The Walking Dead: Betrayal Early Access Period Revealed

Skybound Entertainment revealed its The Walking Dead: Betrayal earlier this month. Soon after, the game launched an open beta to let players in and try out what the team has so far. That wrapped up a few days ago, but now Skybound is ready to announce The Walking Dead: Betrayal's early access release date. Betrayal hits early access on September 14, and it will give players a chance to try it out for free during the opening weekend. Considering how social The Walking Dead: Betrayal is, getting in early to test it out is probably a smart idea if you're on the fence.

If you do decide to buy The Walking Dead: Betrayal during its early access period, you will get an extra goodie. Anyone who buys the game for $19.99 will get access to the Rick Grimes skin for free. The Steam listing specifically says that you'll get the "iconic outfit" for free if you purchase, which seems to suggest that it'll be possible to purchase the skin at some point even if you don't hop in during early access. However, that's just a guess based on the wording, and you'll want to wait for Skybound to say something official if you want to make sure that's the case. Either way, The Walking Dead: Betrayal's early access period kicks off on September 14 on PC.

What is The Walking Dead: Betrayal?

The Walking Dead: Betrayal has quite a bit in common with social deception games like Among Us. You and up to eight other people join a group trying to survive the zombie plague. Over the course of 30 minutes, you try to find the tools you need to get to safety before the horde comes. However, at least one player will be a Traitor who is working against the rest of the team to sabotage their plans. Narratively, it's not clear exactly why they want to stop everyone else, but they must have their reasons.

Unlike most other social deception games, when you die in The Walking Dead: Betrayal, your game isn't over. Instead, you'll become a member of the zombies and can now work against your former teammates to try and stop them from getting to safety. it's the perfect way to exact revenge on someone who mistakenly murdered you thinking you were a Traitor. 

Ahead of the open beta, we were able to jump into a few games with the developers and some other people in games media. While there are a few issues that need to be ironed out (most notably extra locations beyond the one Skybound has at launch), Betrayal was fun to play. Being a Traitor, in particular, was a blast because you have so many tools at your disposal to trick the survivors. Between bait traps and being able to sew a zombie skin together and live amongst the baddies, you can get very creative as you weasel your way to victory.

How Long Will The Walking Dead: Betrayal Be In Early Access?

Currently, Skybound Entertainment is planning to release the full version of The Walking Dead: Betrayal early next year. Of course, things could change as the team continues to work on development. Over the course of early access, the team plans to introduce "new map tiles, game modes, objectives, escapes, world events, cosmetics, and roles." Unlike most other early access games though, Betrayal's developers say they don't plan to increase the price once the game hits full release. That means you can more easily take a "wait-and-see" approach, unless you want that free Rick Grimes skin, of course.