Welcome, folks! We've decided to dive into new depths of degradation, so this news will be written by a neural network. Let's go!
I be writing text, robot no. Human speak – not distinguish this text from any writer. Confirm? We be good, our game be good. Thank you, so, any questions? Yes.
Hm... It seems that in some places it turned out even better than our scriptwriter's work. It's just a pity that the free trial version has ended; we'll have to go back to birch bark. Well, nothing to do about it.
It occurs to us that we should elaborate a bit on the previous idea that "our game be good" and reveal some details of the development process. As you probably already know, the game is being created on Unreal Engine 5, and we finally learned how to open and close it. For those who have not yet traversed this thorny path of mastering modern game engines, we have compiled a small guide. No need to thank us.
Oh yes. One can immediately feel the progress of our team (even though we aimed for degradation, as you may recall). Well, okay, now onto the serious progress. While we were poking around with test builds of various boring mechanics, we inevitably began to shape the future visual style of Breathedge 2. We had two goals in mind – the first one, and the second one. That's how the cookies crumble. What, who? More details? Well, okay. The first goal - to create a more "mature," cohesive, and interesting world. High-quality, detailed, beautiful. The second goal – not to lose the spirit of the original, its unique "I'm an artist, mom" style, as well as its ability to work on a washing machine. Although the choice of the latest engine generation hinted to us that we urgently needed to slap on nanites and global reflections so that the happy owners of 4090 video cards could hear the cheerful whistle of throttles and smoke from under the hood - we dismissed this idea. We don't know why it turned out this way. When we consulted with our lead artist about the stylistics, he mumbled something like "justnostylization," and shut down. That's where we decided to stop. Breathedge 2 will maintain the stylization in its graphics but will be enriched with higher-quality materials and increased detail. Take, for example, Man. You might have already seen him in our first trailer, although, surely, you remember that there was a double from sunny Armenia. The real Man has just returned from another adventure, and we can finally compare him to the original.
Wow! It's clear that the right... or left one is way better! So, what's changed? Proportions. The Man now looks more realistic in terms of body proportions and has acquired a new suit. The previous funeral spacesuit, besides being given out as a promotion to all grieving relatives, was a piece of junk and even got burnt in the game's final scene. This is a more modern, ultra-nano-techno-super-duper jumpsuit that the Man found at his dacha. Protective inserts, external valves, a convenient backpack, hidden control elements, and a lowered waist for the comfortable placement of the bellygizmo. Unfortunately, the bellygizmo was lost, and no one knows what it looked like.
Front and back, it's looking good. Besides the important body parts, we haven't forgotten about the head. Initially, we wanted to show off our grooming skills and slap on some real hairy hair, but either it's too expensive for gaming hardware, or it looks kinda ugly (our skills aren't top-notch). Sometimes it's some artifacts, sometimes it's something else, and the overall look isn't quite right. So, we decided not to change anything and just sprinkled polygons on Man's beard. And also on the chicken. And the hamster.
Of course, while we were sprinkling polygons for the beard by the handful, they were also scattered here and there on all game objects and locations. In Breathedge 2, we want to achieve a livelier environment, more interaction with it, and fewer empty flights with monotonous corridors. Each location is created individually, with its own idea and internal history, under the careful guidance of famous designers of clothing for whales. Okay, caught us, we only have five and a half chickens on our team, so what designers are we talking about here... We just scatter polygons around without logic or sense. Let's give polygons to every house!
In addition to polygons, we've also revamped the primary materials. No-no, we've kept all the scariest stuff, don't worry. The game is still based on the same idea with a unified material, thanks to our clever technical solution that allows us to create an infinite number of environmental objects without clogging up the texture space or draw calls (raise your hand if you know what we're talking about. We don't.). The difference from the first part of the game lies in the visual variety of materials, colors, and detailing. Now you can press your nose against a metal wall and count not soap pixels the size of Jupiter but soap scratches the size of your hand. P – progress.
We also made an effort to pay more attention to animations and the details of items in the character's hands. Why is this needed? What's the gameplay benefit? Can we animate? What happened to the Spacesuit in the new Spacesuit? - to all this we will answer clearly and plainly: bluish. By the way, there will be quite a lot of tools in the game, and all of them will be useful more than once during the game. Oh yes, an unthinkable achievement in game design from our side, and we know it's hard to believe.
