Attention Squaddies,
With the upcoming release of Squad v4.2 we will be introducing something new for both Squad and Offworld as a studio! Alongside the usual improvements, bug fixes, and a game engine update v4.27 will be the first update where we add a new form of content to Squad with the introduction of Emotes! Emotes are animations which you can use to express yourself, interact with each other, celebrate in-game situations, or brighten up down time. We hope they will enhance the social and cinematic aspects of your Squad experience.
As a thank you for all your years of support for Squad, all players will be receiving a free Emotes pack on initial release. There will also be two packages of paid Emotes that will be sold through an in-game connection to the Steam Store. We will walk you through them and how they appear in Squad very soon in another blog and we will be showcasing more about Emotes as we get close to the launch of v4.2!
Emotes are a totally optional feature in Squad. If you do not feel like buying additional Emotes you do not have to, and your playing experience will be no different than it is now without Emotes. Those of you who enjoy the additional customization and way of showing off your personality in game that Emotes provides are able to purchase additional ones at what we feel is a reasonable price.
After years of releasing free updates for Squad this is our first foray into monetizing Squad beyond the initial purchase. We understand that paid content in gaming can be controversial and that previous leadership at Offworld had stated that paid DLC would never be added to Squad. Given this we wanted to inform you of this change prior to the release of v4.2 early.
So why this shift, this far into the life of Squad? As we look into the future we see a long and healthy life for Squad. It has a large and dedicated playerbase. We have plans for more updates and to support the game beyond 2023. While many of these planned updates will be free, we also realize that we need a way to continue to fund the development of Squad. Paid content like Emotes is one such way to help fund that development and continue our work on improving the game.
Rest assured that we are continuing to work on free updates for Squad.
We will be providing all Kickstarter Backers that qualify for physical rewards with all Emote packs available at launch for free. This will take us a bit of time as we work to reach out to everyone, so we thank our Kickstarter backers in advance for their patience as we continue to work towards creating the outstanding physical rewards. Thank you for your continued support of Squad.
At ease,
Offworld Industries
Q&A
Will there be servers set up with no emotes allowed? Can they be toggled off by server owners?
This will not be an option. However, we have made sure that emotes will be as unobtrusive as possible. We want them to be part of Squad without affecting the gameplay and keep Squad a great experience whether or not you purchased additional content.
Does this mean we will see more monetization in the future? What about gun skins or uniforms?
The introduction of emotes and this new form of support for Squad is something we are excited to try. We will be closely monitoring the popularity of emotes and the interest of the community in them. As you well know some initial backers of the Kickstarter have currently access to a variation on weapon skins and we are not excluding the possibility to broaden the selection we offer. However we will communicate more on the topic if and when the time comes.
Will you start charging for maps or factions in the future?
Our approach to the future of Squad is to keep it as inclusive as we possibly can. Creating maps and factions takes a lot of time and effort and we wish for our entire community to be able to enjoy the fruits of our hard work.
What will be your refund policy?
Our refund policy hasn’t changed and will stay in its current state. You will be able to purchase emotes through the Steam Store and to make your claims as per usual through it.