Earlier this year, we previewed Enshrouded, an upcoming survival action RPG from Keen Games, the developer behind Portal Knights. And while we didn’t get to go hands-on with the game, we were impressed with all the things it’s doing to make the formidable survival genre more approachable. After its May reveal, Keen Games released an Enshrouded demo as part of Steam Next Fest, giving players a chance to try it out. Now, the studio has revealed Enshrouded will launch into early access next year. 

More specifically, Enshrouded hits early access on PC on January 24, 2024. Keen Games says this is a big moment for the team as Enshrouded is its first self-published game in its nearly 20-year lifetime, noting that this early access release is arriving a little later than originally planned. 

Check out the Enshrouded early access release date trailer below: 

Talking about the later-than-expected early access release date, Keen Games writes in a press release that in over 20 years of experience “in a tightly knit team, they have learned to expect the unexpected.”

“The release date was chosen as it was important to the team to carry the monumental success of the demo with a high-quality Early Access launch,” a press release reads. “The team shares this announcement with much excitement and gratitude to the community for their support so far, including the surprise critical success of the Steam Next Fest demo.” 

Enshrouded was the most played demo of Steam Next Fest, and also the most wishlisted game as well as the demo with the “most daily active users,” according to Keen Games. The studio says it utilizes Portal Knights as the spiritual foundation for Enshrouded, taking inspiration from other games in the survival space like Valheim while weaving in a more relaxing approach to the genre overall. “Weaving in elements inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Minecraft (in terms of openness and plethora of crafting and building options), the goal was to create a more welcoming entry to the survival genre and a space that wasn’t strict so as to leave more room for fun,” a press release reads. “Keen Games delighted in seeing players adventure, build, craft for hours on end, as well as dying, role-playing, and generally, having fun alone or with friends.” 

Enshrouded hits Early Access on PC via Steam starting January 24, 2024, with a full launch and console release planned for the future. For more about the game, read Game Informer’s Enshrouded preview. 

Are you excited to check out Enshrouded? Let us know in the comments below!