Ooblets releasing in early access 'pretty soon'

Hyper-cute creature farming game Ooblets will release in early access "pretty soon" according to a new trailer. 

The tease was shown during the Wholesome Direct, a stream put on today by Wholesome Games, which is a collection of social media accounts riding the dramatic increase in use of the word "wholesome" that began in 2016 for some reason. (What in 2016 could've possibly caused a desire for idyllic escapism?)

Ooblets has been in development by duo Rebecca Cordingley and Ben Wasser for a few years. In 2019, the team announced that the PC version of Ooblets would release exclusively on the Epic Store. With the funds from the deal, they were able to bring on development help and "go from a studio apartment to an actual game studio," they said.

As of April, the duo was "deep into bug fixing mode and preparing for certification," so it's unsurprising that a release is imminent. The early access label seems like a fairly new development, but it makes sense given that such a small team's testing capacity is likely limited. Ooblets looks pretty hearty from what we've seen—dance battling, farming, crafting, fishing, and so on—so it doesn't seem like this will be a bare bones launch despite the label.

"You can join the world of Oob while it’s still being created," according to the Epic Store page. "We’re going to be updating the game frequently and interacting with the community to help determine the direction of development."

There's still no firm release date, but a June or July release seems like a reasonable guess. Ooblets has appeared on the PC Gaming Show in the past, and this year's is taking place on June 6. There's a possibility we'll see more then.