Evolve has relaunched on PC, via Steam, as Evolve Stage 2. To test out the game’s new infrastructure and updates, Stage 2 is currently in its beta phase.
Along with the free-to-play announcement, co-founders of Turtle Rock Studios, Chris Ashton and Phil Robb, outlined the game’s major overhaul in a forum post:
- Reworking the hunter classes to make the team less reliant on having experienced trappers and medics.
- Improvements to the maps and UI.
- Improving load times, overall performance, and getting you into the game faster.
- Improving stability and fixing bugs.
- Completely reworking our progression system and tutorials.
- Adding more customization options.
Also, Turtle Rock Studios addresses any concerns for those that purchased the game or season pass prior.
“Anyone who owns classic Evolve will be given ‘Founder’ status in the new free version, and all the content you already own comes with you to the new version,” the co-founders said. “As long as we work on Evolve, we will show our appreciation for our committed fans and early adopters with gifts, rewards, and special access. Why? Because you believed like we did, and we will never forget that.”
Brandon Yanez, the games lead designer, spoke about the possibility of Stage 2 coming to consoles. “After implementing and testing these new changes on PC, if we find that players respond well to the changes, we would want to bring Stage 2 changes to consoles in the future. But for now PC is our exclusive beta platform,” Yanez told Gameinformer.