The Risk of Rain 2 launch update will arrive on PC on August 11, finally pushing the rogue-like shooter out of Steam early access and into full release.
Developer Hopoo Games and publisher Gearbox announced the release date today, pinning a nice bow on the game's long-running content roadmap. The launch update will introduce a new playable Survivor, a new moon stage complete with a proper final boss, and another scattering of monsters, items, and skill variants. There's also a server browser incoming which should make multiplayer more navigable.
The final boss is arguably the biggest part of the update since it will turn Risk of Rain 2 into something you can actionably complete rather than a limitless endurance test. Assuming the final boss works like the one in the original game, players will still be able to play for as long as they like before finishing a run, but it'll be nice to have a big climactic battle to finish it off.
Then there's the new Survivor, the Captain, who won a community poll back in April. Here's how Hopoo describes his abilities: "The Captain controls the battlefield with utility and damage – with help from the Survivors’ orbiting dropship, the UES Safe Travels. He wields a shotgun-rifle combo that narrows the spread as it charges and can stun targets. The Captain can also leverage his high-ranking authority to request probes and beacons from orbit to either provide armor or a healing zone for him and his allies."
With the release of the launch update, Risk of Rain 2 will jump from $19.99 to $24.99 on PC (it will seemingly stay at $29.99 on consoles). It's still a steal at $24.99, but hey, you might as well save the money if you can. And if you buy now, you might be able to work through half of the existing content by August 11.
As we said earlier this year, Risk of Rain 2 was already one of the best co-op games available when it launched late last year, and it's only gotten better since thanks to exciting new characters and modes.
