Remember the other day when Wayforward Games mentioned that an announcement of some sorts would be revealed today? Well, it is already 3:30PM EST and no sign of any announcements just yet. However, I did fire up my Steam account and checked to see if there was an update for Shantae Half-Genie Hero and there was! In fact, A new build of the game is now unlocked and ready to go. Thanks to clarification by Wayforward Games, this is a new build for Early Access, and is fully playable. However, this is still not the official release and once that is released then this build will be unplayable and all you/our game saves will be removed.

Update: Moments after we announced that the game was unlocked, Wayforward Games made their official announcement.

EARLY ACCESS BACKERS, YOU HAVE THE GAME!

Early Access Backers, guess what?! You can go and play Shantae: Half-Genie Hero RIGHT NOW!!
Long ago, each of you received a STEAM PRODUCT KEY which granted you early access to our Beta levels. Today we replaced it our beta levels with an Early Access version of the full product! If your Steam Account is set up to auto-update, that’s it! You have it!

But hold on… there are some things you need to know before you play:

• The PC version of the game is still in test. You might experience bugs or crashes, and the content you see may differ from the final version. You aren’t playing the official release.
• Steam Achievements and Trading Cards have are not active in the Early Access version of the game, and your save files may not be transferable to the official release. In other words, enjoy Early Access, but be prepared to play the game again when the official version launches.
• You don’t need a special code to download this game. The Early Access code you received previously is the only code you need. Log into Steam, and you’ll find the game already in your Game Library.
• The Early Access version of the game is English only, but the final version of the PC game will include multiple languages.
• Finally, the Early Access version of the game will be deactivated when the official game is released, because it’s technically a demo. Until then, please enjoy this early version of the game!

Yes, the game is unlocked for Early Access backers. So if you backed the game and you picked a Steam copy, get to downloading. It’s live and damn it was worth the wait!