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Here at Tripwire Interactive we're incredibly excited that Red Orchestra 2 won PC Gamer's Multiplayer FPS of the Year. And we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate this than to give away a free content pack for the game to everyone that owns it. So we're very pleased to announce the Red Orchestra 2 Game of the Year Edition featuring an amazing new map, diverse new game modes and a host of new features. The GOTY Edition Free Content Pack will download automatically for everyone who already owns the game - and, so everyone else can try the full game, Red Orchestra 2 will be available completely free to play for everyone on Steam this weekend, starting Thursday 24 May 2012 at 10AM Pacific Time. The content pack will be released before the free weekend starts.

The content pack additions include:
<ul>
<li>"Action" mode - Featuring a crosshair, easier aiming and toned down recoil, reduced damage and open access to a wide range of weaponry Action mode is the perfect first step for players into the world of Red Orchestra.</li>
<li>"Classic" mode blends the gameplay innovations of the new game with the tactical and edgy gameplay of the original giving the fans of the first game exactly what they want.</li>
<li>Mamayev Kurgan - complete new map, featuring both close-quarters battles in trenches and bunkers, as well as longer ranged combat across the famous hill in Stalingrad</li>
<li>Refined and improved gameplay across the board, vehicle improvements, and way better performance and polish. We listened to the community and based on their feedback refined and tweaked almost every major feature in the game!</li>
</ul>

To remind everyone: there is a free weekend coming 24 May! You can grab the game from Steam (<a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/35450/">http://store.steampowered.com/app/35450/</a>) starting at 10 AM Pacific Time this Thursday, so don't forget and tell your friends. The free weekend ends Sunday 27 May so don't miss your chance to try the game for free!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FiqNFuE5HFk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here at Tripwire Interactive we're incredibly excited that Red Orchestra 2 won PC Gamer's Multiplayer FPS of the Year. And we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate this than to give away a free content pack for the game to everyone that owns it. So we're very pleased to announce the Red Orchestra 2 Game of the Year Edition featuring an amazing new map, diverse new game modes and a host of new features. The GOTY Edition Free Content Pack will download automatically for everyone who already owns the game - and, so everyone else can try the full game, Red Orchestra 2 will be available completely free to play for everyone on Steam this weekend, starting Thursday 24 May 2012 at 10AM Pacific Time. The content pack will be released before the free weekend starts.

The content pack additions include:

• "Action" mode - Featuring a crosshair, easier aiming and toned down recoil, reduced damage and open access to a wide range of weaponry Action mode is the perfect first step for players into the world of Red Orchestra.
• "Classic" mode blends the gameplay innovations of the new game with the tactical and edgy gameplay of the original giving the fans of the first game exactly what they want.
• Mamayev Kurgan - complete new map, featuring both close-quarters battles in trenches and bunkers, as well as longer ranged combat across the famous hill in Stalingrad
• Refined and improved gameplay across the board, vehicle improvements, and way better performance and polish. We listened to the community and based on their feedback refined and tweaked almost every major feature in the game!

To remind everyone: there is a free weekend coming 24 May! You can grab the game from Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/app/35450/) starting at 10 AM Pacific Time this Thursday, so don't forget and tell your friends. The free weekend ends Sunday 27 May so don't miss your chance to try the game for free!

RO 2 owners will now find that they have the ability to opt into a Red Orchestra 2 beta (they can do this by right clicking on the game in Steam, choosing the properties option and then the beta tab to find the opt in drop down). This beta will replace the current live build of the game (not the separate Red Orchestra 2 Beta).

<a href="http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=78964">Follow this link to find a brief overview of what is in the beta.</a>

This is not the final build, but is a near release candidate. We will be monitoring it over the weekend for any major issues that arise. Have fun, and a great weekend!

RO 2 owners will now find that they have the ability to opt into a Red Orchestra 2 beta (they can do this by right clicking on the game in Steam, choosing the properties option and then the beta tab to find the opt in drop down). This beta will replace the current live build of the game (not the separate Red Orchestra 2 Beta).

Follow this link to find a brief overview of what is in the beta.

This is not the final build, but is a near release candidate. We will be monitoring it over the weekend for any major issues that arise. Have fun, and a great weekend!

Here we are, 5 days after the initial unveiling of the Killing Floor Gold packaging and the introduction of Female Characters to the game. Much has been said in this short period of time, and we have been listening. But first, lets look at the history of these characters.

Downloadable character packs started as an experiment for Killing Floor. When we created them we had no idea they would become the runaway hit that they have. But to this day, we as a company have looked at them and treated them as extra completely unnecessary content, not gameplay content. These were items players could obtain at a minimal extra cost to help them stand out (or just support further KF development) for a minimal additional cost. Being as they are still something fairly new to us, we have experimented with them even further since their release. Our commitment to keep updating Killing Floor with additional content for free remains unchanged.

