Steam $20 Survival Game Is Going Free-to-Keep for Good

A survival game called Prologue: Go Wayback, which launched in Early Access on Steam in November 2025, will soon drop its $20 price tag and become free-to-play for all users on Steam. Prologue: Go Wayback is developed by indie studio PlayerUnknown Productions, founded by Brendan Greene, the creator of PUBG.

Prologue: Go Wayback is an immersive survival game that places players in a realistic open world featuring day-night cycles and dynamic weather changes, with no guidance, markers, or explicit quests. Players are left to decide where to go, how to survive, and how to progress.

Steam’s Free-to-Keep Promotion Has 5* Upcoming 100% Free Games for June 2026

Steam’s Free-to-Keep Promotion is currently slated to get at least five games in June, although more are on the way and one has a slight caveat.

Prologue: Go Wayback Plans to Go Free

Prologue: Go Wayback will soon become free-to-play for all players, according to a Steam community post. The game’s early access version currently costs around $20, and the developer is already exploring options to refund those who previously purchased it. As for why Prologue is going free-to-play on Steam, PlayerUnknown Productions explained that the team has had to scale down, and the reduced team size has made it difficult for the studio to deliver on its early access plans.

Scratch & Peek

Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.

Scratch & Peek

Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible.

EasyMediumHardPermadeath

As of this writing, it’s unclear exactly when the game’s price tag will be removed. However, based on the official announcement, the change is expected to happen soon. PlayerUnknown Productions said, “We are currently working on an update that we plan to release soon… With that update, we also intend to release the game out of early access and make it free for any players who want to check it out in the future.”

Prologue: Go Wayback Gameplay Features

Construction and building mechanics
Cooking and foraging for food
Realistic navigation system based on the compass
No markers, guides, or mandatory tasks
Immersive weather and day-night cycles that can affect gameplay (e.g., rain can drench fire)

Prologue: Go Wayback is also available on the Epic Games Store.

While Prologue joining the roster of free Steam titles is good news for fans of hardcore survival games, it is unfortunate that its development has ended. Many considered Prologue one of the more interesting upcoming survival games, particularly because of its unique world-generation mechanics. Every run in Prologue is different, as the game generates a new map at launch using the developer’s in-house Melba engine.

PlayerUnknown Productions says the team hopes to return to Prologue in the future if the opportunity arises. For now, however, its focus appears to be on developing the machine-learning-driven game engine that powers Prologue: Go Wayback. The studio’s ultimate goal has long been the creation of Artemis, an ambitious video game project described as “a platform for massive, living multiplayer sandboxes where millions of players can shape their own worlds and emergent stories.” At the moment, it remains unclear whether Artemis is still in active development or has also been affected by the studio’s recent downsizing.

The indie studio also has another game on Steam called Preface, which is meant to serve as a tech demo showcasing the capabilities of its in-house engine, Melba. Preface was released for free from the start, though it currently holds mixed reviews on Valve’s storefront. Prologue: Go Wayback also has mixed reviews on Steam. However, once it becomes free, it will be a risk-free option for survival game fans, and it may end up receiving more positive attention as a result.