Hades 2 Early Access release coming 2024 with "at least as much" stuff as original's EA launch

Supergiant also planning limited access technical test

Supergiant have announced that Hades 2 - sequel to one of gaming's smoothest and sexiest underworld capers - will release into Early Access in Q2 2024 on Steam and the Epic Games Store. It'll drop with at least as much stuff to do, hack apart, loot, fanship, etcetera as the original Hades, and will be preceded by a limited access technical test.

Hades 2 casts you as Princess Melinoë, immortal witch and sister to the first game's luscious lout Prince Zagreus. She's on a quest to stop the escaped time god Chronos before he messes up Olympus. Along the way, you'll meet Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, Apollo, god of light, and Nemesis, goddess of retribution, to name just a few new or returning celebrities of the Ancient Greek world. The game's combat looks familiar in trailers, but there's a new magic bar reflecting Melinoë's different skillset. You can read more in Ollie's round-up of everything we know about Hades 2.

"Thank you for your patience as we gear up for this launch!" Supergiant wrote in an official site post. "You may be wondering, why can't we launch in Early Access, like, right now?! The game looked pretty far along in the first trailer! The reason is, Hades II will have at least as much content from day one in Early Access as the original game did back when it launched in Early Access on Steam.

"And, even though Early Access inherently means a game is not yet complete, we still want to do everything we can to make sure Hades II is worth your while as soon as you can play it in any capacity." As for the technical test, this will take place shortly before the early access release, and will be a slimmed down version designed purely to flush out compatibility issues and other bugs.

"Early Access was vitally important to the entire idea behind the original Hades," Supergiant went on. "We decided it would be an Early Access game before deciding literally anything else about it, such as the Underworld setting. We've approached development of Hades II knowing Early Access will be no less important this time, though now knowing a bit more of what to expect from Early Access development, as well as more about what a Hades game needs to be.

"We believe the timeframe we're planning for will be the "sweet spot" where the game is far enough along that player feedback won't mostly consist of stuff we already know isn't there yet, but isn't so far along that it's too late in development for us to act on the feedback we receive."

Following the Hades 2 early access launch, you can expect a similar pattern of major updates that both add to and refine the offering based on feedback. "The story will expand with each update, as we introduce more characters, and deepen relationships with existing ones," the post notes. "This process will culminate in our v1.0 launch, which will feature the conclusion to the story and any other finishing touches."

As for long the journey to 1.0 will take, Supergiant have learned to "expect the unexpected" with early access development, so no concrete dates for the moment. If you're thirsty for more - and thirst is very much the keyword, where Hades is concerned - here's Rebecca's piece on how Hades 2 continues and elaborates upon the first game's daddy issues.