Summary
- The Alters, originally set for Q1 2025, faces another delay for further development improvements.
- The development team is using the delay to refine existing aspects and potentially add new features.
The Alters, 11 Bit Studios' ambitious survival game planned for the first quarter of 2025, has been pulled from that previously announced release window. Facing another set of delays, The Alters is now planned for release sometime later in the year, and the development team will be taking the opportunity provided by the release window extension to refine existing aspects and possibly add new features to the game.
Originally revealed at the PC Games Show in June 2022, the upcoming sci-fi game tells the story of Jan Dolski, the only survivor of a spaceship crash on a mission to a dangerous planet. Previews of The Alters show Doski must rely on the mysterious resource Rapidium to create alternate versions of himself to replace the crew, but each Alter has a different personality, derived from having made different choices at key moments in Dolski's life.
It's a Good Thing The Alters Players Can't Unlock Every Alter In One Playthrough
During an interview with The Best War Games, 11 bit studios reveals that The Alters has more Alters than can be created in one playthrough.
Initially planned for release in 2024, the first release delay of The Alters was announced in October, with the development team indicating that more optimization was needed and moving the release window to the first quarter of 2025. Now 11 Bit Studios has announced a second delay, indicating that players will be able to get their hands on the game sometime in 2025 without any specification as to how late in the year the launch will be. The development team seems to want to keep players immersed, however, as both delay announcements have been addressed to "Mr. Dolski" directly, stating that his departure with Project Dolly has been postponed.
The Alters has been Delayed for a Second Time
Unlike the first delay announcement, this new one states that it allows the team more time to "integrate new enhancements," which may be an indication that some previously unannounced features may be added to the game before its eventual release. The unique story and clever mechanics already announced fuel The Alters' branching narratives that will require players to manage relationships between the different versions of Jan. But not as much focus has been given to its survival game aspects, so there may be more to see there as well.
The delay is likely to be disappointing to a lot of fans who have been anticipating the game's release. Despite speaking to potential players in character, the message from the development team expresses appreciation for their "keen interest in the mission timeline." The game has presented its developers with some unusual challenges, including having most of the spoken lines in The Alters delivered by one voice actor, and the message to fans assures them that when the game is released, it will work at "peak efficiency."
The Alters
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 86 /100 Critics Rec: 94%
- Released
- June 13, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
- Publisher(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Strategy, Management
