Wayfinder Early Access launch delayed: New release date, founder packs, and more

Wayfinder is the latest MMO-lite to be published by Digital Extremes, the developer behind Warframe. The upcoming game is being developed primarily by Airship Studios, best known for producing spinoff titles to established franchises such as Darksiders Genesis and Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. Wayfinder is their fourth and most ambitious project.

Announced in The Game Awards 2022, the game was supposed to go enter Early Access on August 15. However, in favor of ironing out bugs and overall polish, the launch window has been moved to later this week.

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Wayfinder release date for Early Access

The Wayfinder developer announced via X on the previous release day that the Early Access release will not be going live today for either PC or PS5. The Steam release has been moved to 12 pm CT, Thursday, August 17.

It cited the need for further quality assurance checks as the primary reason for this delay:

"Both Airship Syndicate and Digital Extremes’ teams are working tirelessly to ensure the best possible start to early access for Founders - we apologize for the delay."

The Early Access will contain a good amount of playable content between Evenor and the Lost Zones, with six characters to boot. The player will be given the choice to pick one of three characters — Wingrave, Silo, and Niss — as their starter in their fresh journey.

Even though the Early Access version will not contain the content diversity planned for the full release next year, the game's fundamental mechanics are in a playable state. Notably, there are six action-ready biomes to explore in Wayfinder.

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Is Wayfinder free-to-play?

The game will go free-to-play for its full release next year. Warframe, the flagship product from Digital Extremes, is exemplary for its fair free-to-play model and player economy that does not deter the experience.

As of now, the Early Access version will only be accessible to Founders. Other than cosmetic-oriented microtransactions, the game promises to have free-to-play friendly content and player economy, barring this founder-exclusive Early Access.

Other than a head start over full-release players, the Founders will receive a series of perks and goodies depending on the tier of package they purchase. These are tiered between four packages: the Base Pack, the Initiate Pack, the Awakened Pack, and the Exalted Pack.

Founders will also obtain exclusive one-time perks like the Founder's Flag Profile Background and Glyph Pack that won't be up for grabs in the full release. These will only be available after the Early Access goes live on their respective platforms and can be purchased directly via Steam or PSN accordingly.