Fans of the cooperative horror shooter Killing Floor 3 are expressing concern about the game`s status ahead of its July 24 release. This apprehension stems from a recent playtest, conducted just over a week before launch, which mandated participants sign a five-year non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
The stress test took place on Sunday across two two-hour sessions, with access available upon request via Steam. However, the fine print of the required NDA for participation raised eyebrows. As revealed in a Reddit post, in addition to prohibitions on taking screenshots or recording gameplay of Tripwire Interactive`s upcoming shooter, players were also bound not to discuss the test for five years.
While NDAs are common for early game builds, the requirement of such a document so close to the official release surprised many. It`s plausible that the five-year clause was simply boilerplate legal text copied from previous, older tests, but it still fails to inspire confidence.
Killing Floor 3 was initially slated for a March 25 release this year but was delayed just weeks beforehand. The demand for a lengthy NDA for a playtest so near launch has led fans to fear another postponement. Nevertheless, in a blog post about the stress test, Tripwire Interactive affirmed its focus on optimization and implementing player feedback to “ship a great game to fans on July 24.”
“This test is designed to help our team and partners ensure that the multiplayer environment stays as stable as possible at launch,” Tripwire clarified.
Tripwire has already outlined some of its post-launch plans for Killing Floor 3, including improved animations, the ability for playable characters to select any perk, and the introduction of text chat.
Killing Floor 3 supports up to six-player co-op and features cross-platform play. In our hands-on preview, we noted that Killing Floor 3 “paints a terrific first impression” and “looks like a killer co-op package,” though “only time will tell if it can sustain itself in the long-term.”