Dino Shooter ‘Second Extinction’ Leaves Early Access For Retail Release This Fall

Last summer, I got pretty heavy into an awesome little co-op shooter called Second Extinction. It was in early access back then (still is, actually), and while it had its share of problems — lack of map diversity, to name one — I had an absolute blast mowing down hordes of unwell, angry dinosaurs.

During Gamescom last week, developer and publisher Systemic Reaction premiered a new launch trailer, officially signaling that Second Extinction will be leaving early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as Game Preview on Xbox, in favor of a full retail release on October 20, 2022.

No word yet on a possible PS5 port, though I’d imagine it’s been talked about somewhere. If you currently have Xbox Game Pass, the preview is still available to try out with your subscription, and I’d highly recommend giving it a go before the cooler days of Fall roll around. Definitely bring some friends along for the ride, too.

It’s in the same vain as other co-op titles like Left 4 Dead and Back 4 Blood, only you’re battling insane, mutated dinosaurs. Jurassic Park on steroids, as it were.

My main gripe with the whole initial experience, which I detailed in my previous article, had a lot to do with how barebones Second Extinction was. The foundation felt good and I had lots of fun, but the build was essentially an extended demo, one which didn’t have much to sink your teeth into, notably after the original missions were completed.

To be expected for an early access title for sure, so I’m hoping that the developers have had plenty of time and inspiration to really flesh out the core gameplay loop, as well as add additional maps, incentives and characters. I haven’t played in a while, so it’ll be interesting to see what’s been added.

This game has a lot of potential, so I’ll absolutely be keeping an eye out for a more polished pack of dangerous dinos come October.