The release of Sand: Raiders of Sophie, a desert-set extraction shooter featuring mobile steampunk fortresses, has been postponed from its originally planned June 10th date. Developers Hologryph and TowerHaus announced the delay following a recent server slam event that exceeded player expectations and drew significant community criticism.
In response to player feedback and server strain, the developers have decided to shift the game's launch format to Early Access. This change, detailed in a new Steam blog post, aims to allow for closer community involvement in the development process and ensure a more polished final product. The new target release date for Early Access is June 22nd. This represents a shift from the initially planned full release.
The primary focus for the intervening period will be on improving server capacity to handle the anticipated player load at launch. A second server slam event is scheduled for June 15th to further stress-test the infrastructure and ensure stability. Following the game's Early Access launch, a development roadmap is also planned to be shared with the community.