What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access? “When we first released the Raft prototype, we were simply amazed and overwhelmed by the incredible response from players around the world. Inspired by the community’s support and active feedback, we knew we had a responsibility to grow Raft into the fully realized survival experience those fans deserved. With development now moving at full speed, it’s more important than ever that the community continues to share its valuable feedback with us and that we’re able to incorporate those ideas as quickly as possible. That’s why Early Access was clearly a great platform for this game and now we can continue the Raft journey together!” Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? “One of the most appealing aspects of Early Access was the ability to shape Raft together with the community, alongside our own ambitions for features and mechanics that we’d like to add to the game. Consequently, we’ve decided to keep our schedule fairly flexible so that the development team and community can best mould the Raft experience that we all want to see!” How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version? “The Early Access version introduces a solid foundation for Raft. Now with your support, we plan to build an even more unique and exciting experience filled with fun moments and perilous adventure! First, we plan to dust off our compasses and embark on an epic quest with the introduction of landmarks; players will gather clues, set their coordinates and raft towards mysterious destinations! Players will discover stranded ships, sunken cities and caverns filled with treasure, including blueprints for crafting new weapons and equipment! Additional wildlife and other dangers will bring more challenge and new ways to defend your raft. You might even discover a stray animal to accompany you on your journey…

Equally exciting is our plan to offer players complete creative freedom in Creative Mode, a relaxing experience where supplies are unlimited and danger all but removed. Coupled with Steam Workshop integration, Creative Mode will allow you and your friends to really express your craftsmanship together! Above all, we promise to use the Early Access period to listen to you and your feedback in order to develop Raft towards a combined vision.” What is the current state of the Early Access version? “With the feedback we were able to gather from the initial prototype, we’ve committed significant development time to ensure that the improved version of Raft is one that fans will really enjoy. Many core mechanics and features are present and polished, but now we want your help to bring the final pieces in to place! The Early Access version of Raft boasts a boat-load of items to craft, crops to grow, underwater secrets to explore, a solid building system and much more! Of course, while much of the game is present and working, we hope you understand that as Raft is still in active development you may witness the odd bug, and features are subject to change.” Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access? “While the increasing size and scope of the Raft experience may in future alter the price for late adopters, players who join us during the Early Access period will absolutely have access to the full version of the game, however large it grows!” How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process? “During the early development of Raft we’re proud to have developed a reputation for keeping a close relationship with our community. We’ll of course continue this relationship during the Early Access period with regular blog posts detailing development progress and active appearances on the Steam community forums. We also have a Facebook and Twitter page where you can write to us. We will do our absolute best to answer as many of your messages as we can and promise to do our best to take your feedback and ideas into consideration, because we believe that it will lead to the best possible game!”