Icarus Posts Live Action Lore Video, Gameplay Demo Coming Next Week

We haven't heard much about Icarus since its initial reveal at E3 last year. The free-to-play survival game from DayZ creator Dean Hall and his team at RocketWerkz is set on an alien world dubbed "humanity's greatest mistake," and you can dig into the lore behind the title in the seven-minute live action trailer video "No Rescue" that went live earlier today.

The planet Icarus was supposed to be a "second Earth," but, as we've seen in recent games, that promise rarely pans out. Something called "exotic matter" messed up the terraforming efforts, but also turned out to be the key to its success. As one person put it, "you find them, you sell them back at the station, you get more gear, go back down, find more, drop, survive, and repeat." I know a gameplay loop when I hear one!

The trailer focuses on members of the First Cohort, the initial wave of settlers of the new planet, as they recall their struggle for survival in the early days and extoll the virtues of "Mo," one of their former companions who was lost long ago. The vignettes take place 20 years after the time frame of the game, so at least some of them survived and made good.

If you want more solid info about the game, a gameplay reveal is scheduled for next Thursday, April 8, at 5 p.m. Pacific time on the game's official Twitch channel. And if you're curious about exactly how monetization will work, you're not alone. That question was posed on the Steam community forums and Dean Hall himself responded thusly:

"Official answer is that we don't have any comment on pricing or release date. What I can say is that I will not approve a pricing model/structure that I am not 100% satisfied works well with the game. And I have complete control over that decision. Over the coming weeks we will continue to listen and, at times, liaise directly with the community about the game - including how it is priced and released."

That response might indicate that Icarus isn't going to be free-to-play, though Hall could also just be talking about monetization in the game's cash shop. The initial press release, as well as its Twitter account, still bill it as being F2P. Community Manager Beinn posted earlier in that thread, saying that "there will be a tonne of free to play content, don't worry!" so we're thinking Rocket just worded his response a little ambiguously.