Hello, dearest Bless Online players!
When we decided to bring the world of Bless to Steam, we didn’t want to just localize or translate the game we already had launched in other regions. We knew that it had to be something more. With the western version of Bless Online, we knew we had a chance to take things back to the proverbial drawing board, and try to make this passion project even better than ever before.
However, we also knew that we needed help to achieve this goal. We needed people to play Bless, to give us feedback on our design changes, and to tell us what worked and what didn’t. We knew that we’d been making Bless for so long that if it was ever going to come out in the West, it needed to be different from all our previous releases.
Ultimately, this desire to try something new with the systems of Bless Online combined with the need for an open discussion with our player base led us to Steam’s Early Access platform. It allows us to make sure we have the funds to continue supporting Bless, while also working directly with our players to make Bless everything it can be and more. Steam’s own description of Early Access fits what we’re trying to achieve quite well:
“We like to think of games and game development as services that grow and evolve with the involvement of customers and the community. There have been a number of prominent titles that have embraced this model of development recently and found a lot of value in the process. We like to support and encourage developers who want to ship early, involve customers, and build lasting relationships that help everyone make better games.”
Where we are today with Bless Online’s Steam Early Access is not where we will be when the game officially launches in the coming months. As you hopefully have seen, we’ve been hard at work addressing feedback, making changes, fixing bugs, and working to make the best game for both Neowiz Bless Studio and our fans. Bless has always been a passion project for everyone at Neowiz, and the sheer amount of support and care we’ve received in response to the game has been overwhelming.
So while Early Access is just the beginning for Bless Online, we wanted to lay some details on you for what’s to come over the next several months.
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS LIST IS NOT SET IN STONE! All dates are subject to change, and more details on future content updates are still forthcoming. Right now, this is the expected flow of content, and of course these updates will also bring new fixes, balance changes, and quality of life improvements. We will have much more info on each of the new content pieces as we get closer to their release.
Localization is still in progress for both English and German. But what about game systems and content? Glad you asked! Take a look at some of what we have planned below, in no specific order:
3v3 Arena: Small group faction PvP content.
Game Balance Adjustment
Basel Valley : Level 45 elite field boss. 3 or more party members recommended.
Royal Quest: Level 45 royal quests throughout the Bless world.
New Elite Dungeon
Action & Tab-targeting
Siege of Castra: 70v70 massive PvP content.
We hope this gives you a good outline of what to expect in the coming months. We will of course be hosting live events, adding other systems as they become available (such as the action camera on other classes besides Berzerker), and tweaking gameplay and content as needed to make Bless the best it can possibly be.
We truly appreciate you taking this journey with us, and we can’t wait to see where we go from here.
Always at your service,
Sungjin Ko, Executive Producer