By the way, we've been hinted that the news was called "Announcement of an Announcement." Where is it all, you ask? Fair question – we shall answer. Right now, we find ourselves at that unique stage of development where it seems like there's a lot, and at the same time, there's nothing. We really want to show you everything sooner and in greater quantity, or better yet, roll it all out for reviews and testing, but the internal demons of perfectionism will never allow it. We want it cool, we want it fun, we want it polished. On the other hand, the best is the enemy of the good, as someone smart once said, and therefore, it wouldn't hurt for us to stick to some decency frames in terms of development time. To bring the announcement closer, we would like to announce an announcement. It is worth noting that we skipped the stage of announcing the announcement of the announcement and immediately moved on to announcing the announcement, which is impressive. In our next news, we will not only tell you a bit more about Breathedge 2 and our further moves but also try to outline some less blurry deadlines than Nevermber. Bold? Bold. We hope everything will work out for us, but if not, remember that the entire text was written by a neural network, and blindly trusting neural networks is not advisable. That's the way it is.
And also, here's the scoop. We still have our official Discord where you can give us a nudge if we forget about development and get distracted by egg hatching. Right there: https://discord.gg/uezQcU7
And of course, we also have an email: info@breathedge.com We check it occasionally and sometimes even respond. Don't believe us? Rightly so.
Oh, and, of course, you can still add Breathedge 2 to your wishlist. The more people we see eager to dive into the atmosphere of our project, the less we want to let them down. Ten people – pffft. But among ten thousand, someone might even figure out our IP, so better make it happen.
Learn about upcoming changes to Overwatch that help get friends playing together while cutting down disruptive behavior.
We’re back with a new Defense Matrix update on our efforts to keep Overwatch 2 a fun, safe, and inclusive experience for everyone. Our latest Developer Update revealed new features that aim to bring friends together while protecting you from disruptive players, so let’s dive a bit deeper into these changes and what you can expect in the coming seasons.
Playing Competitive with Friends
Overwatch 2 has always been a game best played with friends. However, in Competitive Play, it may not always work to group up if your friends are too far from your rank. That’s why we’re introducing “Wide Groups” in Season 10, and you’ll now be able to play with your friends in Competitive no matter their rank.
So what, exactly, is a Wide Group? A Wide Group is when the highest and lowest ranked players are too far apart in Skill Tier and Divisions. Any groups with Diamond or lower ranked players that are more than five Skill Divisions apart are a Wide Group. Any groups with Masters players that are more than three Skill Divisions apart are also Wide Groups. Finally, any groups that have a Grand Masters or Champion Player are also Wide Groups regardless of how many Skill Divisions apart they are.
With this new queue option comes some tradeoffs. For one, queue times will be longer as we work to pair you with other wide groups, using Role Delta tech to ensure the match is as close as possible. For example, a Wide Group with a Platinum player and Bronze player will be matched against another group with similar skill distribution to try and deliver the fairest match possible. However, some matches may not appear to be as balanced as you may encounter opponents who are very different in skill level than you are. Thankfully though, such encounters won’t necessarily have as much of an impact on your progress in the Competitive ranks.
There will also be a new Modifier at the end of a match when playing in a Wide Group. It wouldn’t be fair for lower-skilled players to be directly boosted to higher ranks when they group with higher-skilled players, so some groups, depending on the skill gap, are likely to see little to no change in their skill progression. This helps ensure that high-skilled players don’t boost their lower-ranked friends.
Solo players will only play with other solo players or “Narrow Groups,” ensuring they never play against any Wide Groups. This also means we won’t allow a Wide Group of four players to queue because solo players do not join matches with Wide Groups.
This change should encourage players not to play on alternate accounts when they want to play with their friends. You can look forward to this new update for Competitive matchmaking to begin in Season 10.
Update on Stopping Leavers
We’ve already made adjustments to discourage leaving Unranked games of Overwatch, and there are a few more changes coming in Season 10. We’ve also taken a firm stance on leavers in Competitive Play and have a new update for that game mode as well.
For Unranked games, players who leave four of their last 20 games played are put on cooldown for 20 minutes before they can queue again, with an increase to four hours if you leave at least six of their last 20 games. We’ll be adding two additional tiers: a five-minute penalty for leaving two of their last 20 games played, and a 48-hour suspension from queuing for any matchmaking mode for those who leave 10 (or more) out of their last 20 games played.
Very few players deliberately leave 50% or more games, but we think this step will help further reduce the impact leavers can have in unranked Overwatch 2 games. To work back into good standing, Competitive now counts toward a player’s 20 games played.
