Early Access
Hi everyone,
We're pleased to announce that we've set details for the Steam Early Access release.
VEIN will release into Early Access on October 24th, 2025 and will be priced at $19.99 USD (and with appropriate region based pricing outside of the US). There will be a launch discount of 10%.
We're also releasing the soundtrack separately at $7.99. It will be updated as new music comes out. There is a discount of 10% for buying both the soundtrack and the game at the same time.
What to expect
The largest feature in Early Access that isn't visible in the demo is the new map region. The towns of Dannemora and Lyon Mountain, north of the demo region, are available to explore, containing the Clinton Correctional Facility, the Lyon Mountain Mines, a quarantine zone, various shops like pharmacies, restaurants, gift shops, etc. Many smaller towns and points of interest are accessible in the 4x4km region, such as Standish, the Chazy Highlands, Russia, various caves, camp sites, depots, and more.
The stat cap, currently at 75 in the demo, will be lowered to 50 in the demo. In Early Access, it's lifted to 100. There are a lot of upper-level perks planned, and we're going to be implementing these over time (only 30% are implemented right now).
The new areas have as-of-yet unseen content not normally accessible in the demo: weapons, zombie variants, items, tools, etc. As we've said in the past, the demo and the full game will have updates simultaneously, but the demo boundary won't be changed.
Save games are semi-compatible. You will be able to copy your saves over and retain your character, but things in the world like furniture, vehicles, etc. will reset due to the world being different.
Donations
Donations are now closed and all current recurring donations have been stopped. As a token of our appreciation, everyone who donated more than $10 will get a complimentary Steam game key from the website. That will be available from your account page closer to the game's Early Access launch.
What to expect after the Early Access launch
We will continue working on it, regardless of how financially successful the launch is. VEIN started as a passion project, and we still love working on it. It's worked well for us for over three years.
However, if the game does financially well, we'll be upgrading any art, animations, characters, vehicles, etc. that fall below our standards for quality to the best of our ability.
The map will continue to be filled in as usual – the full map size is planned to be 14.5x14.5km. Features will continue to be implemented and upgraded over time. Be sure to check our roadmap here.
We want to thank you sincerely for being with us so far. Working on VEIN has been quite the journey so far, and we're very excited to see where the game goes. We have a lot planned, and a lot of work to do, but your support and encouragement make it much, much easier. Our community has been excellent to us for the entire ride, so again, thank you so much.
See you in the Champlain Valley!
-- Kyle & Azi