Over time we have seen the community pick and choose their favorite characters, and ask for even more. There have also been those who have gone out of their way to obtain every available character, such as the exclusive The Ball character who was available as a pre-order only bonus. This was a reward for those who took a leap of faith on The Ball sight unseen. We made a promise to those who did pre-order that it would be theirs and theirs alone. We have stood by that promise. For Red Orchestra 2, we again introduced exclusive characters for those that obtained the digital deluxe edition (not making it time limited based on feedback from the The Ball character), and even allowed the ability to upgrade your version to DD after purchase.

Which leads us to where we stand today. Thanks to Iceberg Interactive, our European distribution partner, we were able to go ahead and create both the tech and voices required. As such, they have an exclusive on the very first character, so that they can recoup the costs through their retail outlets. We can then use all of that tech moving forward to introduce additional female characters for the community as DLC and/or as unlockables during special events.

But both we and Iceberg have heard the community's request on Ash. We weren't expecting such a surge of interest from the existing player base, so, Iceberg have offered to let us release her as DLC, after their retailers have had a short period of exclusivity. This way, the Gold Edition is a good deal for those who don't yet have the game - and retailers get a limited-time exclusive. We'll release her as DLC in August at $4.99 (base US price) for the special character plus the voicepack. And, for good measure, we'll donate 20% of the proceeds to charity as a bit of a penance for not realizing quite how much extra characters matter to people!

Here we are, 5 days after the initial unveiling of the Killing Floor Gold packaging and the introduction of Female Characters to the game. Much has been said in this short period of time, and we have been listening. But first, lets look at the history of these characters.

Downloadable character packs started as an experiment for Killing Floor. When we created them we had no idea they would become the runaway hit that they have. But to this day, we as a company have looked at them and treated them as extra completely unnecessary content, not gameplay content. These were items players could obtain at a minimal extra cost to help them stand out (or just support further KF development) for a minimal additional cost. Being as they are still something fairly new to us, we have experimented with them even further since their release. Our commitment to keep updating Killing Floor with additional content for free remains unchanged.

Over time we have seen the community pick and choose their favorite characters, and ask for even more. There have also been those who have gone out of their way to obtain every available character, such as the exclusive The Ball character who was available as a pre-order only bonus. This was a reward for those who took a leap of faith on The Ball sight unseen. We made a promise to those who did pre-order that it would be theirs and theirs alone. We have stood by that promise. For Red Orchestra 2, we again introduced exclusive characters for those that obtained the digital deluxe edition (not making it time limited based on feedback from the The Ball character), and even allowed the ability to upgrade your version to DD after purchase.

Which leads us to where we stand today. Thanks to Iceberg Interactive, our European distribution partner, we were able to go ahead and create both the tech and voices required. As such, they have an exclusive on the very first character, so that they can recoup the costs through their retail outlets. We can then use all of that tech moving forward to introduce additional female characters for the community as DLC and/or as unlockables during special events.

But both we and Iceberg have heard the community's request on Ash. We weren't expecting such a surge of interest from the existing player base, so, Iceberg have offered to let us release her as DLC, after their retailers have had a short period of exclusivity. This way, the Gold Edition is a good deal for those who don't yet have the game - and retailers get a limited-time exclusive. We'll release her as DLC in August at $4.99 (base US price) for the special character plus the voicepack. And, for good measure, we'll donate 20% of the proceeds to charity as a bit of a penance for not realizing quite how much extra characters matter to people!

Well, here is a reason to give big thanks to Iceberg Interactive over in Europe. We’ve talked about special editions. we’ve talked about adding playable female characters – and we’ve talked about new voicepacks. So, with over 1 million units sold and some assistance from Iceberg, we now have… a Killing Floor Gold Boxed Edition, with an exclusive FEMALE playable character, along with voice work in English, French and German for her. Their full news post is on their website – <a href="http://www.iceberg-interactive.com/news-mainmenu-33/1-latest/486--killing-floor-gold-edition-to-arrive-june-1st-2012.html">click HERE</a> . The new edition can also be pre-ordered (for shipment to Europe) on their site. We’ll have imports of the box up on the Tripwire Interactive web store shortly, for shipping to North America. Shipments will be sent out, starting on 1 June 2012.

EDIT: Just to make the thanks to Iceberg quite clear - they all love the game so much that they actually commissioned the work to get a female character in game. They did all the voice work - we did some script tweaks and plugged the pieces together. So they get the exclusive box as a thanks. And now, we have the tech in place for us to produce female DLC for the rest of our lives

And, so everyone understands, the box comes with:
<ul>
<li>Killing Floor</li>
<li>The 6 current DLC packs</li>
<li>1 exclusive female playable character, with female voice packs in English, French and German</li>
</ul>

This will be the ONLY way to get that female playable character. For those who already own the game and/or any of the existing DLC, all of those will show up as tradeable/giftable items in your Steam inventory for you to swap with friends or even just give away!