GRAVHOUNDS, the dog co-op action-builder from Halo 4’s creative director, enters Early Access on PC and Xbox with Game Pass

Come along, because this story has snouts, wagging tails and a gravity gun: GRAVHOUNDS, the co-op action-builder from Octopus Panic, launched into Early Access on Monday, November 2, on PC via Steam and the Xbox PC app, and on Xbox Series X|S as a Game Preview. And there is more: it is on Xbox Game Pass from day one.

The game costs $19.99, with a 25% launch discount on Steam.

Little working dogs on the far side of the galaxy

What an adorable premise: 1 to 4 players control a pack of bio-engineered canine workers, blue-collar dogs stranded on hostile alien worlds. The job is to explore, gather resources, build defenses and survive increasingly dangerous alien assaults before extracting with everything you can carry.

Early Access arrives with five playable Gravhounds, each with their own abilities (Dozer throws explosive bone bombs and Zane has a physics-driven shockwave bark), seven solar systems with 25 planets, 21 turrets and defensive systems and 60 unlockable mods, including 12 Showstopper mods, to build your Mod Deck. The Grav Beam lets you fling objects and enemies across the battlefield, and a new boss, the Juggernaut, will test your pack’s coordination.

Halo and Battlefield veterans

Octopus Panic was founded by veterans of 343 Industries and DICE, and development is led by Josh Holmes, Halo 4 creative director and former head of the Halo studio. “Reaching Early Access is a huge milestone for our team, but we see it as the beginning of the next chapter,” said Holmes, who thanked everyone who played, shared feedback or helped spread the word.

My little gamer heart is already picking a favorite pup. How about you?

See also this month’s game releases.

Source: Octopus Panic.