Dear Tycoons,

We know it’s been quite some time since our last blog. We needed time to finalize some features and decisions on our end before being able to provide you with our biggest news yet – the street date. Thank you for your patience.

We now are happy to announce that RollerCoaster Tycoon World will be available this Wednesday, March 30 via Steam Early Access.

It’s been a long ride, with all the ups and downs that you would expect from a roller coaster-obsessed team. We cannot tell you how excited, and humbled, we are to finally open the doors and deliver this early version of RCTW to you all.

Why Early Access?

As some of you may have guessed, we’ve been silently running a large test group with some members of the community since the beginning of the year. We’ve made so much progress with this group – getting invaluable feedback, testing ideas, and more – that we realized how much of a boon letting the rest of the community in would be in shaping our game. We cannot thank this group enough for their passion for the franchise and their contribution to the game, and for inspiring us to let the rest of you into the world of RCTW.

We also want to thank our developer, Nvizzio, and the QA team, who have been working tirelessly on this project. The Early Access version of RCTW includes a ton of content and we hope you will greatly appreciate the progress that we have made since our last public Beta.

This is the beginning of a new journey. RCTW was always going to develop and improve as time went on. Now you will have a direct impact on that process. It is only with your feedback, your input, your passion, and your creativity that we will bring the game to new heights.

Before the game goes live this Wednesday, we want to share its current features with you, along with what you can expect in EA, the free updates that we have planned in the near term and our long-term commitments, and finally a few words about the retail box.

Here are some highlights some of what you can expect in Early Access:

What can you find in RCTW?

An innovative coaster builder, combining freeform and piece-by-piece options for ultimate control

Freeform object placement, allowing you to put every in-game object exactly where you want it

Curved paths in a variety of widths and styles, bringing your park previously unheard of flexibility in layout

A fully integrated Steam UGC system, giving you the freedom to create any object you want and import it DIRECTLY into the game

Fully deformable terrain and water effects to change your park’s landscape quickly and easily

Steam workshop support, to share content and utilize the creative power of the community

Steam social integration and park sharing to stay connected with your fellow Tycoons from around the world

Campaign mode

An initial set of Scenarios

The Sandbox mode

10 different types of coasters (all complete with ride cams)

Over 30 different flat rides

Tons of scenery Items to populate your parks

4 different themes (sci-fi, adventure, generic, and western)

And much, much more

Our extensive list of Early Access features can be found by visiting our Steam Page.

What comes next?

Our planned feature list is HUGE! Here’s a sneak peek at a few of the FREE updates to look forward to in the coming months:

Piece-by-Piece Custom Built Structures

Scenario Editor

Mini-rides and Dark Rides

Additional scenarios

Transport Rides

Fence Builder

New and expanded decoration themes

Additional Flat-rides

Weather

Custom music

New Rollercoaster types

We will of course also be working on performance and user experience improvements, graphics updates, major as-yet-unannounced functionalities, and improving the base game in coordination with you all.

Launch Timing and Refunds

We will be in Early Access until we all feel the game is ready to be shared with the world as a finished product. Yes, there really is much more work we want to do. This isn’t about just improving and polishing but also adding new functionalities that the game needs. As Early Access progresses our timeline for final release will become clearer.

We know this is not what some of you may have expected. Thus, we are reaffirming our refund policy – we allow refunds up to March 31st 2016 to anyone that pre-ordered the game through Atari.com or RollerCoasterTycoon.com. This gives you a day to try Early Access, no strings attached. If you pre-ordered via Steam or another retailer, they will be able to facilitate refunds as needed.

RollerCoaster Tycoon World Retail

Lastly, we would like to mention a few words to those of you who would rather buy the game at retail. We have organized physical distribution in many countries, but not in all of them. Please note that we are working continuously to improve our footprint, so be on the lookout for RCTW on your store shelves. It is the same game you buy on Steam, and thus requires the same authentication procedures and updates that the downloadable version does.

We hope you are as excited about RollerCoaster Tycoon World as we are, and that you choose to go on this new phase of our journey with us. There is a lot of content and experiences to be had with RCTW already, and we know we can only make it better and more complete through the Early Access period with your help ! It’s exciting for us to finally be able to share RCTW and show all the love and respect for the brand that has gone into. It is truly a special moment. The best is yet to come!

See you soon in the park!

– Team RCTW