Hi Tamers! We're here with the announcement that the minimum match length in Temtem: Swarm has been updated from 15 minutes to 20 minutes. Let's talk about it!
A decision based on your feedback
Ever since Temtem: Swarm launched in Early Access we've made it clear that we wanted to integrate your feedback into the game as often as possible, and that we were aware of how much fine-tuning a game in this genre requires. We're committed to it, and so we'd been paying attention to feedback provided by players that 15-minute matches were falling on the shorter side, ending just as players were feeling the rush of excitement from finished builds and OP strategies. However, we also had received many opinions on how good the 15-minute matches were, how refreshing compared to the genre standard of 30 minutes, and that it was perfect for a quick run before heading out.
To that end, we conducted internal tests with matches that lasted 20 minutes to assess the situation, and we found it efficiently solved the feedback points raised that matches ended just as you were starting to really enjoy yourself. We consider match brevity a unique part of Temtem: Swarm, one that sets it apart from the rest of the genre, so we weren't considering 30-minute matches, but this middle ground felt like a great compromise between our ideas and the feedback we had received.
However, since the topic was so important and would end up affecting every match played on Temtem: Swarm, we didn't think it was a decision we should make on our own. We extended the question to you through this Google Form (that has since stopped receiving answers, please don't try to vote now!) and shared it across all our communication avenues. You answered our call and responses poured in, up to 1.576 by the time we closed the poll on February 11th! You also gave us a lot of arguments, pros and cons of each decision, and we did our best to read them all.
The result
The result was that 64.4% of the Tamers who answered our call want to give the 20-minute matches a try, and we're ready to follow that and actually try it!
With a change like this, some other pieces had to be adjusted as well. The first mini-bosses will appear at 5 and 10 minutes respectively, while the final boss of the arena will spawn at 20 minutes. The final boss is what marks the minimum duration of a match, since it has to be defeated for the match to conclude. The actual length of the match will depend on how long you take to defeat the boss, so we can only talk guarantee a minimum of 20 minutes.
As for minute 15, we didn't want to leave it hanging because the run could end up feeling monotonous.
We've decided to introduce special waves at minute 15 that change the flow of the game and alter the mood a little. Every arena has a different wave 15, so players can experience extra diversity between arenas. These special waves will last until minute 20, and they will blend with common waves. To give you an example, there's an Arena where many Powerful Tems spawn at minute 15, but as you defeat them, the usual enemy Swarm will also continue spawning, reaching a point where you experience the usual Swarm plus the special gimmick of the Arena!
Why not both?
We are completely aware that giving players the choice to select match duration would be the most rad option, but like with many rad things in game development, it would take massive amounts of time and resources. Balancing and configuring every match duration so all can be equal would be really complex, and even with our best efforts it'd be almost impossible to make them evenly profitable for players. Even past this point, the QA team would need twice as much time to test everything on separate match duration, which in turn would cause delay on how often we can publish patches.
With the game growing more complex and complete with every patch, we don't have forces to spare! So we're not trying out this route, Tamers, sorry.
When is the change taking place?
This change will take place with patch 0.6, which is the upcoming next patch for Temtem: Swarm, launching soon! This new patch includes random matchmaking, a new arena, two new playable Tems and a bunch of enemy Tems, including new mini-bosses and a boss, some more features that we're keeping a secret, a lot of quality of life improvements, and bug fixes and polishes! We hope you'll love it!
And an Endless mode?
An Endless mode is planned and confirmed for Temtem: Swarm! This mode will be included in the game as part of the Challenge Modes, which are planned for upcoming patches, so we want you to envision it but know there's still some time to go. Please be patient with us as we progress with the content and the Early Access phase! The Endless mode will come in due time.
We understand this is a big change for all Swarm players, so we'll be closely reading your feedback and opinions once you try it. Since we're still in early Early Access, we have a lot of space to maneuver and iterate on any changes we make that don't fit the game or its players.
So please let us know what you think of this change or any others when you get to put it to the test!We're now in full preparation for the launch of 0.6, so spoilers are going to keep on coming!
Stay tuned so you don't miss anything, and may you swiftly conquer the Swarm, Tamers! Bye bye!