Don't Starve's Reign Of Giants DLC stomps onto Steam, Klei says "beware of summer"

If, like me, you're an inveterate Don't Starveaholic with a 300+ day save game, then you probably won't see another screenshot more exciting this year than the one above, showing Webber, one of the new characters in the Reign Of Giants DLC, looking melancholy in a sowester. It's live now on Steam Early Access , entry to which will set you back $4.

Obviously, you'll also need a copy of the full game to run it, and you'll also need to start a new save. We spoke with Klei Entertainment founder Jamie Cheng at GDC, and asked him about the DLC. "It brings new seasons in," he says. "Summer is the big one. You should be careful about summer. It's dangerous. Incredibly so, I would say."

Eek. There are the titular giants to worry about, of course, of which you can expect several types, although Cheng wouldn't confirm whether these are bigger than the terrifying Deerclops from the main game. "You'll see, I guess," he explains. "That's the surprise of Don't Starve. If I shared that it'd be less fun I think."

So, with no significant spoilers, what else can players expect? "There's new biomes, there's deciduous trees, new animals to have fun with", says Cheng. "And a new pet somewhere in there." Finally, a friend for Chester ! Those of you with no sense of the joy of discovery, who want a full breakdown of the DLC's content, can head for the Don't Starve Wiki to get a list of all the new items, gameplay tweaks and characters.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Webber isn't a spiderperson. He's a child that lives inside the carcass of the spider which tried to eat him. Which is, y'know, quite a bit darker. "People would say it was too easy," says Cheng, laughing. "It's obviously too easy if you've survived 300 days."

But does the Reign of Giants DLC mark the end of support for Don't Starve? "We don't know right now," says Cheng. "Let's just take things one step at a time. We want to make sure we're that we're doing new things and we don't burn ourselves out. It's not about the finances, it's about making sure the things that we add are actually meaningful. If that's a thing we want to do, then sure, if not then we'll be doing something new and I hope our fans appreciate that so they can experience something new altogether."

With over two decades covering videogames, Tim has been there from the beginning. In his case, that meant playing Elite in 'co-op' on a BBC Micro (one player uses the movement keys, the other shoots) until his parents finally caved and bought an Amstrad CPC 6128. These days, when not steering the good ship PC Gamer, Tim spends his time complaining that all Priest mains in Hearthstone are degenerates and raiding in Destiny 2. He's almost certainly doing one of these right now.