Hi travelers,

We have an announcement to go with your morning tea:



Reading the tea leaves, it has become clear that Wanderstop needs a tiny bit more time to fully bloom.

As a result, we've decided to push the release date to Early 2025. We truly appreciate your understanding, and be assured we'll have more news for you before the end of the year!

Sincerely,

The Ivy Road Team

Its colossal body still smolders in the background, but your eyes are fixed on something far more enticing—the dragon’s legendary hoard.

Mountains of glittering gold, priceless jewels, enchanted artifacts… it’s all here, piled high as far as the eye can see.

Yet, as a seasoned adventurer, you know that wealth is only part of the reward.

True victory lies in claiming the rarest treasures and earning titles that bards will sing of for centuries.

Welcome to Split the Hoard, an immersive, fast-paced card game for 2-5 adventurers. In just 20 minutes, you’ll be engaged in an intense game of strategy as you try to outwit and outmaneuver your fellow adventurers.

It’s not just about grabbing gold, but making sure what you walk away with is more valuable, more legendary, and more powerful than anything anyone else can lay claim to.



The mighty dragon has been vanquished, but your journey isn’t over. Standing amidst a vast cavern filled with untold riches, you and your companions face one final challenge: who gets what?

Bruised and battered from the fight, you know you can't linger long. An army of scavengers is on the way, eager to take the hoard for themselves.

Every second counts as you sift through piles of treasures, desperately searching for the items that will make your legacy unforgettable.

Will you claim the treasures that align with your secret agendas?

Will your haul win you the most glorious titles, or will someone else walk away with the honor that could have been yours?


Split the Hoard is played over a series of strategic rounds. Each round involves three key phases:

1. Reveal – Search the dragon’s hoard for new treasures. Players draw treasure cards, unveiling priceless artifacts, gold, and special items that could help secure their legacy.

2. Negotiate – This is where things get interesting. Players take turns negotiating deals, stealing from each other, or cutting temporary alliances to secure the most valuable loot. Bluffing, trading, and making deals are key to getting what you need—and preventing others from doing the same.

3. Claim – Add the treasures you've successfully claimed to your haul. But be careful: the treasures you add now could make you a target in the next round.



The game ends when the treasure is empty - when there is nothing left to take.

But the real test comes during the final scoring. It’s not enough to simply collect gold.

Players score points based on the treasures they’ve acquired, their secret agendas, and the impressive titles they’ve won throughout the game.

Public titles are awarded for achieving visible objectives, like collecting sets of certain treasures.

But hidden personal titles are where the real strategy lies, offering unique bonuses if you can fulfill your secret goals.

• Hidden Agendas: Each adventurer has secret objectives that guide their strategy. Will you focus on gathering artifacts, amassing gold, or securing magical items? Only you know—and that keeps everyone else guessing.
  
  
• Negotiation and Bluffing: The game’s heart lies in its negotiation mechanics. Will you make a deal to share treasures, or will you bluff and backstab your way to victory? The choice is yours, but beware: betrayals have consequences!
  
  
• Set Collection and Victory Points: Gathering treasures isn’t just about wealth; it’s about assembling the right combinations of loot to maximize your score. Whether you’re collecting rare magical items or piling up gold coins, every decision impacts your final points.
  
  
• Fast-Paced Rounds: Each round is quick but packed with strategic depth. Players must think on their feet, react to shifting alliances, and make tough choices in a limited time frame.

As the game reaches its climax, the pressure mounts. The treasure dwindles, and every decision feels more critical than the last.

Do you secure that last rare artifact for yourself or sabotage your rival's plans?

Do you reveal your full hand of treasures, or keep some cards close to your chest for a surprise victory?

When the last card is drawn, it’s time to see who truly made the most of their opportunity. Points are tallied from your collected treasures, public titles, and secret agendas.

The adventurer with the highest score claims not only the hoard but also eternal glory.

• Quick and Exciting: A full game lasts just 20 minutes, making it perfect for game night or quick sessions between other adventures.
  
