A new beginning for MercurySteam's Online Shooter.

Independent development studio MercurySteam today revealed ground-breaking changes to their self-published shooter-brawler game. From August 23rd, Raiders of the Broken Planet is reborn as Spacelords, and becomes a totally Free to Play gaming experience.

These changes coincide with the launch of the much awaited fourth campaign, Council Apocalypse, completing the first arc of Spacelords’ epic storyline. Council Apocalypse includes four new unique missions and a new recruitable character, the cold and calculating Valeria, all of which will now be completely free.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRT_tRSTqJY
“When we launched Raiders September last year, we hoped its low price point of 9.99 per campaign- would open it up to a large number of users, but it didn’t work as we planned” commented Enric Álvarez, Spacelords Director. “Our vision is to see our game enjoyed by millions of users for years to come and putting all of the game's rich content into their hands for free is the way to realize it. We’ve answered our community and hope this removal of any payment barriers will build our devoted community further”



Spacelords is not just an update to Raiders of the Broken Planet; it is a new game built on the back of Raiders. The differences in all aspects go so deep, that the best way to communicate them to players is by re-branding and inviting everyone to experience the new Spacelords by themselves this 23rd of August. Newcomers will find a huge, new Sci-Fi universe to get immersed into, while Raiders’ veterans will see their calls answered.

On the Spacelords brand, “we felt that ‘Raiders’ only focused on one specific side of the battle for the Broken Planet: The Raiders,” adds Álvarez. “But this is about the Aleph, a mythical substance from the Broken Planet, a substance everybody wants -the Raiders, the Antagonists, each of the invading human factions…- All of them know that whoever controls the Aleph, will dominate the universe as the ultimate Spacelord. So, the new brand is not going to change the game lore at all, quite the contrary. Spacelords comes to embrace all of them -Raiders and Antagonists- under one umbrella.



MercurySteam is committed to reward those players who have previously purchased one or more campaigns with exclusive, top-quality game content that won’t be available to anyone else. The studio will announce the exact nature of these rewards in the coming days.

And for those players who cannot wait until Spacelords become a Free to Play Game, two of Raiders of the Broken Planet’s most popular game features, designed with players who haven’t purchased a campaign in mind will dramatically change. From today, the free Mission of the Week becomes the Mission of the Day, accessible to all players. Similarly, the Gold price necessary for renting individual missions has been reduced significantly.



Be witness to how a game is reborn on August 23rd, when Raiders of the Broken Planet becomes Spacelords, a new and exciting Free to Play gaming experience.

A new weapon and a new skin for the most misterious Raider!



H.I.V.E. "Destiny’s Bride" Skin.
There is a book that lies among the ruins of Uddas Nassar, resting on top of a devotional altar, in a chamber buried over half a kilometre deep. This book has remained unread for over one thousand generations, and the last being able to read the tongue it is written in perished aeons ago. If the current inhabitants of the Broken Planet, natives and invaders alike, could read this book’s opening verses, they would shiver in fear and foreboding.

https://youtu.be/gLdYCkiQ5-I
“The Destiny’s Bride lies over the consecrated stone. The Nir'g-thäs holding the sacred jar extract the Old Queen and place her in the Bride’s mouth. The rest of the blessed children crawl over the vessel’s body and make their own way in through her bleeding pores.

The Bride screams in simultaneous pain and pleasure. Her skin has turned the unhealthy shade of alabaster. The Bride is reborn, and her offspring obey her will. The supplicant Nir'g-thäs now serve as her first nourishment. The New Queen walks again.

H.I.V.E. “Shy” Weapon.



“My little shy ones”. That’s how H.I.V.E. lovingly describes a very particular strain of her children, that rarely see the light of day. Instead of behaving as individuals, they act as a single focussed mind that is able to react to external threats generating an acute electric field. Proud of her offspring’s adaptative abilities, H.I.V.E. decided to attach a small strain of her shy ones in one weapon.

A look into the past of the sneakiest Raider.

Before accidentally arriving to the Broken Planet after sneaking into the Hades Division “Espanto” troop carrier ship, Mikah earned a living as a mechanic in the SELENE MECHANICS workshop, based on Earth’s Moon.

The workshop specialized in acquiring hard to find components for its clientele, usually without permission from their previous owners. Space yachts, combat spaceships, mercenary bases… none of them were off-limits for Mikah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRVHs9yuCRE
This was an easy contract, really: components for the workshop and money for her. But Mikah couldn’t resist when she found an old combat suit with an “Echo” holographic prototype in the Hades Division warehouse. It would be worth a little fortune for the workshop, but Mikah thought it would look better on her than on a spaceship.



Mikah’s F-5 "Barrier” assault rifle is built with parts obtained in the SELENE MECHANICS Workshop, where Mikah worked before leaving the Sol System. Using her expertise, she managed to miniaturize and connect a malfunctioning spaceship force field generator to the weapon. The generator was too weak to be used on a vehicle, but it was more than enough for personal protection.

