Next Day is a multiplayer open world survival game that is set in a fanciful country in Eastern Europe in a “post-Soviet state” with some RPG aspects to it. You can develop your character while learning new skills and also take part in a wide range of tasks to earn reputation. Your main goal will be to survive as a large part of Eastern Europe is covered in toxic fog. Early access is available 20th of July, 2017 however, the game is still in development so it may change over time.
Out of 2,619 reviews on Steam 1,995 reviews are positive leading to a mostly positive review. Players are commenting with positivity (for now) saying that the game is decent for still being in Alpha. Players have also left reviews saying “Lots of ways to progress, via skills, gear, currency and vehicles.” and “Loads of fun with friends.” There were some recent bugs like character data loading incorrectly, the master server not authorizing users and items in the settings menu only being in Russian, however, Steam has confirmed that the bugs are fixed and the servers are now back online. Players are hoping that these remain fixed and that they don’t reoccur again in the future.
Developers at SOFF Games said that without a real live audience, developing a multiplayer game was challenging. During development they mainly focused on the core game mechanics and making the game playable, regardless of the amount of extras, content and scenery. They wanted to develop the game based on live player feedback so they could know what they are doing right, what they are doing wrong and also to see how the game will function with a live audience. They hope the end outcome will be a well balanced game that players can appreciate.
In response to the question, how are you planning on involving the Community in your development process? The developers said “Engaging with the community is our main task at this stage of development. We want to find out what the players want to see, what mechanics they like and don't like.”
