Hey all!

Today, we at Team Panoptes are extremely proud to announce the Early Access release of Panoptic!
This is a very important milestone for us, and something we have been building towards since starting this incredible journey more than 2 years ago.

However, to keep this Early Access period manageable for our very small team, the game is currently only playable through Steam.
By purchasing Panoptic here on Itch, you will therefore currently only receive a Steam key, which you must then activate on your Steam account.
However, once Panoptic exits Early Access, a DRM-free version will be created, which will then be added for free to your current purchase here on Itch!

Now, this Early Access release marks the first time Panoptic is made available as more than just a demo, but this is only the beginning!
In the coming months, we will continue working hard on the game, and you can be a part of this process by sharing your thoughts with us (see below).
But before we look to the future, let’s see what’s in store for today's release:

• A 1v1, local, asymmetrical VR game pitting a colossal Overseer against a tiny Challenger.
• 3 distinct environments to play in.
• A powerful laser and a scanner lens for the Overseer to seek and stop the Challenger.
• Multi-tiered levels for the Challenger to traverse.
• The option for the Challenger to blend in with other NPCs by mimicking their actions in certain spots.
• A tutorial explaining the nuances of the game.
• An optional locomotion system for the Overseer, so the game can be played in smaller spaces, or by people who cannot, or do not want to, move around as much.

This is, at its core, a continuation and expansion of what the free demo of Panoptic had been offering until now.

During Panoptic's Early Access, we plan to increase the amount of content in the game, as well as improving what is already available. To keep the conversation going with the community, we are sharing a public board listing the main features currently planned or in progress.

You can find this board here!

While we are somewhat conservative regarding game features, with Team Panoptes being a very small team of just 3 people, here are some key items that are planned(in no particular order) :

• Several additional maps.
• More customization options to let you tailor the gameplay to your liking.
• A new type of NPC.
• Improve the balance of the game.
• Support for multiple languages (at the very least English, French and Dutch).
• Better support for different VR setups (non-roomscale, etc.).
• Add a few surprises :)

We hope you are as excited as we are about the coming months! We’ll be keeping you updated on our progress and are looking forward to hearing your thoughts and comments!

Because Panoptic is our first commercial release, we are still learning a lot. Team Panoptes would not exist as a studio today without all your support since publishing the first version of the demo in August 2016. We are deeply grateful for all the well-wishes and help we got along the way, and even through some difficult times, and if at times it seemed as if the project was inactive and dead, we have never stopped working and believing in it.

And so here we are. Ready to embark on this new part of the journey with all of you! Have fun! :)

Also, feel free to contact us, or join the discussions at:

• Discord
• Steam Forum
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Email info@panopticgame.com

— Team Panoptes