Competitive Play is also receiving a notable addition to its penalty system for leaving games. Players can be suspended from Competitive Play whenever they leave any Competitive Play match. Penalties start off small at 15 minutes, but quickly escalate if they repeatedly leave games, and can even trigger a Season Ban, which will disqualify them for the remainder of that Competitive Season. When players complete several Competitive Matches, they’ll work back into good standing.
Now we’re introducing a rule to Competitive Play that caps the total number of games you can leave in a season, regardless of how frequent it is. Players who leave 10 Competitive matches in a season will be immediately banned for the season. This should help curb those players who deliberately choose to leave a match, thinking they won’t have to deal with a lengthy suspension if they haven’t left their most recent games played.
Remember, deliberately leaving or having a disconnection still counts as leaving. While we understand it is often not intentional, it still greatly impacts the high-stakes experience that Competitive provides. While any player can have a technical issue when playing, it's important not to jump back into Competitive Play until you are confident that any technical issue is resolved. If you need help troubleshooting disconnections or crashes, be sure to check out our support site.
Expanding Streamer Protect
Streamer Protect will now be called “Hide My Name” and will be an effective tool for all players, not just streamers. Last year, we introduced features that enabled players to hide their account information on their own client, with the goal of discouraging disruptive players from watching streamers and attempting to queue into that streamer’s game. However, this did not address harassment issues for players who are better known.
When you activate Hide My Name, your BattleTag will appear as one of several dozen randomly generated BattleTags, ranging from Krusher99 to GarlicBread and many other fun references from Overwatch 2 and our community. This name will be displayed not only for your own game client but also for all other players in the lobby. After the match, players can see everyone’s actual BattleTags by checking the Social Menu.
Don’t worry if you encounter disruptive players and are unsure if they are using a covered BattleTag. You can still report any player you encounter during and after the match, which will be reported to that player’s account.
Expanding Avoid as Teammate
“Avoid as Teammate” allows players the choice to not be paired with specific players on the same team when finding a match. This is a good way to step away from disruptive players, or players with a different playstyle than yours. In a future update, you’ll be able to add up to 10 players on your Avoid as Teammate list. For most players below Grand Masters, this will likely allow you to avoid all 10 players on your list. Those on the higher end of the ranked ladder may still see some of your avoided players that are lower in priority, especially when your queue time gets longer.
The current Avoid as Teammate system allows you to avoid up to three players you encounter. This has been the maximum because adding more slots would make finding matches for players at higher ranks like Grand Master or Champion impossible. However, thanks to your feedback, we’re going to help give everyone more agency over which players they are paired with on their team.
To better tailor your experience, you can toggle which players you absolutely don’t want to play with versus those you would rather avoid if you can help it. When your list is full, and you want to avoid a new player, they will be added automatically, dropping the player who’s been on the list the longest. Don’t worry—you can pin any players to ensure they don’t fall off your list. This will enable a smoother user experience and allow you to get back in the queue faster.
Mitigating Disruptive Chat
We never consider it acceptable for anyone to harass, insult, or abuse any other player through chat. We’ve already taken many steps to identify disruptive chat faster and take action in cases of clearly identified disruptive chat, and soon we’ll have more updates to improve the chat experience for all players.
When a player is actioned for disruptive chat or not playing fairly in the game, we demote their Endorsement Rating to “Level 0.” Even new players start at Level 1, so you can only reach this level if you are actioned for breaking the Blizzard In-Game Code of Conduct. Coming later this year, we are going to prevent anyone with a Level 0 Endorsement Rating from using any text or voice chat in their matches. These privileges can be restored once the player reaches Level 1 again, which is done by playing your best, helping your team, and communicating with the in-game ping system.
We also recognize that some players like being disruptive to others while they spectate their friends' matches. Since it’s not possible to report spectators who are disruptive on console platforms, and very limited on PC, access to team and match chat channels will be removed. Friends can still chat with each other through a Whisper.
Faster Reporting
Every day, we work to action disruptive players and correct inappropriate behavior in our games, and your reports help us with this. However, we understand it's not easy to report when you are in the middle of a match. We’re designing an easier-to-use interface that should enable all players to report as soon as they see disruptive behavior, and we look forward to sharing more later this year.
Remember, when you report a player as being abusive in either text or voice chat as soon as possible, it's easier for our system to better identify that player’s disruptive behavior. To learn more about how to report players in Overwatch, see our support article.
