RuneScape creator’s new MMO Brighter Shores gets a bizarre pushback

A new fantasy MMORPG spearheaded by one of the original creators of RuneScape – that’s an exciting premise, right? Well, that’s exactly what you’re getting soon with Brighter Shores, the upcoming game from Andrew Gower’s Fen Research studio. However, we come with both bad and good news. The bad news: its early access launch on Steam has been delayed. Darn. The good news: it’s only been delayed by a single day. Huzzah!

Brighter Shores definitely has a RuneScape-y aura to it, and that’s neither bad nor surprising given Gower shaped one of the best MMORPGs ever. There are several professions that you can undertake, ranging from a chef, to a blacksmith, to an alchemist. And yes, before you ask, there is fishing. Your character will also choose the path of one of three classes – the Cryoknight, the Guardian, or the Hammermage.

It all sounds rather exciting, but in what is one of the shortest and most peculiar videogame delays I can recall, Brighter Shores is pushing back its early access release by 24 hours. The reason? The original release date would’ve fallen on the same day as the US election. Don’t you just hate it when politics ruins our precious videogames?

As a result, the early access release date for Brighter Shores is now Wednesday, November 6. The MMO is totally free to play and will be launching on Steam only for the time being. Gower has previously stated that it will remain in early access “until PvP is added” and that there will be no loss of progress or resets when 1.0 eventually arrives.

This isn’t the first delay that Brighter Shores has suffered, as it was previously aiming to launch in early access in Q3 of this year but needed a little bit more time in the oven.

I know this totally unbearable one-day delay will hurt, but here’s something to cheer you up – later this month, there will be a closed beta that you can jump into ahead of its early access launch. The closed beta will kick off on Tuesday October 22.

For more amazing, fresh experiences like Brighter Shores, head over to our lists of the best new MMOs. Our guide to the best fantasy games is also packed with plenty of great experiences.

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