th for anyone who preorders the game. This beta will be spread across 6 beta weekends over the next several months, with each weekend having a different focus. These beta weekends will:

• August 28-29: Forest. This week will introduce the world via its first biome, the forest. 
• September 11-12: Storms. This week takes things up a notch with the addition of torrential storms that damage structures.
• September 25-26: Arctic. This weekend will add the arctic biome.
• October 9-1: Desert. This time around, the desert biome will be unlocked. 
• October 23-24: Missions. This will add missions you can take from corporations that are fighting for control of Icarus. 
• November 6-7: Community. This final beta weekend will celebrate the community with special challenges and competitions. 

So if you can’t wait to check out this hot new survival game, make sure to preorder so you can enjoy all the beta test excitement over the next few months. Otherwise, you’ll be waiting until November to get in on the fun. 

Icarus awaits

So, that’s all the information we have so far on Dean Hall and Rocketwerkz’s upcoming survival game Icarus. What features are you the most excited about? Are you going to take part in the beta tests? Let us know in the comments!

In the meantime, you can check out another unique survival game called volcanoids!

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