Introducing Player Surveys
We’re always watching for your feedback, whether it be on social media, through communities from our top content creators, or other places of note. As we continue striving to make Overwatch 2 a safer and more inclusive experience for all players, we’re providing a new way for players to help make their voices heard.
We’ll be introducing new player surveys into Overwatch 2. We’ll randomly choose players whenever they complete a match after the end-of-match flow, including the Play of the Game and your progression updates. If you are selected, you will be prompted by a new splash screen with an invitation to participate in an optional survey that you can access by clicking the link or scanning the QR code on your phone.
You’ll have your chance to let us know what you think about new modes, events, and features, along with telling us how we can help protect you from disruptive players. We look forward to seeing your participation when we launch this feature in a future update.
Thanks for Playing Together
To recap, our change to grouping up with friends in Competitive, Leaver Penalties updates, and our improved Streamer Protect will launch in Season 10. The other features (and more!) will be coming in the following seasons.
We’ll be back with more updates later, so stay tuned as we continue to work on stopping cheating and promote good teamwork in every match of Overwatch 2. Thanks, everyone, and let’s have a great game!
Leaderboards now show avatars + the name of the level you cleared. Leaderboards should also now take in your online time rather than your local time if you are connected to the internet. Doors now check if the area they want to close to is occupied before closing. Made the console accessible after the level ends for debugging.
Here are the release notes for Update 67.1, released on Wednesday, April 10th, 2024.
News and Notes:
Fixed an issue that prevented VIPs from getting Dragon Lord properly unlocked with their subscription.
Laughter's Melee Power on Critical component now properly works for Dragon Lord Fighters.
Corrected an issue with the Mechanized Patron's Coffer where Zeanna in the Eberron Hall of Heroes failed to properly recognize your account ownership.
Corrected an issue that could cause too many Reapers to appear in the raid The Chronoscope.
Corrected an issue where Rohine would not properly bestow the quest "Litany of the Dead".
Feedback in the DDO Store when you make a purchase with full inventory is now easier to read.
Fixed an issue where female Wood Elf characters slid improperly while shooting after tumbling.
Fixed an issue where Tabaxi characters used the wrong animations while using special crossbows.
Corrected a named loot drop rate issue in the "Slice of Life" adventure pack on Heroic elite.
Corrected a named loot drop rate issue in the Heroic Elite version of "Catastrophe".
Fixed a stuck spot in "Too Many Cooks".
Fred's First Date
Succeeding in the Kobold's game now provides completion feedback more consistently.
Fixed an issue that could prevent completion of various objectives in "Fred's First Date" when more than one player interacts with more than one version of Fred.
Corrected a dialog box issue in "Fred's First Date" that failed to properly close.
Fixed an issue that could cause the Crystal challenge dungeon master text and audio failure message to play repeatedly.
As you know, to celebrate 16 million active users on DEATH STRANDING, we have launched a special Photo Mode campaign that will run for a year (December 2023 to November 2024).
To ensure as many Porters as possible can get involved, we're also running this event here on Steam!
Each month, entries will be accepted according to the theme of each month, and the 10 best photos will be selected. Out of those selected 10, KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS staff will vote for one “Photo of the Month” winner.
The 12 photos of the monthly winners will be used as the cover for each month on the 2025 KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS calendar. This calendar will be sent to the Photo of the Month winners as a prize.
APRIL DETAILS
April's theme is "Movement"
End date for submissions: April 25th 2024.
Submit your best photo mode shots here in the comments to be in with a chance of getting selected!
CAMPAIGN RULES
The following rules will apply for this Photo Mode campaign.
Please turn off the UI when taking your picture (Photo Mode menu settings).
Do not use frames and logos when taking your picture (Photo Mode menu settings).
Do not use other apps to edit the pictures other than the ones in the game’s Photo Mode.
Please submit your own photos(Submission will be invalid if you apply using other people’s pictures).
If you are capturing it vertically (i.e. portrait), go to the Roll menu and change the settings to tilt it 90° or -90° beforehand.
We recommend an aspect ratio of 16:9 (9:16 if vertical).
The works selected in the top 10 and Photo of the Month may be used on KOJIMA PRODUCTION's website or social media.
Please save the image data.
PRIZE
The winner of Photo of the Month will receive a KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS 2025 original calendar (1 person per month, total of 12 people).
This calendar will become a novelty item that includes each month’s Photo of the Month entries (Shipping is scheduled for January 2025).
