Not too long before certain backers will be able to trot around in this idyllic village mill.
A Backer Beta is presumably the opposite of a Beta Blocker, but whatever it is Obsidian have more details to share about the Pillars of Eternity beta. It’ll still be available from 18 August, but there’s more information pertaining to the release as well.
The Backer Beta (available to all those who backed Pillars of Eternity at a relevant level on Kickstarter, in case you didn’t know) will be issued through Steam. Obsidian say this is because it “makes the process of uploading new builds much easier than other platforms.” They want to be pushing out fairly regular updates and Steam makes this pretty straightforward. The full game will, of course, be available on all previously promised platforms (GOG, etc.)
Backer Beta keys will be downloaded through Obsidian’s backer portal. Those eligible for the beta will be informed by Obsidian how to obtain the key.
This beta key will be separate to the one you get later for the full version of the game. “The main reason we are doing this is so that backers are not locked into Steam for the final version of the game,” the newsletter states. Obsidian will also be setting up a special beta forum for Beta Backer discussion.
Finally, the 18 August beta will be Windows only. According to the studio “We are still working out a few kinks on Mac and Linux, but we expect that we will be able to release those a few weeks after our initial release, if not sooner.”
The crowd-funding period for Pillars of Eternity will officially end on 22 August. From that date onwards the only purchasing option for the game will be a standard pre-order, and the discounted rates (as well as various add-ons) will no longer be available.
