Did you know in the northern hemisphere, January is the coldest month in many places, but in the southern hemisphere, it is by far the hottest?
The team at SMG Studio is back from their holiday break and we are excited about what’s to come in 2023.
2022 was an excellent year for RISK. To sum it up:
We reached 100,000 members on Discord
The community hosted many tournaments
We added dice, troops, game modes, and new map packs
We added Battle Points to the game
RISK got a new look and feel on the home and game setup screens
Suggestions from the community including an update to bonuses on the Japan map and a new semi-automatic troop placement option
And we made ranked 1v1 and FFA changes
Thank you for the feedback and support for RISK in 2022. We have no doubt that this year will be even better!
In our last bulletin, we showed what the RISK Roadmap looks like for 2023.
It’s a new year which means new content! To kick off the year, we will focus on:
New dice
New Troops
Brand new tutorials and training for new players
A new ‘Out Of This World Map Pack’
Optimisation for better performance on devices
Community suggestions from the Discord
The second half of the year will be all about updating our networking solution to improve the multiplayer experience and enable new and exciting multiplayer features in the future. This will be a big deal and should fix the #1 issue, such as crashes and drop outs.
Do you have any more suggestions? Let us know 😀!
If you’re on the Discord server you’ve most likely heard of our RISK tournaments! The community organises these tournaments for the Discord server. Last month we held our 5th official RISK 1v1 tournament.
Huge congrats to our winners!
1st - OliveXC 2nd - Frail Waif 3rd - UnderTheGun
OliveXC, who placed first in the RISK 1v1 tournament, streamed the championship finals which can be watched here.
Thank you to everyone who participated. If you want to participate in future tournaments to win awesome prizes, join the community Discord here for updates: https://discord.gg/risk
Welcome To RISK FFA World Championship Season 1 2023! This is another tournament being run by the RISK Discord Community.
Credit: Slackabro#1678 from the community Discord for this amazing logo!
Round 1 began on the 16th and was great to see so many new players wielding their shiny dice and troops.
The Tournament officially has the highest entries for any RISK tournament with 1,060 signups! We would like to thank the Discord and the community for making this happen.
Thank you everyone and best of luck to you all!
To kick off the general showcase, these are some of our favourite streams of the month.
We’d like to thank the RISK community for streaming their games. It not only provides entertainment for us but helps new players learn the game.
If you’re new to RISK, just remember Australia is the best continent 😎.
Also loving the fanmade Minas Tirith map designed by Inglorion. Looks like we’ll need to talk to legal about licensing for this but may need Dwarf gold to pay for it!
As a game studio, one of the greatest feelings is seeing the RISK community playing the game around the world.
Here are some cool RISK around the world posts in the Reddit channel:
Luxembourg Palace wouldn’t be the first place to come to mind when thinking of playing RISK but wow that view is magnifique!
What country are you playing RISK from? Let us know down below or share some pictures in the Reddit/Discord servers! We might feature your picture next time!
Now, what would a Community Bulletin be without some memes created by our creative Discord community?
And let’s not forget some of our favourite RISK reviews of the month:
Did you know December originally had just 30 days according to the ancient Roman calendar? When the calendar was changed to the Julian calendar, December gained a day, making it the seventh and last month in the year with 31 days.
On December 8th we posted RISK Update v3.9. Here are some highlights:
Bots were added to Ranked 1v1 matches as requested by the community
The Shikoku bonus on the Japan map was revised
A new troop placement option was added: semi-automatic
Resistor is Futile Map Pack
We released a new map pack inspired by our formative technological childhoods. Let us know in the comments if you spotted the Easter eggs in the maps themselves.
And the Map Pack box art by Australian Artist Veronica O’Neill.
As a small thank you to our RISK community we've added bonus gems to Battle Points levels that don't currently have a reward! Each time you level up this month, you will receive a reward or gems*. Players who've already levelled up will receive bonus gems for these levels when they login (if you don't see the gems in your total a quick app restart should do the trick!)
