inXile entertainment announces that now that the Wasteland 2 beta has launched, they are planning on launching Steam Early Access for the RPG sequel tomorrow. Here's word:

For the first time, gamers are getting the chance to play inXile entertainment’s Wasteland 2, which was successfully crowdfunded through Kickstarter in April 2012. More than ten thousand backers entered the backer beta on Wednesday, through their Kickstarter or late pledges to the project. Wasteland 2 will also be entering Steam Early Access on Friday, to allow late backers to purchase and jump on immediately.

Wasteland 2 is a post-apocalyptic RPG with old-school sensibilities, with a heavy focus on tactical turn-based combat, a deep and open world and reactivity to player choices. It is the sequel to 1988’s Wasteland, with the player taking control of a party of Desert Rangers striving to bring peace to the wastes. Set 15 years after the original, the game does not require familiarity with the original’s plot but does follow up on the original’s story in many ways.

The Wasteland 2 beta consists of the first four major areas of the game and related minor maps, along with character creation, world map travel, and random encounters. More areas will be added as the beta progresses. Beta backers and early access gamers will get exactly the same content here.