Trendy Entertainment announces that early access to Dungeon Defenders II will begin on December 5th, in conjunction with the game awards mentioned in the story above, offering a first crack at the upcoming tower defense/action/RPG sequel. Here's a new trailer celebrating the news, and here's word on what to expect:

With hundreds of hours of gameplay already developed, players that purchase the game in Early Access will get access to a pre-alpha build of Dungeon Defenders II and be able to play the entire first region of the game with the franchise’s four iconic heroes. “This past year we’ve spent most of our time innovating and improving upon the core Action Tower Defense gameplay Dungeon Defenders is famous for, working with our Defense Council to create something fans both new and old will enjoy,” said Brad Logston, Senior Producer of the Dungeon Defenders franchise. “The most exciting thing for us? The feedback we’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive, with some saying we’ve reached a quality bar above what they expect from an Early Access game. This has meant so much to us, and as we work past pre-alpha, we’re eager for new players to join us to help make the best Dungeon Defenders game possible."

In Dungeon Defenders II, the land of Etheria has been invaded by the Old Ones and players must rally, alone or with friends, to push them back! With a host of new defenses, features and loot protecting Etheria has never been more fun than in this Action Tower Defense adventure.

Dungeon Defenders II is currently in development for PC, Mac, and Linux. The PC versions will launch on Early Access on Steam on December 5, 2014 as a premium experience. In the future Trendy plans to make the entire Dungeon Defenders 2 experience free, supported by ethical in-game purchases.