  
• Endless Replayability: With different adventurers, secret agendas, and treasures in each game, no two rounds of Split the Hoard are ever the same. You’ll keep coming back, discovering new strategies and ways to outwit your friends.
  
  
• Interactive Gameplay: This isn’t a game where you sit back and watch others play. Every turn involves active participation—negotiating deals, forming alliances, and making big plays to control the outcome.

If you enjoy games that involve strategy, bluffing, and negotiation, Split the Hoard is for you.

Fans of fantasy, treasure hunting, and classic adventuring tropes will especially love the game’s theme.

But even if you’re new to fantasy games, the fast-paced, engaging mechanics of Split the Hoard will quickly draw you in.

Whether you’re playing with friends or family, the interactive nature of the game makes every round an adventure.



At EN Publishing, we’ve mastered the art of delivering rewards fast and reliably. With over 40 successful Kickstarters under our belt, we’ve earned the trust of our backers, and we’re ready to exceed your expectations again.

Why wait when you can start playing right away? The moment our campaign ends, you’ll get immediate access to your digital rewards—printable files and game materials—delivered straight to your inbox. No delays, no waiting. Just pure, instant fun!

Plus, all backers enjoy free, exclusive access to online board game simulations. You’ll be able to dive into the game before the ink even dries on the printed copies.

Don’t miss out! Join our campaign, back us today, and be the first to experience the excitement.

The adventure starts now—let’s play



In Split the Hoard, every decision matters.

Wealth, power, and glory are within your reach, but only if you play your cards right.

Gather your friends, shuffle your deck, and prepare for an adventure unlike any other.

It’s time to divide the treasure—and the race for riches has just begun!

• Doubled the overall game content.
  
• Added new enemies and a boss.
  
• Added some sound effects and background music.
  
• Volume control feature added to the settings.
  
• You can now skip the intro screen by clicking the mouse.

• Reduced the number of rune purchase options by half.
  
• Fixed a bug where the game would freeze when recruiting characters.
  
• Fixed a bug where the game would freeze if an enemy died during its action.

• Added experimental servers in Frankfurt for better coverage in Europe (We’ll evaluate how often the server is used, and whether it is performing up to our standards before considering this a permanent addition to our region map.)
  
• Added additional fallback functionality to our region detection
  (This should allow you to see more applicable servers if your networking setup is blocking specific ports and connections.)

• Slightly increased the maximum time to find a fair match given (We constantly adjust these values, but felt it was important to call out the intentional increase given smaller player population)

• Skyway – Removed the ability to shoot through the concrete wall from B Site 'Drop' toward Attacker spawn
  
• Mill – Re-added missing decals in spawn areas (These were accidentally removed in a prior patch)

• Performance optimizations to improve framerate stability
  (Further performance improvements to Duality & Puck Throw visual effects)
  (Improved optimization of Bloom’s Hex Barrier visual effects)
  (Improved optimization of ZEUS’s explosion visual effects)
  
  
• The standard ‘device destruction’ visual effect for equipment like Morrgen’s Hidden Grasp & Ryker’s Arc Sentry is now less opaque, making it easier to fight through
  
• Improved localization and translations
  
• Minor network optimizations that should improve network performance for players on WiFi

• Guns should no longer flicker above other players’ head when they deploy the Muu Dazzler
  
• Fixed an issue where the Alchemist weapon set’s liquid chambers had inconsistent physics in the Locker Room
  
• Fixed a few rare crashes
  

Fixed FMV sequence timing
Added some sound/art
Fixed a major crash during one of the flashback sequences

Call of Duty®: Black Ops 6 continues the mind-bending narrative events of the Black Ops universe with a new Campaign set in the early 1990s. In this spy action thriller, players will encounter a cast of new and returning characters in blockbuster set pieces and action-packed moments, high-stakes heists, and cloak-and-dagger spy activity.



