Welcome to a new update! This has been one of the most important sprints for the team, as Raiders Rise participated in Steam Next Fest for the very first time. During these weeks, we focused on preparing the demo for thousands of new players, improving its stability, polishing the final details, and gathering as much feedback as possible to continue improving the game. In addition, during the festival we organized a special event to test the new Raider, Nicola, and offer exclusive rewards to the community.
🛒 Store and Progression Systems
The in-game store is now fully integrated and ready for launch. Players will be able to access currency packs, Battle Pass offers, and premium bundles, all connected to the backend to ensure a seamless experience.
At the same time, we have started developing a new progression system for Raiders. Each Raider will be able to level up, increase their rank, and unlock new rewards while players track their progress through a dedicated screen. We have also added a small tutorial to make learning this system easy from the very beginning.
On top of that, we are currently implementing the player ranking system. It is still a work in progress, but we will have more updates to share soon.
📱 Mobile Development
Work on the mobile version continues to move forward. We have implemented an auto-aim system for touch controls that automatically locks onto nearby enemies with a simple tap, while still allowing players to aim manually whenever they want.
We have also adapted the interface for mobile devices, adding support for emotes and new action buttons to provide a much more comfortable and intuitive experience.
📊 Analytics and Player Testing
We continue improving the tools that help us understand how players interact with the game. During this sprint, we implemented an A/B testing system that will allow us to compare different versions of the tutorial and early game experience to discover which options work best.
In addition, the game now collects much more information about player progression, tutorial completion, and player behavior during matches. All of this data will be essential for continuing to improve Raiders Rise in future updates.
🧠 Characters, Skins, and Animations
The art team continues expanding customization options with new skins for characters such as Snowbird, River, Zen, and Atabusk, many of which are already integrated into the game.
We have also continued improving character presentation with new animations for the selection and preview screens, as well as adding facial expressions to different Raiders to give them even more personality both in menus and during gameplay.
🌍 Level Design and Environments
We continue shaping the universe of Raiders Rise by working on the identity of each planet, defining their stories, and strengthening their visual style. To speed up this process, we have developed new internal tools that allow us to create planets and environments much more quickly.
In addition, we have created new backgrounds for urban and desert environments and carried out a major optimization pass on Planet 1. Improvements have been made to elements such as lighting, fog, cliffs, and numerous props, resulting in higher visual quality and better performance.
🔊 Environmental Audio
Immersion continues to grow thanks to new environmental audio systems. Different environmental elements, such as doors, vehicles, and moving objects, can now play dynamic sound effects, making each planet feel much more alive and believable.
🏁 Sprint Wrap-Up
Steam Next Fest has been a great opportunity to introduce Raiders Rise to new players and receive a huge amount of feedback. We want to thank everyone who tried the demo and shared their thoughts. We will continue working to turn all of those suggestions into improvements and make each update bring the game one step closer to its best version.
➡️ Don’t forget to add Raiders Rise to your Steam wishlist so you don’t miss any news.
➡️ Join our Discord and take part in our upcoming playtests.
See you in the next update... and until then, keep raiding! 🚀