Coal Duty Sets Early Access Date For October 27 On Steam
The dated Early Access window and the stated 12 to 18 month content plan put Coal Duty on a defined development schedule rather than a vague announcement.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
indie.io and Corecrew Games announced that Coal Duty, a co-op escape horror comedy for 1 to 5 players, begins Early Access on October 27 local time. Each shift sends players into a newly generated mine to hit a production quota, with loot to smuggle and smugglers to meet in restricted zones. It is planned for Steam on PC, with Japanese support and a 12 to 18 month Early Access period.
The game drops players into a world where the sky froze three generations ago and the state keeps the mines running anyway. Striking the quota is the job; the loot you fail to report is the side income.
Sessions run on proximity voice chat, so teammates hear each other only when close, and so does whatever else is in the tunnel. Mines are procedurally generated each shift, with difficulty scaling by depth and dozens of creature types reported underground.
Between shifts, players return to a persistent hub with barracks, workshops, a tavern, and smugglers in restricted zones. Escape routes and multiple endings are the stated goal.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.