Hello Knights!
Today, we're excited to share something special and perhaps a little unexpected.
Welcome to Scramble Knights Online!
We're taking Scramble Knights in a new direction, building upon the world, systems, and foundation we've spent years crafting.
Scramble Knights Online is now a multiplayer adventure RPG about questing with friends in the shared online kingdom of Terracotta. Explore a sprawling archipelago, embark on adventures, battle monsters, conquer dungeons, discover treasure, and get rewarded. Then return home to upgrade your gear before setting out on your next journey.
You play as a knight-in-training attempting to win the favor of the princess by becoming a legendary hero.
It’s not quite an MMO, but it’s also more than a co-op game. You’ll encounter other players while questing in the world and can form new friendships in the bustling Town Square.
We're building SKO as a shared online experience where players can gather and adventure together.
There’s a new focus on challenging PvE encounters, charming quests, character building, and long-term progression with weapon and armor crafting.
Why this new direction with Scramble Knights Online?
Over 25,000 players joined our Battle Royale playtests. Many of you loved the game and became part of our community, and we're incredibly grateful for that support. As development continued, we became concerned about the realities of sustaining a large-scale Battle Royale experience.
Large player lobbies require a substantial and consistent concurrent player base. As an indie studio, we don't have the marketing reach or resources of a AAA publisher to achieve that at launch.
We had to be honest with ourselves — a live-service Battle Royale was not going to work for us.
During the past few months we tested a lot of different modes, both with Discord players and internally. We listened to feedback from play-testers and debated about the direction of the game.
“Adventure with Friends” was always at the core of what we wanted to build. Scramble Knights Online was the best way forward to build upon what we have already developed.
What do you do in Scramble Knights Online?
Pick a quest, head out alone or with friends, complete your objective, earn rewards, then return to the Town Square to upgrade your character- then do it all again!
Think of every quest as a unique Zelda-inspired, bite-sized adventure. Deliver a chicken across a dangerous canyon filled with rock-slinging crabs, help a citizen clear shrubs from their yard, or enter a dungeon to challenge an epic boss fight.
Every quest earns you gems and materials. You can find even more materials by exploring the world around you as you adventure. Use your resources to craft new weapons, forge armor, and upgrade equipment. It’s your choice what weapon, secondaries, and equipment you upgrade to create a build unique to you.
Upgrading your character will let you take on more challenging quests, which will in turn give you better rewards.
Will there be PvP?
Yes, there is PvP! SKO will be more focused on PvE and co-op content compared to our BR mode, but PvP will still be a part of the experience.
We’re still working out the details on this (invasions, fighting over resources, factions, etc) but we’ll have more information on what PvP will look like at launch in the next few months.
How much will it cost? Will there be a subscription?
It will likely cost between $15 and $20, no subscription needed!
When is the game coming out and when can I beta test it?
Early Access release is currently planned for Fall of this year, but we are not 100% confirmed on a date yet.
A beta test will be live this Summer but we also don’t have an exact test date yet. Sign up here on Steam, just click the “Request Access” button on the main page! Even if you signed up for previous playtests, you’ll need to re-sign up for the new SKO test.
View game pageJoin the Discord as well to stay up to date on all of our announcements
Why Early Access?
It’s not a secret that we are making a big change to Scramble Knights. We’ll have a game you can sink a lot of hours into by Early Access launch, but there will be a lot of content and ideas we will still want to work in.
We think Early Access gives us that time to develop and listen to the community to build something even greater.
Will the Battle Royale or other PvP-focused modes ever come back?
In the future after the launch of SKO, we might revisit BR or other game mode ideas we tested to see if they can be implemented if we have an established player base. Right now, all of our focus in on SKO.
We know this is a pretty big change in direction for the game, so thank you to everyone who found something to love about what we built so far. We will be talking more about our vision for SKO and sharing more as we develop, so make sure to follow us across social media to keep up.
We can’t wait for you to explore the world of Terracotta and go questing with your friends!
-The Funktronic Labs Team