First & foremost a giant THANK YOU for your faith & sticking with us while we’ve continued to improve the game during Early Access. It was a solid success & allowed us to get to the next leg of our journey.
The big news is that Maelstrom is becoming a Free to Play game.
Being a premium 20$ title in Early Access worked, but moving forward as a multiplayer only title, transitioning to F2P allows a much larger player base. We expect it to bring in many new players that normally wouldn’t get a chance to sink you.
FREE-TO-PLAY DEFINITION FOR MAELSTROM
As Free-to-Play definitions vary with games we want to define it clearly so players know what they can expect:
- All gameplay and progress can be unlocked by playing the game for free. No additional purchases are needed to enjoy the game to its fullest extent.
- There are no ways to purchase a competitive advantage in game.
- Players must play the game to progress & become more powerful. There are no ways to purchase a top tier ship with a powerful crew, it must be earned by playing the game. Players can however, accelerate progression with boosts.
- Gold is in-game currency and earned by playing the game.
- Gunpowder is premium currency & the only item sold for cash in-game. It is used to buy all of the premium items in the store such as the battle pass, cosmetics, boosters & bundles.
- Gunpowder can also be earned for free via the Battle Pass, completing quests & checking the store.
- Battle Passes unlock cosmetics, gold or gunpowder & there is a premium track that unlocks additional rewards for gunpowder.
- Future content will be added through seasonal Battle Passes, events or content drops.
- There are no loot boxes. All Items are directly purchasable in the store.
EARLY ACCESS REWARDS
For our Early Access players a ton of rewards are being granted automatically just for logging in. The rewards provide fun choices for all the new toys the game has to offer:
- All Ships Unlocked
- 3 Mates for Each Race
- 1 Legendary Mate for Each Race
- Seasonal Battle Pass Unlocked
- 10,000 Gunpowder Premium Currency
- Exclusive Title 'Old Salt'
- Exclusive Wind Trailer 'Happy'
- Exclusive Cannon Trailer 'Grande Finale'
- Exclusive Lifeboat 'Guppy Thrasher'
WHAT’S NEW
Here’s a shortlist of things to look out for:
- Balance updates, including newly designed mates and updated hardpoints
- Match rewards have been refactored for the new game economy
- Mates now level up with Gold (keep an eye out for Legendary Mates!)
- Quests and Medals
- Cosmetics have been added: Skins, titles, lifeboats, tracers, and trailers
- New cross-region Matchmaker that prioritizes fair matches based on ship power
UPCOMING PLANS
But that's not all. Here's our roadmap with the key features that are in development.
Come talk to us & our great community in our official Discord.
Sink ya soon!
- Your Gunpowder Games Team