Hello, this is Jaeeun Park.
First and foremost, we sincerely thank all our players who have patiently waited since the game's initial Early Access launch as "Blackout Protocol", as well as all the new players who have joined since the soft-relaunch under the new title. We truly appreciate each and every one of you.
With our last major update in March, we have finally reopened co-op multiplayer mode, as well as introducing new levels, creatures, synaptic enhancements, and tactical gear. This marks the beginning of our full-scale preparations for the full release. It's taken a long time to refine and reorganize many aspects of the game, much of which entailed behind-the-scenes work that was not always readily visible on the surface. However, since the last update, the work on the official launch build—most of which is already prepared—is now nearing completion. Based on the feedback we've received since the March update, we'll be implementing a balance patch in April. Then, in May, we plan to proceed with the official launch as promised.
In fact, following the update and our showcase at the Future Games Show, we've seen an increase in the number of players enjoying the game. Riding on this momentum, we're collaborating with Steam to run a Daily Deal for one week starting March 29th. Just like the Spring Sale, the game will be available at a 25% discount. However, with the official launch approaching, the base sale price will be increasing to $19.99 USD soon after the Daily Deal ends. This will be the last chance to purchase the game at a lower price before the official release, so we hope many of you take advantage of this opportunity!
After the Daily Deal and balance patch in April, we'll be heading once more to PAX East in May, where we look forward to meeting players in person. Following that, we're preparing for a simultaneous release on Steam, PS5, and Xbox later in May.
The official release will feature a ton of new content, including the final boss, new and fully voiced story content in the game's main path, a pile of unlockable story content that delves into each playable Agent's personal mysteries, and various other updates. We'll share more about all that in another dev log in the future. For today, we'd like to share details on the April balance patch, along with a few screenshots of the final update content currently in progress. Thank you again for your support, and if you have any friends interested in the game, we hope they'll consider hopping in while the Daily Deal's going on.
April Balance Patch Preview
- Adjustments to how Synaptics and Agent Upgrades are Unlocked → We're doing a bit of fiddling with progression systems (which will primarily affect new players, rather than existing ones). We'll share more details on this soon.
- Co-op Mode Difficulty Adjustment → We are currently testing a slight increase in difficulty when playing in multiplayer.
- Shop Item Adjustments → The number of weapon perks across all levels will be adjusted, and the quantity of specific shop items will be increased.
- Weapon Attachment Drop Rates → We'll be making some adjustments to make it easier to acquire weapon attachments.
- Beaker's Special → We're testing out lowering the cooldown time on Beaker's special ability.
WIP Screenshots of Full Release Content
[Portable barricades for crowd control!]
[A new type of friend to play with!]
[A new foe awaits, beyond the blue light...]
Sincerely,
Jaeeun Park, Creative Director of Section 13