DayZ creator delays new game Icarus to November

Icarus, the new session-based survival game from the creator of DayZ, just got a last-minute delay and an entirely new beta plan.

While Icarus was originally set to arrive on August 12, it's new release window is slated for November. Dean Hall posted about the news on his Twitter account with a link to the Steam update that lays out all of the details for Icarus' new release plan. He cited his experience bringing DayZ to life across years of development - both before and after it was officially released - as a driving reason for the delay.

Icarus is a sci-fi survival game set on an alien world, where player-controlled Prospectors search for materials and embark on missions for off-world factions who "need someone expendable to run errands for them," either on their own or in co-op. 

The new plan for the beta is to steadily introduce players to different parts of the game one weekend at a time, twice a month. Anyone who pre-orders Icarus will be able to participate in the weekend tests, and in a notable difference from the standard Steam policy, you'll be free to refund at any point ahead of the full launch no matter how much of the beta you've played.

The first beta weekend, Forest, will run from August 28 to 29, giving players the chance to explore the forest biome without fear of Icarus' hazardous storms. The next beta weekend on September 11 and 12 will enable the storms - hopefully you've found shelter and some ways to put out lightning fires by then - and further beta weekends will add more biomes. The last weekend on November 6 and 7 will celebrate the game's community with a secret event and prizes for players.

On top of the beta weekends for everybody who pre-orders, especially active members of the Icarus Discord community may be invited to participate in an upcoming closed beta. If you're the sort of player who has a shot at being selected for that kind of thing, you probably already know it.

Find more ways to ideally not die (but let's be realistic) with our guide to the best survival games.