Scavland Early Access Guide

Scavland enters Steam Early Access on 4 September 2026 after six years in development. NoShadow built it. UNSUBSCRIBE publishes it with them. This page is the launch brief: money, machines, Act I, and the traps in the store text. For the long calendar see the roadmap. For first-hour play see Getting Started.

Date, platform, price

• Date: 4 September 2026 (Japan press noted the 5th locally because of timezone)
• Platform: PC via Steam. The studio said PC first, then consoles after 1.0. Early Access still ships full controller and Steam Deck support.
• Engine: Unity
• Price: about $19 USD, 10% off in week one, regional pricing
• NoShadow has talked about keeping the entry price stable through development

There is no Roblox version. There is no extraction-raid structure. The studio has said it is an open world. Your save lives under NoShadow/Scavland with Steam Cloud.

Check system requirements before you treat $19 as impulse. Minimum is a 64-bit Windows 10 machine, a 2.77 GHz quad-core, 4 GB RAM, a 2 GB GPU with OpenGL 2.1, and 1 GB of disk. The depot is larger than that 1 GB line; leave headroom.

Scavland Early Access release date trailer

What Early Access includes

Steam’s own list:

• Handcrafted open world with procedural underground bunkers
• Dynamic minimap and world map
• Journal for contracts, main quests, and side quests
• 10 unique factions and a reputation system
• Tactical combat: firearms, melee, stealth, suppression
• 25+ weapons and 300+ attachments
• Crafting, looting, traders, contracts
• Main and side quests
• Dangerous creatures and environmental hazards

That is Act I: first region, core systems, factions, quests, progression. It is a lot. It is not the whole story. Two later acts are planned. Do not expect the east beyond highway RO-29 to be finished tourism.

Controller support is full. Steam Deck and handhelds were a design goal. Inventory was rebuilt so pads are not a joke. Keyboard keys on this wiki still come from PC videos; see controls.

What Early Access is not

• Not a 1.0 story complete
• Not a live-service extraction loop
• Not a Roblox experience
• Not a promise that every demo number still holds
• Not a finished language-quality pass in every locale, even if eleven languages are listed on Steam

A mode where other players walk with you is a future plan. The first build is single-player PvE. This wiki’s factions advice assumes you are alone in the save.

The 2025 demo was a free slice. Early Access is the paid Act I. Different size, different bunkers, different attachment count. Do not copy a Next Fest loot table into a buy decision.

How long it stays Early Access

NoShadow has estimated 12 to 24 months. That window is for Act II, Act III, regions, creatures, factions, gear, recipes, bunker work, and optimisation. It is an estimate. Steam Early Access pages are allowed to be wrong about calendars. Bookmark this hub and the official Steam news.

Wishlist volume (the studio posted 175,000) explains the noise, not the patch quality. Read the preview if you want human footage. Read guides if you want to play well on day one.

Buy decision, without a review score

Buy if you want a hardcore top-down stalker RPG and you accept Act I as a foundation. Wait if you need 1.0 story, a finished faction roster in a wiki table, or other people in your session. Spec-check either way.

After you buy, do this:

1. System requirements and a pagefile of patience
2. Beginner checklist
3. Getting Started
4. Ignore chat that claims the paid build is live before 4 September 2026

This page will become a patch-history intro when the build is public. Until the date, it is a briefing.