To activate the force field at will, Mikah installed a little switch inside the magazine well. This way, when she ejects a not yet fully empty magazine, the remaining bullets would hit the switch on their way out, activating the shield.

You can obtain the F-5 "Barrier” Blueprint in the Double Agent Mission.

This is a small bug-fixing patch, but also puts into motion one of the necessary steps to prepare for the next campaign release; we're ending the invitation system as we know it.

BUG FIXES
- Fixed a bug where the "Adipocytes" and "Spurs" HIVE talents were crashing the game if the player had 5 Aleph charges when using them.
- Fixed a bug that made Antagonists not able to respawn in some situations.
- Fixed a bug where Alicia's "Rock&Roll" could sometimes damage the main target three times.
- Fixed a bug where Iune's "Wisdom" could damage the main target twice.
- Fixed a bug where "Selective Breeding" achievement didn't unlock correctly.

INVITATIONS
One of the preparations we need to make before the release of the new campaign is the extinction on the current invitation system. As of the release of this patch, players will not gain new invitations any more. Everyone will retain the invitations they currently have and be able to use them until the next campaign arrives -we strongly recommend you use them to obtain extra Gold and Mercury Points!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxRXXF1qFKg

Rak Mayura is Available Today for Use in All Raiders of the Broken Planet Campaigns.

A new playable character is joining Raiders of the Broken Planet, the galaxy’s most renowned hunter Rak Mayura. This new Raider belongs to the Umbra Wardogs faction and is the last character to be released as part of Raiders of the Broken Planet´s third campaign, Hades Betrayal. Rak can be recruited by all players, irrespective of which campaign they own.



Rak Mayura’s is the most feared hunter in the galaxy. Rak has been surrounded by mortal danger all his life. Single-handedly, he has hunted the deadliest monsters in the galaxy, and enjoys raising his own breed of lethal creatures to aid him in those hunts - he affectionately calls them his “Pishachas”, Inspired by folklore from his Hindu roots.



Now he and his Pishachas are facing a new challenge on the other side of the galaxy. Lured by the promise of new hunting grounds, Rak joined the Umbra Wardogs expedition as a tracker of Aleph deposits. Shortly after the catastrophic arrival of the Terran fleet, Rak broke up his contract with General Marmalade’s outfit after a famous incident involving one of his Pishachas blowing up a full Wardog detachment into oblivion.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy5vE16neo0
Since that day, Rak Mayura has traveled the Broken Planet from end to end, seeking the largest predators the planet has to offer. Nobody knows what Harec offered the infamous huntsman in exchange for joining the Raiders, but the promise of hunting the most fearsome prey on the planet - his former Terran compatriots - surely appealed to Rak Mayura no end.

A mind as bright as it is deranged. Dr. Pavel Kuzmann is the villain we all love to hate. Formerly the Fifth Council lead geneticist, he ultimately ended up joining the Raiders after his ill-fated attempt to kidnap Shae.



Learn more about this villain turned, well, slightly less villainy in the Raiders of the Broken Planet website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbZqLn-omhs

Iune is Raiders of the Broken Planet resident healer. Besides her immense Aleph-infused powers, her grasp to reality seems to be a bit tenuous at times. Thus, the other Raiders didn’t raise an eyebrow when she appeared one day wearing what it seemed to be a dead fish’s skin.

But it all made perfect sense for Iune. Being a kind (if confused) soul as she is, Iune wanted once to help a vaasi -a flying fish native to the Broken Planet- to find its mate. The fact that the fish had been dead for quite some time didn’t seem to trouble Iune that much, and thus she carried its remains with her everywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpFjSgX-kWA
After a while, Iune forgot why she was wearing a dead fish’s skin over her head, but by that time she had grown used to it and decided to further embellish it with some Anhuari trinkets. Some days later, when the stink was hard to ignore anymore, Iune realized she should probably wash it. Iune’s Vaasi Suit skin is now available for 1.200 Mercury Points.

Along with the Vaasi Suit skin, Iune now has access to a new carbine, the H1 “Wisdom”. When Iune became skilled enough to become an Emnu Nadi, her mastery over the Aleph was beyond any other being’s. It was then when Iune realized she could imbue her weapons with her inner energy; She commanded, and the Aleph obeyed. Iune could now focus her own conscience into the bullets shot by her H1 “Wisdom” carbine, willing them to explode when they found their way into her enemies’ heads.

The H1 “Wisdom” carbine’s blueprint can be obtained in the The Enemy Within mission from the Alien Myths campaign.

Iune is the Raiders' resident healer, but there is much more to this character than meets the eye!

The Raiders of the Broken Planet design team discuss the creative process behind Iune, and tease new content for this character.

Find out more in the Raiders of the Broken Planet website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvzTpnwoo5o