HAEX is a co-op first-person survival shooter set in an alien-scarred sub-arctic wilderness. It launches in Early Access on PC in 2027, and yes you can play it solo or with up to three friends.
This guide covers everything confirmed so far: the gameplay systems that make HAEX different from the crowded survival genre, the studio behind it, how to get into a playtest, and what’s still unannounced. No speculation dressed up as fact.
What Is the HAEX Game?
HAEX is the debut title from Swedish studio Dead Astronauts. It’s an atmospheric cooperative first-person survival shooter set in an alien-scarred wilderness engulfed by a paranormal mist.
The setup is deliberately sparse. An anomaly appears in the sub-arctic north, a scientific expedition is sent to investigate, and the expedition goes missing. You wake up after a helicopter crash and go looking for them.
That’s the hook you’re not the hero arriving to save the day. You’re the follow-up team, walking into whatever happened to the people before you.
Mechanically, you’re managing hunger, thirst, body temperature, and resources while building loadouts, and the farther you travel from safety, the more dangerous the world gets. Combat mixes firearms, heavy melee weapons, and specialized survival tools, with different enemy types demanding different approaches.
If you’ve bounced off survival games because they’re all base-building and no payoff, HAEX is positioning itself on the other end of that spectrum: exploration and combat first, with survival as pressure rather than as the entire loop.
HAEX Release Date: When Can You Play It?
HAEX launches in Early Access on PC in 2027. No specific month or day has been announced.
It’s coming to Steam and the Epic Games Store, and the Steam page currently lists the release date as “To be announced.” Wishlisting is live on both storefronts now.
A few details worth knowing before you commit:
- Dead Astronauts estimates the game will stay in Early Access for 12 to 18 months so a 1.0 release realistically lands somewhere in 2028.
- There is no planned price increase after Early Access. Buy in early and you get every future update, including 1.0, at no extra cost.
- The 1.0 version is planned to add more weapons, a continuation of the story, new enemies, new mechanics, and expanded systems.
Console players: there’s been no Xbox, PlayStation, or Game Pass announcement. HAEX has not been announced for Xbox Game Pass. PC is the only confirmed platform.
HAEX Gameplay: The Three Systems That Actually Matter
Most survival shooters differentiate on setting. HAEX is differentiating on systems. Three stand out.
1. Alien Seeds That Rewrite the Map
This is the headline feature. Alien seeds can be found or crafted during exploration, and planting them lets you alter sections of the open world creating new routes, new resources, and environmental changes.
The catch is the interesting part: planting a seed unlocks unique new areas and resources, but you should beware of the new threats you might unleash on your world.
That’s a genuine risk-reward decision rather than a cosmetic one. Terraforming isn’t free you’re trading a shortcut for whatever comes through the door with it.
2. The Sentient Cube
A sentient cube lets you gather resources and scan your surroundings, and you upgrade it to level up its capabilities. Progression through the cube unlocks alien abilities that open new traversal options dashing and double-jumping among them.
Functionally it’s your scanner, your harvester, and your mobility tree in one object. It’s also clearly the story’s centerpiece characters are shown holding it repeatedly across the announcement trailer.
3. Split Character and World Saves
This is the quietly smart one. Progress carries across sessions, so you can bring a fully geared character into any world including a friend’s active game. Characters and worlds are saved separately, so each world keeps its own independent state and storyline.
Why it matters: the usual co-op survival failure mode is that one friend plays ahead, the group falls out of sync, and the session dies. Splitting the saves means your gear travels with you and your friend’s world doesn’t get spoiled by your progress. The world itself is procedurally generated, so a fresh world is genuinely fresh.
Who Is Making HAEX?
Dead Astronauts is a Malmö-based studio, and the pedigree explains a lot about how the trailer looks. The team is made up of veterans from Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft, and Epic Games, and the creative leadership previously worked on The Division and Little Nightmares.
By the studio’s own account, it’s twelve game dev veterans from Sweden who have been working on HAEX since 2025.
Creative director and co-founder Tobias Nyman framed the pitch in the announcement press release the studio’s stated ambition is an innovative open-world action adventure survival game built around players fundamentally reshaping their world and choosing their own path forward.
Twelve people building a procedural open world is ambitious. That context is worth holding onto when the Early Access build lands: scope is the risk here, not craft.
How to Get Into the HAEX Playtest
No playtest has run yet, but signups are open.
Dead Astronauts has pointed players toward the waitlist on player.gg for future playtests, and toward the official Discord for closer development updates.
Your three-step checklist:
- Wishlist on Steam this is how you get notified the moment a demo, Next Fest build, or release date drops.
- Join the player waitlist the studio-designated channel for playtest access.
- Join the Discord the developers have said community feedback will be central to development, delivered through Steam discussions, Discord, and social channels.
FAQ
Is HAEX multiplayer or single-player?
Both. HAEX supports solo play as well as co-op for up to four players total. It’s PvE you’re fighting the world, not other players.
Is HAEX coming to PS5 or Xbox?
Not announced. The confirmed platforms are PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. Consoles haven’t been ruled out, but no version has been revealed.
How much will HAEX cost?
The price hasn’t been announced. What is confirmed: there’s no planned price increase between Early Access and 1.0, so Early Access buyers get the full release at no additional cost.
Is HAEX open world?
Yes, and procedurally generated. Each world has its own story to explore, and your character’s gear, skills, and recipes carry between them.
Should I wait for 1.0 instead of buying Early Access?
Depends on your tolerance for unfinished games. Early Access is estimated at 12 to 18 months, and the studio describes the Early Access build as stable and representative of the core experience. Since there’s no price increase later, buying early costs you nothing extra — but you’d be playing a game missing weapons, enemies, and a chunk of story.
The Bottom Line
HAEX is the rare survival shooter with a real mechanical identity: world-altering alien seeds, an upgradeable sentient cube, and split character/world saves that fix co-op’s biggest structural problem. It’s a 2027 Early Access launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store, PC only, from a twelve-person Swedish team with The Division and Little Nightmares on their résumés.
The honest caveat: nobody outside the studio has played it. Everything above comes from the reveal, the storefront listings, and developer statements not hands-on time.
#Related Articles
– RuneScape: Dragonwilds: Everything to Know Before You Play (2026 Guide)
– Star Trek Shadow Frontier: Everything We Know About Bloober Team’s Psychological Horror Game
– Once Human Game: The Complete 2026 Guide (Gameplay, Scenarios & Console Release)
