Huge Steam survival game hits 1.0 after four years of early access

gamesradar.com:

One of Steam's biggest survival games has just launched its 1.0 update - heralding its arrival out of early access.

After first launching on Itch.io all the way back in 2016, Raft then arrived on Steam in early access form a few years later in 2018. Now though, a grand total of four years later, Raft: The Final Chapter is here at last, launching the survival game out of early access and into the hands of eagerly awaiting fans.

Hello Rafters! We are happy to announce that The Final Chapter is releasing on June 20! It’s by far our biggest update yet! New destinations, new playable characters, new enemies, more story and many new exciting features.https://t.co/p8wBzoOz9HJune 15, 2022

Developer Redbeet Interactive officially announced the launch of 1.0 for Raft earlier this week on June 20 on the Steam forums (opens in new tab). "It is the culmination of more than five years of development and the grand finale to the Raft story line," the blog post reads. "It is The Final Chapter, and it is ready to be played."

For Raft: The Final Chapter, which is the biggest update in the game's history, there's three brand new locations heading up the launch: Varuna Point, Temperance, and a third surprise destination for players to uncover. Raft's overarching story has actually been rewritten and finessed into one coalescing story with the Final Chapter update, so you can now play through the whole thing smoothly.

There's also plenty of new enemies to fend off while you're out exploring the open ocean. As you might've guessed from the title. Raft puts you on a small float and tasks you to survive in the middle of the ocean, and now you'll be going up against the likes of polar bears, hyenas, and even anglerfish.

It's a monumental update