To prepare for the October 25 launch of Black Ops 6, we’re taking a deeper look at the major characters and story beats in the Black Ops series. In this first of a two-part blog, we start from the beginning with a recap of the original Call of Duty: Black Ops plus important narrative from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Part 2 sets the stage for the Black Ops 6 Campaign and provides info on Campaign challenges, as well as the rewards that can be used in Multiplayer and Zombies.

For now, let’s turn the clock back more than 60 years, to the clandestine events of the early 1960s…


The covert world of Black Ops began in 1961 with the opening of Call of Duty: Black Ops. Sgt. Frank Woods, Alex Mason, and Joseph Bowman are conducting “Operation 40” during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, whereby the United States supported Cuban exiles in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro and his communist regime. Operation 40 is off the books, its goal being the assassination of Castro in his home during the confusion of the invasion’s opening salvos.

The mission is successful – or so they think – until it’s discovered that their target was a body double. While attempting to escape, Alex Mason is captured and delivered into the hands of the Russians (specifically, Soviet General Nikita Dragovich and Colonel Lev Kravchenko) by the real Castro. Mason is imprisoned in Vorkuta, a Russian gulag, where he meets Viktor Reznov, a Russian captain who players first met in Call of Duty: World at War.


During Mason’s enforced captivity in Vorkuta, German scientist Friedrich Steiner, under orders from Dragovich, begins to brainwash Mason via the Numbers Program. The intent is to turn Mason into a sleeper agent who, upon receiving a number code, will “awaken” and complete the mission he’s been brainwashed to perform: assassinate President John F. Kennedy.

Reznov, however, has his own vendetta against Dragovich, Kravchenko, and Steiner, who betrayed him following the Battle of Berlin. To get revenge against these three men, Reznov also brainwashes Mason during their imprisonment with orders to hunt down and eliminate the trio.


Reznov and Mason instigate a prison break to get out of Vorkuta, rallying the prisoners to overwhelm the gulag’s defenses. On their way out, Reznov and Mason are separated.

Upon Mason’s return, Kennedy authorizes a mission to kill Dragovich, who has conspired with Kravchenko and Friedrich Steiner to weaponize a chemical agent known as Nova 6 for use against the United States. In this critical scene, Mason resists violent urges against the president, brought on by his brainwashed mind.


Following Kennedy’s orders, Mason, Woods, and Bowman pursue Dragovich and Kravchenko in Vietnam. The three are captured and taken to a POW camp; Bowman is KIA. During this scene, Woods is forced to play Russian roulette with a revolver, delivering one of his most iconic lines: “You can’t kill me!”

Mason and Woods break free and hunt down Kravchenko, who corners Mason before Woods stabs him and jumps out a window with him just as Kravchenko pulls the pin on a grenade. Woods survives and is captured and eventually moved to a POW camp in the Vietnamese coastal city of Da Nang.

As the narrative progresses, Mason hallucinates and believes he sees and interacts with Reznov, including during a mission on Rebirth Island where Mason kills Steiner, believing Reznov is the culprit when in fact he alone carries out the assassination. This event leads to CIA handler Jason Hudson interrogating Mason about the Numbers Program.
With Kravchenko presumed dead, Mason deploys to the final mission of the game — “Redemption” — set on the Rusalka, a Russian ship, in the Gulf of Mexico. He must stop a broadcast of the Numbers Program that will activate other sleeper agents embedded inside the United States. At the end of the mission, after shutting down the broadcast in an underwater facility, Mason encounters and drowns Dragovich.


Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War tells the story of a conspiracy decades in the making, culminating in the early 1980s in the heat of the Cold War. The narrative picks up about 13 years after the events of the original Black Ops, featuring Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson joining forces with a new cast of operatives to unravel a global terrorist plot, including the new playable character codenamed “Bell,” who served with one Russell Adler during the Vietnam War.


In 1981, CIA Clandestine Special Officer Russell Adler is sent on a mission with Mason and Woods to target the leader of an Iranian terrorist organization who assisted in the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979. This target is the first to mention Perseus, a Soviet spy and leader of a rogue organization that’s been around since the end of World War II with intentions of dismantling the influence of the Western Powers.

