The Miner Wars Website announces the release of DLC for Miner Wars 2081, joking about the arrogance of releasing DLC for a game which is not yet officially released. The DLC is called the Miner Wars 2.5D Experiment based on the code from Keen Software House's previously released Miner Wars Arena in the newer game. Word is: "This DLC is now available as part of Miner Wars 2081 installation – you just have to purchase 'Miner Wars Arena + 2.5D Experiment' on our web site. That will unlock all the 2.5D sectors in Miner Wars 2081," and: "Last but not least, anyone who's purchased Miner Wars Arena at MinerWars.com gets '2.5D Experiment' for free." This trailer offers a look, and here are some details:

Yes, yes, I know, Miner Wars 2081 is not even finished and here we are, releasing some crazy DLC.

Well, let me tell you the story behind this “Miner Wars 2.5D Experiment”: one lonely night I was sitting here in the office, trying to decide what to do next with my life and Miner Wars. Then it struck me: we just released one 2.5D game named Miner Wars Arena – but we actually already had all its functionality in Miner Wars 2081 – only with much higher production value. So I was like “bro, why can’t we just take 2081, set camera to its 2.5D top-down angle and let people decide what to do next with this project?” (Don’t forget I was alone in the dark, speaking to myself)

Next day we did that camera hack; Actually we had to create a few more hacks, for example:

• Bots/AI didn’t take kindly to be limited to 2D movement...
• Missiles tend to fly above the ground...
• Player ship didn’t interact with terminals and cargo boxes

Isn’t it fantastic? Making a brand new game in just few hours? Oh I guess this is what you hate about big publishers. But hate is good. It’s better than apathy.

2.5D experiment inherits all its features from Miner Wars 2081 – code base, destructible environment, weapons, ships, art assets, game mechanics, turrets, cargo boxes, anything and everything.

It’s mostly death-match multi-player experience, although you can play it against bots if you want.