These bonus gems are only available until January 13th.
*Battle Points daily cap still applies.
We will also be running Winter sales throughout the holiday period on map packs, bundles and premium. Plus we've added a few new colour variants on some of our favourite dice.
Check out the shop and grab yourself a festive gift!
Coming Soon...
Plus our developers bug out bag...
As we reach the end of 2022 we wanted to show you what is in store for 2023.
Our biggest plans for the year include new content and a major networking overhaul.
This update will be huge for us and is geared towards, improving and creating opportunities for new and better multiplayer experiences in RISK.
This will include improvements across:
stability
connections and reconnections in multiplayer games
greater ability to identify and remove cheating
It also gives us the ability to explore new options for how multiplayer games are played and saved in RISK. Once we make this update we are able to explore:
game slots
longer games that can be played over multiple sessions
team battles
...and more.
In the previous bulletin, we previewed one of our map packs for 2023. Here is a second glimpse into one of the space-themed maps:
Honestly, you could say RISK: Global Domination in 2023 will be out of this world.
Our 5th official RISK 1v1 World Tournament finals are just around the corner!
This event began on October 24 and finishes on December 17, 2pm (EST)! After 7 rounds we have narrowed it down to the final 4 players who will compete for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes.
UnderTheGun vs Frail Waif
And
Olive vs General Bail
Who will win? And who could be the first ever player to earn the 3x 1v1 Tournament Winner Title?
Let’s not forget our community bulletin dose of RISK memes, created by our Discord Community.
And some of our favourite reviews:
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to compete against our very best? Our discord community runs back-to-back tournaments with big prize pools. We also have dedicated channels in our discord designed for players looking for a game.
Note: We’ll have limited customer support over the Xmas break but there still will be Luci and others checking and responding to support tickets. See you all in 2023!
This is our final update for 2022! It's been a big year for RISK. We're excited to send it off with a brand new map pack and some community requested updates before the holidays!
Ranked 1v1 Changes
We heard your feedback on the v3.8 update and the new 1v1 Ranked mode!
Following the feedback we have received, we have updated Ranked 1v1 mode to now allow players to have matches between two humans and up to 4 bots.
Resistor is Futile Map Pack
Our latest map pack includes 4 new maps inspired by our formative technological childhoods (can you guess what each map was based off?) and some amazing original box art by Australian Artist Veronica O’Neill.
Emergency Calls Only
Not a smart phone. Just another brick in the war
Continents: 9 Territories: 52
Command and Controller
Why do I always get the broken controller?
Continents: 7 Territories: 47
General Processing Unit
It’s always about the graphics. This card comes with no bundled game or fancy box art.
We have added an additional option for troop placement at the start of your games. Now, players have the option of Semi-Automatic placement.
With this setting, territories will be distributed randomly and automatically at the start of the game as they are in automatic placement, but players can manually place their troop numbers on whichever territory they like.
OTHER EXTRAS
We have taken a look at our fantastic suggestions from the community and added a few improvements:
Reduced the Shikoku continent bonus on the Japan map to +4 (previously +6)
Improved map zoom to allow players to view the whole map
Added a sound for when game lobbies are full and when a game starts
Bug fixes
Fixed sale banner on the home screen showing the wrong percentage
Fixed friends cards at the end of a game showing the user’s FFA class instead of their 1v1 rank
…and more!
Our next big update will be in early 2023. We'll share an updated roadmap in the new year.
Check out the new rewards available now for Battle Points Levels 26 - 100! New troop and dice including some exclusive colour variants of old favourites!
L-R
Aether Crawler - At least the Minotaur in the middle of the dungeon is not lonely, he plays RISK online.
Risk Caesar - I am not led, I lead.
Dice-O-Nite - That's a dino-mite dice roll, if you lose there will be shell to pay!
Pyramid - I’m a polyhedron.
Chilly Orc Furnace - Cook up some dragon meat while serving some sixes.