Upon discovering the existence of Perseus, President Ronald Reagan greenlights a mission to hunt down and kill the leader by any means necessary. With this order, Adler assembles a team made up of Helen Park, Lawrence Sims, and Lazar Azoulay.


The team discovers that Perseus has found out about the CIA program Operation Greenlight, in which neutron bombs were placed in major European cities with the intent to self-destruct if the Soviets were to invade and take control. Perseus has acquired one of the bombs and orders a team of scientists to hack its detonation code in order to activate the remaining bombs.

Adler and Bell infiltrate KGB headquarters to try and discover the identities of Russian sleeper agents. On new information, they head to Cuba to raid the Perseus hideout, although Perseus escapes with the detonation codes with the intent to devastate Europe and blame the U.S. for the attack.


To help locate Perseus, Adler begins administering psychedelic drugs to Bell at the safehouse in an attempt to kickstart Bell’s memories of their time in Vietnam together. During the interrogation, it’s revealed that Bell never served with Adler in Vietnam at all. Those memories were in fact implanted to trick Bell into trusting Adler. It’s revealed that Bell was actually the lone survivor of the first mission with connections to Perseus. Now that they need to find Perseus ASAP, Adler attempts to draw out Bell’s true memories to help track down the terrorist leader.
With these original memories resurfaced, Bell leads the team to Perseus headquarters and destroys the detonation code transmitter, thus saving Europe and preventing a major catastrophe. Perseus, however, evades capture.


In the post-launch Black Ops Cold War narrative, new Perseus splinter cells emerge led by Vikhor ‘Stitch’ Kuzmin — who Adler previously captured and tortured by removing his left eye during the CIA’s assault on Rebirth Island in 1968. Stitch has taken up the mantle of Perseus, showing that Perseus is more an idea than a specific person, part of what has given the shadow organization such longevity.

Stitch worked with Steiner to develop Nova 6 on Rebirth Island, and he still knows how to produce the chemical agent and how to brainwash people. Stitch captures and brainwashes Adler in an attempt to flip him to the enemy side, but Hudson and Mason are able to successfully deprogram him after Hudson grows suspicious of Adler’s actions.

The year is 1986. Hudson tells Mason — who has retired from service to raise his son, David — that Woods has been captured during an investigation into a smuggling ring in central Africa. Though reluctant, Alex must save his friend and so leaves David behind to join the rescue operation. This ends up being the last time David sees his father alive.

Mason discovers that Woods has been left for dead in a shipping container on the Cubango River in Angola, Central Africa. Mason finds and saves Woods — the only one of his group to survive — and discovers that Woods had been captured by Raul Menendez, leader of the Menendez Cartel.

After recovering, Woods wants revenge on Menendez and deploys to Afghanistan to help the military in a fight against the Soviets in exchange for intel on the cartel leader’s whereabouts. They also find Black Ops series villain Lev Kravchenko here. Woods kills Kravchenko after learning that Menendez has moles inside the CIA.


The CIA greenlights a mission to capture Menendez in his home in Nicaragua. During the chaos, Woods becomes enraged with Menendez and throws a grenade, accidentally killing Menendez’s sister Josefina in the blast. Menendez and Josefina are declared dead by the CIA, but Woods and Mason harbor some doubts about this.


Fast forward to 1989, and Woods and Mason are in Panama during the American invasion, seeking a target known as Nexus One. Woods ends up seeing Nexus One through a sniper scope, a bag over his head to hide his identity. Over comms, Hudson — who has been captured and forced to relay this false information by Menendez — tells Woods that Nexus One is Raul Menendez and directs Woods to execute him. Woods takes the bait and shoots Nexus One, only to discover that he has been tricked and has executed his friend Alex Mason.

Raul Menendez appears and shoots Woods in the knees, establishing his need for a wheelchair in the 1991 Black Ops 6 timeline. Afterward, Hudson sacrifices himself so that Woods may live. Now, Woods will suffer as Menendez has suffered from the loss of his sister. David, Alex’s son, is also present for his father’s death, joining Woods in the immense suffering the event causes.

Black Ops II also takes place in the future of 2025, though these events occur after the 1991 timeline of Black Ops 6.
Get more insight on three of the major characters returning in the Black Ops 6 Campaign narrative:


Frank Woods ran away from home as a young kid, never to return. He relied on his innate street smarts and survival instincts until enlisting in the Marines. Woods saw action in the Korean War and afterwards became a sergeant in the MACV-SOG during the Vietnam War, then going on to join the CIA’s Special Activities Division. In 1981, he was invited by Russell Adler to join his team on a mission to stop an impending attack by the Soviet agent Perseus.

During a mission gone wrong in Panama, his knees were blown out by Raul Menendez after being tricked into executing his friend, Alex Mason. Grappling with his new life as the world enters a new post-Cold War era, Woods perseveres by overseeing his own black ops team and leveraging his skills, experience, and expertise to train a new generation of warriors.


Russell Adler is a cold, calculating CIA operative called in for the most difficult assignments. His history before joining the CIA in 1966 is known only to a few within Langley. In 1967, he was assigned to the MACV-SOG unit in Vietnam to investigate covert Soviet activity. Adler participated in the clandestine CIA program MK-Ultra, which engaged in illegal experiments involving psychological manipulation.

His deep knowledge of covert tactics, fluency in Russian and German, and mastery of espionage made him a key CIA operative. Framed as a mole after the disaster in Panama where Frank Woods was maimed, Adler fled without a trace. He is now considered a person of interest by the CIA, with a capture or kill order in effect.


Helen Park entered Oxford at age 16. While earning a doctorate in international relations, her older brother was severely injured in an IRA car bomb attack in London, leading her to drop out of the program. She redirected her focus to study the origins and motivations of international para-military organizations, leading her to join the ranks of MI6. At MI6, she collaborated with Adler on a CIA sponsored project, afterwards joining him on an ad hoc black operations team. The interests of MI6 and the Crown always come first for Park.

Though Park and Adler respect each other, their partnership isn’t always pretty. She’s methodical by nature, and at times believes Adler is making snap decisions. The two of them played important roles in running the safehouse and planning operations in Black Ops Cold War.


Every sacrifice, every secret, every conspiracy led to the year 1991. In a time when the enemy has eyes everywhere, how do you know who to trust?

Check back soon for Part 2 of The Story So Far, where we’ll take a closer look at the Black Ops 6 narrative along with some new faces joining the cast. Part 2 will also share the Campaign rewards you’ll earn for progressing in the story, upgrading your Black Ops Safehouse, and completing Calling Card Challenges.
Misinformation is everywhere: Stay one step ahead with the latest official Black Ops 6 information by checking the Call of Duty Blog regularly as we approach launch. These are comms you don’t want to miss.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is published by Activision. Development for the game is led by Treyarch, in partnership with Raven Software. Additional development support provided (in alphabetical order) by Activision Central Design, Activision Central Technology, Activision QA, Activision Shanghai, Beenox, Demonware, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, and Sledgehammer Games.

The Truth Lies.

© 2024 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, and CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

For more information, please visit http://www.callofduty.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/callofduty , and follow @Activision and @CallofDuty on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook. For Call of Duty Updates, follow @CODUpdates on X (formerly Twitter).

We just released a new tutorial on SymmetryRadial operator!

Undisputed is OUT NOW on Steam! Watch the full launch trailer below.




All players that joined us on our early access journey now have access to the full launch of Undisputed, as well as the Roy Jones Jr. '93 pre-order bonus.


Players can purchase access the Deluxe WBC Edition upgrade in the Steam store.






Gameplay


- We’ve replaced gassed, dazed, and fatigue punch animations. Previously, these punches were slowed/increasingly slowed animations. This felt and looked clunky. We’ve now replaced these so that instead of slowing the animations, the time needed between punches is increased, so players can’t throw as many punches within the same period of time as when not dazed or gassed.


