Black Salt Games has announced a new paid expansion pack for its eldritch fishing game, Dredge. It’s called The Pale Reach and it’s slated to be released on 16 November 2023, with new story content, a new location, new fish to catch, and a new tool that extends the freshness of your catch.
Curiously however, the announcement of The Pale Reach comes exactly one week after the New Zealand developer announced a delay to its original first paid expansion pack, The Iron Rig. “Given the time of the year, we’d need more lead time to coordinate our marketing and make the launch as exciting as it could be.” The Iron Rig is now planned for sometime in 2024.
The Pale Reach comes as part of PlayStation’s “Indie Day October 2023” marketing push, which included the announcement for The Pale Reach, as well as release date announcements for Die Gute Fabrik’s Saltsea Chronicles and Devolver Digital’s KarmaZoo. It’s possible that both The Iron Rig and The Pale Reach were being developed simultaneously, and the small development team thought to make the most of publisher support.
Here’s a description of what to expect from The Pale Reach expansion pack, courtesy of Nadia Thorne, producer at Black Salt Games, via the PlayStation Blog.
Dredge: The Pale Reach calls players to a new, frozen frontier—a pristine icy biome awaiting discovery by the most intrepid of explorers. Those who find themselves within this frozen expanse will embark on a journey through icy canyons, retracing the path of a long-forgotten expedition and unveiling the destiny of those who once ventured there. Journeying into the depths of this glacial biome will require players to upgrade their vessel, equipping it with specialized gear capable of smashing through the unforgiving ice.
However, much like the rest of Dredge, an eerie undercurrent of malevolence grips this realm, corrupting and twisting nature itself for its sinister designs. Will those who dare venture into The Pale Reach succeed in laying to rest a historic betrayal? Can they halt an already-encroaching darkness?
Along with new story content, The Pale Reach will introduce 11 new fish and crab species (and their aberrated counterparts) as well as an additional Fish Type. You can also earn access to a new item that extends the freshness of catches no matter where you’re fishing.
We were very taken by Dredge when it released in March 2023.
“Dredge is a masterclass in atmosphere, worldbuilding, tactile mechanics, and game flow,” reads the GamesHub review. “Like all good sinister stories, by the time you get to the end of the line, you might wish you had never kept going. But in Dredge, it’s impossible not to.”
Dredge: The Pale Reach releases on 16 November 2023 for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
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