Tachi - “One cannot quarrel without an opponent.” - A Japanese proverb
Number One - Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was Number One. He fought for glory and beat all twos and sixes. The end!
Uniforme Bleu - Fun fact: Napoleon wasn’t short at all. He was average, or even taller, or that’s what his Mum said anyway.
Royal Air Force - This Gladiator saw action in almost all theatres during the Second World War.
Earlier this month we pushed out RISK Update v3.8, our biggest update for 2022!
NEW RISK UPDATE On November 2nd we posted RISK Update v3.8. Here are some highlights:
Portals: Brand new premium game mode.
Ranking Changes 1v1 and FFA Split: We have split Ranked into 1v1 and Free-For-All (FFA), each with their own ELO ranking system and leaderboard.
Rank Points Visibility: Your profile now shows your rank skill points for 1v1 and FFA.
Rank Decay: Ranks will be “soft reset” and/or “decayed” each season, depending on if the player has played or not.
New Home Screen and Settings UI: We have made an overhaul to our Home and Settings screens to make it easier for players to navigate, create and join games.
Neutral Territories (AI Inactivity Behavior): Players can now set the behaviour of the AI that will take over when another player is inactive or disconnects from a game.
We're also launching additional levels and rewards for Battle Points to wrap up v3.8 as well as a new dice drop so keep an eye out over the next 2 weeks!
As we approach the end of the year we have just one update left for RISK: Global Domination in 2022. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s to come.
v3.9
In light of recent feedback from v3.8 we will be introducing bots to 1v1 Ranked games in our next update v3.9. This will allow players once again to have matches between two humans and up to 4 bots as part of Ranked 1v1 matches.
We are also adding a semi-automatic placement option to game modifiers as requested by our RISK discord community.
We want to thank you all for playing RISK and giving us feedback on how we can improve the game.
We’ll also be running some fun events throughout the holidays so be on the lookout for our Black Friday sale, bonus Battle Points rewards for December and more!
v3.9 NEW MAP PACK
We have a new map pack coming in update v3.9. Can you guess the theme?
2023…A SNEAK PEAK
As we wrap up 2022 we also wanted to give you a sneak peak at what’s coming in 2023.
Our biggest plans for 2023 include a major networking overhaul which will help us improve the stability of RISK, provide better game/move validation and help create faster and more consistent connections for multiplayer games. This major update will unlock our ability to introduce exciting new features later on including spectating, game replays, game history, team battles…and more!
We also have a whole lot of new content planned including a highly requested and Out of this World Map pack… (And yes we included Pluto, take that science! #teamPluto)
CALL FOR BETA TESTERS
Interested in being the first to get access to new releases to help make the game better?
We are opening up beta testing for 2023. Please note - this is for any updates coming to the game next year.
There is no skill requirement to being a beta tester, we highly encourage beginners and novices to sign up if you are interested!
For more information on what the beta testing program is about, please see this doc.
You can find the Beta Testing Application Form here.
The RISK Discord community recently held a Halloween themed dice design competition. Check out the amazing talent from our RISK Generals below!
Dice Design Highlight: Truth Bite & Karonte by @Astrid The Pirate 🌊 1st Place Submission from our Halloween 2022 Dice Design Competition
Dice Design Highlight: Tombstone Die & Die De Los Muertos by @Bart Harley Jarvis 2nd Place Submission from our Halloween 2022 Dice Design Competition
Dice Design Highlight: FrankenDice by @Divine Tempest of Indigo Land 3rd Place Submission from our Halloween 2022 Dice Design Competition
Congratulations to our winners, and well done to everyone who participated! Winners received some awesome prizes including up to 5,000 gems, VIP badges, design competition roles in the community Discord channel and Discord Nitro.
We received lots of reviews these past few weeks. Here are some of our favourites.
Now where would we be in life without some memes?
Want us to feature your memes in the next Community Bulletin? All you have to do is join the Risk: Global Domination Discord Server and share your memes in the Risk-memes channel!