- We’ve increased the short and the long-term stamina cost for punches, and further increased the stamina cost of missed punches – meaning you should pick your shots carefully and ensure you time your punches for accuracy if you want to prolong your stamina into those championship rounds.


- We’ve balanced our between-round stamina recovery so that players can now directly impact the amount of stamina they’ll recover. The between-round stamina recovery is heavily tied to your activity in the latest round, so in rounds where you’re using lots of stamina, you’ll also recover less overall when the round ends, and vice versa.


- We’ve increased the damage dealt by power punches, and we’ve also increased the damage dealt by a punch being a counter punch, so if you’re able to catch your opponent slacking and land a clean power punch with the likes of Wilder or Frank Bruno, your opponent will feel it.


- We’ve also reduced the counter window, meaning your punches must be even more well-timed to score a counter punch – so read your opponent and time your shots well if you want to maximise damage.


- We’ve introduced directional damage, which means that forward moving punches now do more damage than backwards moving punches.


- We’ve increased the speed of health regeneration for short term head and body health, while increasing the damage dealt to max head and body health. The goal being to ensure players and AI can have high-pace, high-action rounds without them leading to an excessive number of knockdowns.


- We have updated our stationary jabs and stationary straights so those ones and twos will come out cleaner than ever.


- We've updated the body straight so that fighters properly bend their knees. This looks a bit more natural and can also help you get underneath certain punches if your timing is on point.


- We’ve shortened the maximum range of body uppercuts so that they can’t be used as a lead punch; get inside to use uppercuts effectively.


- We’ve updated the step-in straight and step-in body jab, giving players more options to get inside or chase down an opponent who is on the back foot.


- We've updated blocking poses in Undisputed to improve the consistency of all blocks, but in particular body blocks, so you won't see as many punches bleeding through when you feel you should have stopped them.


- We’ve changed the way that block health regeneration works: block health now regenerates at a slower rate than usual while you’re holding block, meaning you’ll have to make good decisions about when to let off block as it could open a window for your opponent to land punches.


- Block health now drains more quickly when a fighter is dazed, which should make the overall block health even more important as it could be the difference between surviving and being knocked out.


- Removed Clinch. This feature did not live up to the quality expectations of the game and so has been taken out while we investigate other ways we could implement clinch.


- Additional balancing and various improvements to gameplay to make the game more impactful and more enjoyable to play.



Online Multiplayer


- Implemented an anti-cheat which will allow us to catch and ban more cheaters.


- A series of improvements have been implemented which improve the online multiplayer stability and synchronization.



AI Fighters


- We’ve further differentiated the AI behaviour of the four ‘fighter archetypes’ we have in the game, and how they impact the AI fighter’s behaviour in the ring. Players should be able to see and feel the difference between a Swarmer, who will attempt to pressure opponents with a high volume of punches over the course of a fight, and the other archetypes such as a Slugger, which should throw more power shots, be more durable, and more willing to take a punch to throw one.


- Fighter archetypes are now balanced independently, meaning that depending on which archetype a fighter is, they’ll have slightly different modifiers on some of their stats – for example, sluggers deal more damage and have more health than other archetypes.


- Further to the four archetypes, we’ve also dug down into individual fighter personalities and introduced specific preferences for things like punch and combo selection in the following fighters:

o Canelo Alvarez
o Deontay Wilder
o Muhammad Ali
o Katie Taylor
o Claressa Shields
o Tyson Fury
o Joe Frazier
o Roy Jones Jr
o Oleksandr Usyk
o Chantelle Cameron



Localisation


- Added support for some additional languages.



Tutorial


- Completely new tutorial, designed to get players fighting quicker and more effectively.



Career Mode


- Significant balance changes to money, fame, and XP.


- Updated UI screens throughout career mode.


- Balanced boxer ratings, including stat points earned, throughout the course of a career mode. This should make progression feel more natural and allow players to reach higher ratings earlier in their careers.


