Hello Survivors!
We've had an awesome month since Outbreak: Epidemic launched on July 9th! We spent the first half of that month working on patches to address the largest feedback from the community quickly, and now we're happy to announce the next major patch is on the horizon and scheduled for August 9th!
But we have other news to share as well about the long term plans for the game including transitioning from a F2P title to a more classical paid title (and why that decision has been made, including how Premium Content owners will automatically keep their access to the game). So buckle up and keep reading for all the news!
New Location - The Depths
After the survivors desperate attempt to call for help at the end of the Outbreak Scenario, they eventually learn that there's a military camp situated in a nearby urban center. With the undead roaming the countryside and a lack of a working vehicle, they take to the underground tunnels to try to find a way into the subway system underneath the city.
This leads them into the Depths, a dark and desolated underground system where they will learn horrifying truths about how the government tried to mitigate the epidemic.
On August 9th, you'll have access to a brand new Campaign scenario, two new Onslaught scenarios, and a new Experiments scenario. The campaign will take the survivors on a desperate quest to repair part of the underground subway system to make their way further into the city.
The new Experiments scenario increases the intensity by giving you 30 minutes to navigate the underground caverns to retrieve a desperately needed item before you make your escape. This guns blazing scenario will force you to move quickly, and carefully determine when you want to stop at a supply drop (scattered throughout the scenario) to re-arm. Be careful though, if you take too long, the caves will fill with gas and you'll be dead quickly.
Patch v3.0
This release on August 9th will come with Patch v3.0, which includes a large amount of small fixes and polish across the entire game (too much to list). It will also include heavily requested options like the ability to toggle your flashlight on or off during gameplay.
Transitioning from Free To Play to a Traditional Paid Title on August 9th
I'm also ready to announce that Outbreak: Epidemic will be transitioning from a F2P title with optional premium content to a more traditional paid title like all of the other games in the Outbreak series. When I was planning to launch Epidemic, my goal was to open it to a larger community and invite everyone to play what was essentially a demo, with the option to upgrade to the full version.
After gathering feedback and observing the game's progress over the last month, it was determined that this model ultimately wouldn't allow the development of the game to proceed at the rate I want in the F2P model. It became clear that I would need to go in a route of creating and marketing add-on content like cosmetics to ensure the game remains financially viable, and that effort (with only a single developer working on the game) would greatly interfere with the development roadmap and timelines.
Transitioning to a paid title will allow me to focus on developing the core game experience including new scenarios, while not needing to focus on cosmetic or add-on content too early in the development process. It's definitely understandable if some folks will be unhappy with this decision, but I hope you'll understand that it's the best for the game long-term so it can stay on track and new content can be delivered at a reasonable clip.
To be clear - there are no plans to transition back to a F2P title for this game. It ultimately makes more sense as a more classical paid title.
So how will the title work when the patch is released on August 9th?
For people who have purchased the Premium Content DLC, you will get access to the full paid game (as you've already paid for the upgrade). For anyone who has not upgraded to the Premium Content DLC and is only on the F2P version, unfortunately they will lose access to the title unless they purchase it. After speaking with Valve, this seemed like the best compromise for the title to ensure folks who have invested their money in the title get full access and their purchase remains valid.
Thank you!
Thank you to the entire community for supporting the Outbreak series and sharing such passionate feedback about the game. Epidemic has grown by leaps and bounds in the month since it launched and there's plenty of exciting new locations, content and more on the horizon. Thank you! :outbreakzombie: