Broken Arrow is coming out today, and it's a perfect example of Advanced Access FOMO

Believe it or not, Broken Arrow is actually launching. After the multiplayer beta in February 2024 almost completely broke the servers, the game got delayed again in October. To make up for it, they ran another open beta in November. And now, here we are. The game that was first announced way back in 2019, and has been in development for what feels like forever (at least it's not Star Citizen levels of forever), is finally dropping today in Advanced Access on Steam. But there’s still something that doesn’t sit right.

One tiny problem with Broken Arrow’s limited-time Vanguard Edition

Broken Arrow is officially launching on June 19th, priced at $49.99. But starting today, you can get in early with the Vanguard Edition for $59.99. Nothing really unusual here, special editions with advanced access have been around for a while now. But what Steel Balalaika is doing feels a lot like a classic case of FOMO (fear of missing out).

Source: Steel Balalaika

The Vanguard Edition comes with the game’s soundtrack, three days of early access, some digital wallpapers, and 10 cosmetic skins. Pretty standard extras. But it’s only available to buy from June 16th at 4 PM GMT until the full launch on June 19th. After that, it’s gone.

As for those special cosmetics, the developer explained it in the FAQ:

I don’t know about you, but that explanation sounds about as vague as it gets, and nobody likes that. What bugs people even more are those cosmetics items you can only buy for a tiny window of time. And when that window is just a few days – that’s just crazy. Even the time-limited DLCs for Dave the Diver stuck around for months. So this just feels like a next-level FOMO nobody wanted.

Broken Arrow

June 19, 2025

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• Overview

• RTS
• military
• Slitherine