SteamWorld Dig 2: Image & Form share more details, talk about the Switch being region-free
Yesterday, Julius from Image & Form held an AMA session on Reddit, about SteamWorld Dig 2 (releasing this Summer on Nintendo Switch). If you missed it, you can check out the full transcript by clicking here, or keep reading for the juiciest tidbits!
First, it was confirmed that SteamWorld Dig 2 would be much bigger than the original (that had plenty of ideas cut from the final game, due to Image & Form running out of cash).
He compared it to Super Metroid, with multiple worlds to explore, lots of upgrades (the upgrade system is apparently a “HUGE” part of the game), a plethora of monsters to battle, and plenty of traps and challenges. The game will have some bosses, including one during the very tutorial.
As for Dorothy, Julius had something pretty interesting to say about her:
Dorothy was the right way bot for the job for plenty of reasons. I don’t want to spoil anything, but let’s just say that she’s incredibly important for the SteamWorld universe. Not just for Dig.
If you’re wondering what kind of impact the game will have on the battery, here’s some good news: it looks like you will be able to play for long periods of time. Julius played an early build for more than 4 hours, and the battery still had plenty of juice left. They will run some tests before release.
Unfortunately, players who were expecting some sort of multiplayer will be disappointed: SteamWorld Dig 2 will be a purely Single Player experience. That being said, a dedicated multiplayer SteamWorld game is definitely something the developers would love to work on.
Does all this sound really exciting to you? Want to know when exactly SteamWorld Dig 2 will be released? Well, Image & Form will make an announcement closer to E3, but for now, all we know is that it will be released first on the Nintendo Switch this Summer. The price hasn’t been decided yet, but it should be something close to the previous SteamWorld titles.
There may be a demo on the Nintendo eShop, but again, nothing has been decided yet. There might also be some DLC, but it’s way too early to say for sure.
About a physical release, Julius reveals that the SteamWorld Collection did pretty well, and so a physical release for SteamWorld Dig 2 seems to be a definite possibility. In fact, Image & Form is already discussing it with distributors, but it’s too early to confirm or announce anything. Oh, and SteamWold Dig and Heist could end up on Nintendo Switch at one point (“Not impossible”), but right now, the developers are focused on Dig 2.
If you have never played SteamWorld Dig before (you’re really missing something!), then you don’t need to worry: you will not need to play it to enjoy SteamWorld Dig 2. It was designed so that even newcomers would be able to enjoy it.
Finally, during this AMA session, Julius also shared a pretty interesting tidbit about the Nintendo Switch being region-free: developers/publishers now only need to submit one version of the game for all regions. As you can imagine, it really speeds up the submission process, and dramatically reduces the amount of paperwork needed.
SteamWorld Dig 2 (Switch – eShop) will be released this Summer.
