Fellow Officers,
yes, you've read the title correctly: One of the most frequently requested features is actually coming to Police Simulator. With Update 19.0, scheduled to arrive this September, we're finally introducing Gun Usage!
Today, we want to share some first information about the scope of the update, the limitations of your service weapon, and a fair share of behind-the-scenes details.
Let's take a closer look!
How Gun Usage will look like in PS:PO
From the very beginning, we envisioned the use of a service weapon as a method of last resort. After all, the officers working in the Brighton Police Department have sworn to serve all citizens – fairly, in alignment with the law, and with justice.
Currently, the service weapon can only be used in a very narrow scope. For example, you are allowed to draw and aim it at car thieves to force them to surrender. Other scenarios usually require different means, such as the stun gun or a swift tackle. Even just aiming at a citizen with your weapon will cause the loss of Conduct Points. In any case, you’ve never been allowed to shoot your weapon.
With Update 19.0, a new level of danger arrives that actually requires the use of your gun, turning it into an useful tool inside your arsenal. You’re even allowed to shoot it! The use of your hand gun comes into play once all other forms of de-escalation have been exhausted. Let's explain!
When you approach a criminal, their level of danger is constantly influenced by a randomizer. This may cause some citizens to flee, carry an illegal weapon in their inventory, or trigger other variables. Now, every criminal has a chance to be spawned with an extraordinarily high level of criminal activity – leading to a handgun in their inventory and them turning into an armed criminal. The City of Brighton is becoming way more dangerous!
This can happen at any point where a criminal NPC would usually decide to flee: if the randomizer determines that they are at a high criminal level, they may draw their weapon – otherwise, they simply start fleeing. This means: A car thief, a drug dealer, even a wanted NPC can turn into someone drawing a handgun, which will require you to draw your own weapon in return! But they may also just flee, which only requires lighter measures instead.
When an armed criminal draws a weapon, you will be notified by the game – and immediate action must be taken. The NPC will be marked with an outline, indicating the current level of threat:
Yellow Outline: You're aiming at the armed criminal who has drawn their gun. You will now demand them to surrender. If they comply, they will drop their weapon, lie down, and you can handcuff them. If not, you are not yet allowed to shoot – doing so will not end the shift but will cause the loss of CP. It can take some time for the NPC to surrender as they might verbally resist.
Red Outline: The armed criminal refuses to surrender and is now an active threat. You are now allowed to shoot! The criminal has a chance to shoot at the player – but doesn't have to. After every shot you take, they may either turn into an injured NPC or drop their weapon and surrender. If the armed criminal is injured, first aid must be administered and an ambulance must be called for further proceedings.
As described, you can also be shot by the armed criminal! After a maximum of three hits, you will become critically injured and your shift will automatically end as you need to recover. Act fast and decisively to protect yourself and everyone else!
Setting expectations right
To be clear: Police Simulator will not suddenly turn into a third-person shooter. The introduction of an actual purpose for the service weapon changes the nature of the game in various aspects, requiring careful consideration across multiple areas. However, we believe we found the perfect balance that’s both fun and realistic!
After all, we’re still a simulation game that realistically covers the daily life of your average patrol officer.
Why did this feature not release earlier?
Well, that’s a valid question! As described a while ago in a comprehensive blog post, we encountered several hurdles we needed to overcome first. The most difficult aspect, however, was definitely the already issued age rating for the game.
Currently, Police Simulator is rated as a game suited for teenagers, primarily because scenarios requiring gun usage are not present. But what happens if this suddenly changes? It should be no surprise that there is a risk of the age rating being raised – causing incredibly complex legal problems with people who bought the game when it still had the lower rating (not to mention the logistical nightmares of all retail copies).
That's why we created several prototypes of the Gun Usage feature, tweaked countless variables, and adjusted many aspects after our initial talks with all relevant age rating agencies around the globe. Ultimately, we sent out a version we were really satisfied with – and that met our vision of fun, action, and a sense of danger. While most agencies passed our implementation without any problems, others actually required us to pursue a complete re-rating of the entire game.
Good news, though: We have passed!
Changes on the timeline
As mentioned previously, the next update with version number 19.0 will now be fully focused on Gun Usage. This, of course, means a change in the previously communicated development timeline!
The Mission Update, which was originally intended to be released as Update 19.0 in September, will now be part of Update 20.0 in October. All details about the new missions will be released at a later date.
The new timeline is now also available on Trello.
More details soon!
As we intend to release the Gun Usage Update in September, you can expect to try out the feature as part of our usual Open Beta beforehand. Please expect the Open Beta to be launched in early September.
At that point, we will also reveal more details about the full update, a fixed release date, and additional footage!
Thank you so much for your support – we hope you’re already excited for the next update when it launches this September!
Your Police Simulator Team