After ten long years (not to mention several different developers) the fourth major installment in the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, RollerCoaster Tycoon World, will arrive on December 10. Prior to launch, there will be two beta weekends for those who pre-purchase the game to get an early look.
I spoke on Monday with Atari CEO Fred Chesnais, COO Todd Shallbeter, Senior Director of Marketing Tony Chien, and RCTW producer Matt Labunka. While RCTW's multiplayer mode will not be ready in time for launch, they told me it is planned as an free update in the future. In the meantime, there will still be some online functionality when the game is released. You'll be able to visit your friends' parks and utilize other social features like sharing screenshots and videos.
They also confirmed that RCTW will include Steam Workshop support at launchwhich has certainly done wonders for extending the lifespan of city-building sim Cities: Skylines. RCTW will allow players to upload and share the coasters they build, custom scenery, and other assets, along with saved games and parks. According to Atari, creating your own scenery and "peeps" (park visitors) can be done with any 3D editing program compatible with Unity. Atari couldn't quite confirm there would be deeper mod support in the future, to allow custom-made rides or other changes to the core gameplay, though producer Matt Labunka told me it is "certainly something we're looking at."