Sunless Skies launches terrifying third region, delays full release to 2019

Sunless Skies' cosmos features cider, cricket, and tentacle monsters. Its stormy threats can be devastating. And its crumbling Big Ben is downright terrifying. So when developer Failbetter Games says the narrative adventure game's new Eleutheria region is "designed to give you goosebumps", I must admit: I'm shitting myself a wee bit. 

Originally set to leave Early Access in September, Sunless Skies now targets full release in January, 2019. Eleutheria—Sunless Skies' third region—has a trailer. It does nothing to settle my nerves.

"Dim your light, quiet your heart", "My skull is seething", "YOU ARE BEING WATCHED."

My goodness. And then this thing.

What the hell is that? In fact, I don't want to know. Let's instead talk about what's new with Eleutheria—like its seven new Stations (normal-sized ports) and three Platforms (smaller-sized ports), its new Dousers, Grievers and Empyrean Outriders agents, its two new Spectacles, and its new locomotive equipment and weapons that are now available at Pan. 

Let's also talk about how your headlight affects your rate of Terror gain, and the fact that in Eleutheria this will also impact the way agents behave towards you. Is that multi-limbed, trypophobic's nightmare above still watching? Now's my chance to pass you over to the devs. 

"Eleutheria is designed to give you goosebumps," explains Failbetter CEO and art director Paul Arendt. "It’s dark. The enemies are about as scary as we can make them, and we put a submarine-sized spider that feeds on terror in the last game. The stories are among our weirdest and most haunting. We can’t wait to get into some streams after it’s launched and watch people lose themselves in the dark."

Deputy CEO Adam Myers talks to Sunless Skies' Early Access departure delay: "These changes don’t represent four months of extra work," explains deputy CEO Adam Myers, "but by leapfrogging the Christmas period and releasing in January we hope to give the game its best chance."