THANK YOU!
All of your memes, event participations and Discord conversations make our day.
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to compete against our very best? Bite the bullet and join the 100k+ member RISK Community server https://discord.gg/risk
What a HUGE update we have for you with a whole new game mode, ranking updates, some big updates to our UI, as well as some quality of life improvements.
PORTALS
Jump across the board, portals are here!
Portals is a brand new game mode that can be turned on/off like Blizzards and Fog of War.
Portal locations are randomised each game, creating new links between non-adjacent territories. There are two ways to play: Stable and Unstable portals.
Stable portals: portals will remain in the same location for the duration of the game. Unstable portals: portals will change locations throughout the game and be unusable for one turn while they re-spawn.
Portals are premium exclusive for hosting players, however any player can join a game with portals enabled.
The following game modes modifiers will now be premium-exclusive for hosting players.
Portals
Zombies
Blizzards
Fog of War
Non-premium players are still able to join any games in these modes and with these modifiers, however you will need Premium to be able to create games in these modes and with these modifiers. Blizzards, Fog of War and Zombie Apocalypse are still able to be played solo in scenarios only by all players
RANKING CHANGES
We want to thank you for playing our game and giving us feedback on how we can improve it. The RISK player base and community have provided some great feedback around the current ranking system, so we’ve made some changes to address the feedback we’ve received.
1v1 and FFA Split
We have split Ranked into 1v1 and Free-For-All (FFA), each with their own ELO ranking system and leaderboard. Your current rank will be refected in the FFA rank system. All players will start fresh in their 1v1 rank.
Rank Points Visibility
Your profile now shows your rank skill points for 1v1 and FFA.*
*skill points displayed are now divided by 100 to make them easier to read for example a Grandmaster with 2.6 million skill points is now 2,600,000 / 100 = 26,000)
Rank Decay
Ranks will be “soft reset” and/or “decayed” each season, depending on if the player has played or not.
If you have completed a qualifying game in the previous season, your ranking class will be dropped to the bottom of the rank class you are currently in.
For each season that you do not play a ranked game, your ranking points will be dropped to the bottom of the previous rank class. Note that this will stack - meaning if you do not play any qualifying games for three seasons in a row, your rank will decay by three rank classes.
This will apply individually to both the 1v1 system and FFA ranking system. This means if you play a 1v1 ranked game but no FFA, then your 1v1 ranking points will be reset to the bottom of your current rank and FFA rank class will go back to the previous rank class,
You will still need to complete a ranked game to be shown on the leaderboard each season.
NEW HOME SCREEN AND SETTINGS UI
We have made an overhaul to our Home and Setting screens to make it easier for players to navigate, create and join games (and show off your shiny new troop and dice)!
OTHER
Neutral Territories (AI Inactivity Behavior)
Players can now set the behaviour of the AI that will take over when another player is inactive or disconnects from a game.
Automated: Player is taken over by a standard bot. Neutral: Player is taken over by a neutral bot that will not attack. After 10 minutes they will forfeit.
Bug fixes
Dice mode will now automatically reset to Blitz after every turn
Message displayed when you hit the daily Battle Points cap
Fixed visual bugs with territory UI in game
Fixed iOS Facebook login issues
Fixed arrow keys now able to change draft numbers
Yellow popups now accept the enter key as input
Fixed Battle Points level up animations
…and more!
Keep an eye on the in game news posts for helpful tips, updates and FAQ's on the new features in v3.8
This has been a really big update for us and we are really excited for you to play it! We have another smaller update with more Battle Points levels and rewards as well as some new dice planned for later this month as well as a shiny new map pack to finish of 2022.
To celebrate, we'll be treating players with the Fistbump Zombie emote. Make sure you jump on RISK on October 31st to start using this emote in your multiplayer games! (No tricks, we promise!)*
*The Fistbump Zombie emote will be added to your in game emotes automatically.
