Hello inmates,
We have lots to share with you today about the direction Darwin Project is headed in and some exciting new content coming in the October patch just a few days away. Please watch Behind the Scenes 4: An Update on What's Next by clicking the image below.
The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton is the first-ever Darwin Project Battle Pass, and we want to talk a bit about why we chose to add this content and what it entails.
Ever since the Easter Egg Hunt in spring, a lot of you said you miss in-game events and are interested in new opportunities to collect unique cosmetic items. We reflected for a long time about how to make future events more meaningful, because while players had a fun time collecting Easter eggs in the arena, we felt we could provide a deeper experience.
We decided that the next limited-time event would be a great opportunity to expand the lore behind Darwin Project. Our writer (the same who gave us the wonderful Mabel Beeswell) came up with a fantastic, spooky tale about how the Darwin Project began. The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton is the story of the man who started it all: the Darwin Project founder himself.
Playing this new Halloween-themed content will involve progressing through 50 Tiers to unlock a variety of rewards, and some of those rewards are age-old documents that you’ll be able to piece together to learn about the bone-chilling fate of Roger D. Glanton. We just can’t wait for you to discover the story! Combined with the art and music that our team has worked very hard to produce, The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton is probably our most refreshing new content so far.
The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton will run from Tuesday, October 16 to Tuesday, November 13 on Steam.
Why the Battle Pass format? It’s no secret that many players today are accustomed to the Battle Pass progression and reward systems (but don’t worry if you aren’t; we’ll have detailed information in-game as well as on our official website). We also like the idea of players knowing exactly what they’ll unlock and when―especially when there’s a lot to discover. The Battle Pass format allows us to organize all the content in a way that allows players to keep track of earned and upcoming rewards, with no luck needed to obtain specific items.
Purchasing the Battle Pass is not required to enjoy The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton, but doing so will allow inmates to unlock more rewards and have access to Premium Weekly Challenges to help reach higher Tiers. The Battle Pass will become available in the Shop for a limited time starting on October 16 for 1000 Ramen. We estimate the total value of all items that can be unlocked with the Battle Pass to be over 16,500 Ramen, so it’s great value―not to mention that inmates will be able to recoup a large part of the Ramen cost by playing.
Let’s talk about the rewards! On top of the lore we already mentioned, progressing in The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton will unlock a ton of exclusive cosmetic items related to Glanton’s story. You can expect more extremely cool styles for your clothes and weapons. There are over 65 rewards to earn in total! Among these is a brand new way to customize your character: Face Details. Additionally, a lot of you have been asking for new Cloaks and Haircuts―you’ll be able to add more of those to your collection as well!
To advance Tiers and obtain the rewards inside, you will have to earn experience points (not to be confused with Fans). Playing Darwin Project normally―as an inmate or Show Director―will grant XP toward The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton, as will completing the Daily Rehab Program (only while the Battle Pass is active).
Completing Weekly Challenges will also allow inmates to reach higher Tiers. These Challenges will be revealed at the start of each of the four weeks that the Battle Pass is active, and will require more attention to your playstyle and to your environment than the tasks assigned to you in the Daily Rehab Program. Note that Challenges can only be completed by playing as an inmate.
Reaching the final Tier through play after purchasing the Battle Pass will take an estimated 25 to 50 hours. At Tier 50, you’ll gain access to the Ultimate Challenges section of the Battle Pass where a final set of Challenges await. For The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton, they are called Inferno Challenges and will reward you with a special 7-piece item set variant upon completion. Unlike the Weekly Challenges, you’ll still be able to complete the Ultimate Challenges―if you’ve unlocked them―once the Battle Pass ends.
At any point between October 16 and November 13, you can choose to spend Ramen to purchase one or many Tiers. Purchasing Tiers is not required to reach the end, but will help players who get started later or who just want to speed things up. Any experience points in your current Tier will carry over to the next one when purchased with Ramen.
That’s all the key information about the Battle Pass! We’re sure you still have lots of questions, so please keep an eye out for more details as well as a complete FAQ in the coming days.
As you might have guessed, the new Tile that we’re also adding in the October patch will be thematically related to the Battle Pass content. We will add it to the bank of possible Tiles in the same way we did with On-The-Rocks Shipping Co, meaning it will be available to everyone immediately after the patch. Stay tuned to our official channels for a first glance!
To reiterate an important point we brought up in the Behind the Scenes video: In the coming months, we’re keeping optimization at the top of our priority list so that all of you can enjoy a smoother experience in the arena. We’ve been reading your survey responses closely and want to ensure that you are satisfied with how Darwin Project performs on your PC. We also want to note that creating our Battle Pass content has not interfered with this focus, and we will be doing everything we can to optimize Darwin Project even as we continue adding more content and improving existing features.
There won’t be a new Battle Pass available as soon as this one ends, so don’t feel pressured to save up your Ramen just yet. In fact, because The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton will be the first limited-time event of this scope that we deliver, your feedback will be incredibly valuable for us to help determine whether we create more in the future! Once you get a chance to play, please let us know what you think on any of our official channels. And as usual, see you in the arena!