Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor — Everything We Know

Heads up, Miners — Funday Games and Ghost Ship have announced Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, an all-new spin-off to 2020's procedurally generated mining sim. Turns out, it's entering Early Access in 2023, which means it'll be heading to Steam (and possibly consoles) a lot sooner than we would've expected. Keen to learn more? Here's everything you need to know about it.

What Is Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor?

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is an upcoming survivor-like auto-shooter mining game, and a spinoff of 2020's Deep Rock Galactic. As such, aspiring miners are invited to explore Planet Hoxxes, a procedurally generated labyrinth of mines that host not only riches beyond belief, but an entire alien species that'd much rather see you dead than with your pockets lined with loot. Your goal, in short, is to develop the upgrades needed to dig, and do all in your power to eliminate Hoxxes' deadliest trials.

“Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is a single player survivor-like auto-shooter” the Steam description reads in part. “Wield the full arsenal of Deep Rock Galactic, take on hordes of lethal aliens, mine riches, and unlock powerful upgrades. It’s one dwarf against all of Planet Hoxxes!”

Story

It goes like this: you arrive in your Drop Pod on Planet Hoxxes. Armed to the teeth with a mining pick and a repertoire of weapons, you are tasked with venturing into the unknown. However, as lumbered with riches as Hoxxes is, its lethal alien lifeforms are anything other than welcoming. Through a series of procedurally generated mines, you will fight, shovel, and sneak your way to everlasting riches. Question is, how far will you go before the planet gets the better of you?

“Delve deep, Miner! Once the Drop Pod releases you into the oppressive darkness, you are on your own,” the blurb reads. “Complete the mission objectives set forth by the Company, and make it back to the Drop Pod in time to try your luck at even more deadly and lucrative encounters. Choose your route though a path of harder and harder missions while you grow ever stronger, survive all the way to the very end of your assignment, and finally get extracted alongside your hefty sack of loot.”

Gameplay

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is a single-player game played from a top-down perspective. Its gameplay, which mostly revolves around collecting loot and banishing enemies, is highly reminiscent of a lot of roguelite dungeon crawlers; to progress deeper into the mines, you must remove the fog from the map and gradually work towards acquiring better gear for higher paying dives.

“Kill bugs, upgrade your gear, and delve ever deeper into the lethal caves of Hoxxes,” the description adds. “Collect and assemble a devastating array of guns, unleash hell upon wave after wave of alien monsters in fast and frenetic combat, and tunnel your way to collect precious riches from deep within the cave walls. Each mission is unique, using procedural cave generation and enemy waves, just as you’ve come to know from Deep Rock Galactic.”

Of course, as Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor will launch in Early Access, it does mean there'll be plenty of additional content left to come. As it currently stands, however, players will only have access to the below content on launch:

• 4 playable characters
• +30 weapons
• +10 enemy types
• 1-3 bosses
• 3-5 biomes
• Multiple mission types
• A deep progression system of perks, artifacts and upgrades

Development

So, who do we have to thank for Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor? In short, it's Funday Games, a studio best known for Don't Die in the West, and Subway Surfers Tag. Also joining the roster is Ghosh Ship Publishing, a firm that has helped bring not only SpellRogue to light, but DarkSwarm.

Funday Games unveiled the upcoming auto-shooter in February of 2023, stating that the game would be gearing up for an Early Access launch on PC via Steam. Unfortunately, no final release date was given at the time of its initial announcement.

Trailer

Fortunately for budding miners and survival fans, Funday Games has indeed shared a minor glimpse of the auto-shooter game. Granted, it's only thirty seconds in length, and it doesn't really elaborate on the premise all that much. Having said that, it does provide insight into the actual gameplay itself, and not to mention a lot of its weapons, gadgets, and settings. Curious? You can see the announcement trailer for yourself in the embed above.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor will be coming to PC via Steam in Early Access in 2023. As it currently stands, neither Ghost Ship nor Funday Games have mentioned anything about the survivor-like mining sim coming to consoles, though it does seem likely, mainly down to the fact that the original Deep Rock Galactic did, in fact, launch on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. But we'll have to sit idly by and keep tabs on that update.

Of course, as it's still early days, there's no telling whether or not the spin-off will come with any special or deluxe editions outside of its Steam one. If it does, though, then Funday Games will no doubt make the announcement closer to the time of its full release. Will this be in 2023? It's hard to say for certain, though it is worth pointing out that the first Deep Rock Galactic did spend two years in Early Access before coming to PC and consoles.

For more information on the Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor launch, you can follow the official social feed here. If anything interesting pops up between now and its Early Access debut, we'll be sure to let you know all of the details right here on gaming.net.

So, what's your take? Will you be picking up a copy of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here or down in the comments below.