What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access? “Early Access is a great opportunity to get players involved in shaping the game and giving key feedback. Waiting until the game is almost complete makes it very difficult to integrate player feedback beyond bug reports and balance tweaks. Wizards and Warlords is meant to offer a deep and engaging experience, more than just a game of conquest and warfare, but an engine to explore fantasy worlds and watch their stories unfold. Joining the Early Access is for those players who want to get involved in the iterative development and support this, admittedly, ambitious endeavor. It is not (yet) for players who expect a classic beta experience.” Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? “The goal is to release in the first months of 2018, but as with all software development, there is a (significant) risk of delays. When doing iterative development it can be difficult to draw a line in the sand as to when the required level of polish is there, but a release will not happen until there is the requisite quality and polish.” How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? “Graphics will be improved. There will be additional content, features and game mechanics in order to deliver a Grand Strategy experience where the game world feels truly dynamic and interesting. This is an iterative process. The game is playable and every patch adds something new. There will be an effort to keep compatibility with old save games and scenarios.



As development progresses some features may end up being greatly reworked, or even completely replaced or removed. Focus is on delivering a great game, not on completing a check list and leaving early access as soon as possible. This does not mean the game will be abandoned after "release". On the contrary, there will be additional content updates, and long-term support of the game.” What is the current state of the Early Access version? “The game is playable from start to finish as a Wizard, with Warlords being AI-only at the moment. Many aspects of the game are raw - graphics, user interface and mechanics are continually being improved. As mentioned above, do not purchase Early Access expecting a classic beta experience.



If you are in doubt if this is of interest to you, I recommend taking a look at the game play videos on YouTube, the game forums or the community on Steam. The upside from being involved at this stage is that feedback and ideas can very quickly result in functional game code, and there are already examples of this in the game.” Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access? “The price is expected to remain the same during Early Access. It is very likely that the game will have a higher price tag at the actual release.” How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process? “By engaging with the players and actively integrating the feedback, ideas and criticism. This game is to be a vehicle for creating a great diversity of stories, worlds, and mods. In order to have the required breadth and depth to support this, the thoughts of players of various play styles is important. While there is a guiding design behind the game design - it is essential that the ideas and feedback of players are integrated into this vision, and that it is subjected to the reality of actual play. Rapid iteration and pushing out regular updates is a guiding principle.”