Unknown Worlds have recently put up a brand new website for the forthcoming Natural Selection 2. The previously Kotaku-exclusive teaser trailer is also viewable on the site as of today. I’ve included the trailer in YouTube format after the jump, but you can find the teaser in glorious 1280×720 on the website.
For an indie game developed by as few as four people, obviously NS2 is nothing short of a miracle of economy. While we probably won’t be covering the game as much (due to its move from Source onto a proprietary engine), an interesting facet of their current presale methodology hit me.
As is, the team is already selling pre-orders. Nothing new under the sun, but consider this: With $19.95 you get a ‘standard edition’ that equals beta access; For $39.95, the special edition, respectively, and alpha level access. Though it’s nothing new to couple demos to pre-orders on the consoles, or give pre-orderers some degree of early access with MMOs, actually monetizing the beta test is an interesting model.
Ultimately, I’m not sure how viable the model is – outside of this particular project – but when it comes to Natural Selection, it has a deep, established community that is certainly going to make the game better for it.
Oh, and for your money, you do get all-black marine armour too. That’s as good a sales pitch as any.