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Supergiant Games announced today that it is launching its new rogue-like, Hades II, in early access. The developer previously announced that the game’s launch date would come after its technical test, and the only announced launch window was sometime in Q2 2024. Rather than wait, it appears Supergiant is content to launch the game almost as soon as the technical preview has wrapped. The game is currently available to purchase on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Hades II follows the adventures of Melinoe, the sister of the original game’s protagonist Zagreus, on her quest to battle the Titan Chronos (her grandfather). Along the way, she encounters several of the Olympian deities from the first game — Zeus, Poseidon, Artemis, Aphrodite — as well as new deities like forge god Hephaestus, sun god Apollo, moon goddess Selene and Hecate of the crossroads. Melinoe’s powers appear to be more magical than her brother’s, and she has the ability to tame animal familiars and call down the power of the moon.
According to the game’s Steam page, Supergiant expects Hades II to be in early access through the end of 2024, and they’ll launch major updates every few months. The final, full release will include, “A more-complete, more-polished set of features and content in comparison to the Early Access version, along with Steam Achievements and the true ending to the story.”
Player reception to the technical test appears to have been generally positive (several Steam reviews indicate users played during the test). At present, the game is only available on PC, and Supergiant hasn’t announced when the sequel will follow the original game onto consoles.