- Added Achievements/Trophies in Career Mode.



Character Creator


- Introduced more options for customization, e.g. additional hair choices.


- Added Muscle Tone adjustment option.


- Added a feature to create a random boxer instantly.


- Added some Boxer Presets so players can have a starting point for their character.


- Added Riyadh Season branded gloves.



General


- Removed Ryan Garcia from the game.


- Updated the venue select screen with a nicer preview of the venues.


- Various fixes across the game to improve stability, usability and performance.


- Improved the game’s support of unusual aspect ratios.


- Improvements to frame rate across the game.


- Improved loading times.


- Added support for additional languages.



Bugs


- Fixed a wide variety of issues including soft locks, performance issues, etc.

Correction in the translation in English and Portuguese

• Free Starter Pack – Now available to claim and keep into early 2025!
  
• MBTA Commuter: Boston-Worcester/Framingham Line – Coming October 29th
  
• Refresh On Upcoming Future Add-ons
  ▹ Great Western Express – Remaster
  ▹ Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn: Mannheim – Kaiserslautern
  ▹ Cardiff City Network – TSW's first Welsh route!
  ▹ Spoorlijn Zwolle – Groningen – TSW's first Dutch route!
  ▹ Tadami Line from Union Workshop – TSW's first Japanese Route!
  
• Third Party Partner Updates
  ▹ Manchester Airport Commuter – New route from ATS
  ▹ Levenmouth branch update for Fife Circle – Rivet Games
  ▹ Levenmouth Rail Link livery for ScotRail 158 – Skyhook Games
  ▹ Cargo Line Vol.3: Intermodal – Skyhook Games
  ▹ West Coast Main Line: Preston-Carlisle – Just Trains
  ▹ Expert DB BR 101 & IC Steuerwagen Loco – TSG
  
• Patches and Updates
  ▹ Patches Released So Far
  ▹ First Major Post-Release Patch – Coming soon!
  ▹ Additional Messaging Clarification
  
• Community Corner
  ▹ TSW5 Photo Mode Showcase
  ▹ October Mastery Challenges – now live
  ▹ Special Effect 'One Special Day' Charity Stream-a-thon

Welcome everyone to the first Train Sim World 5 Roadmap following launch!

Firstly, we wanted to share a heart-felt thank you to all of our community who have been playing Train Sim World 5 since the early access and launch, and we greatly value your feedback whilst we worked to have everything setup across our game platforms . It’s always a pleasure to see a huge range of new screenshots from players, making the most out of the new Photo Mode, and sharing reactions of your first experiences with the new features and routes. We’d also like to extend a great thank you to all of the people who helped onboard and share information to welcome new and returning players on to TSW5 throughout the last month.

Before the end of the first week following TSW5’s launch, we had already passed over 2,000,000 gameplay sessions completed by players, which is genuinely incredible and we’re very happy to welcome all our new players into TSW for the first time!

For those who are joining us for the first time, this Roadmap is a monthly check-in that will begin the conversation between our teams and all of you for what to expect beyond the launch from both us and our partners, including brand new announcements, updates and sneak peeks on our current routes in-development, more ways for you to get involved with our community and challenging yourself with new mastery rewards available in-game.

We’ll also share an update on our progress for further post-launch improvements coming to TSW5, and a summary of what we’ve been able to release so far. We hope this will answer some of those initial questions and thoughts many of you have as our teams have been gathering feedback and working to improve your experience.

Finally, if you’re new or returning, be sure to join us for our Roadmap Livestream tonight (Tuesday, October 8th at 18:00 UTC / 19:00 BST), where we’ll discuss all of the points below, and answer your questions!




Thank you to everyone who has joined us with the Train Sim World 5 release over the last month, we’ve been very excited to keep growing the TSW community and welcoming even more players on to the rails as we head into the new year.

Today, we’re happy to announce that our Free Starter Pack will no longer run until October 17th, and instead will remain to be available to claim and keep forever until the new year, early 2025! We’ve seen so many of you jumping in to try TSW5 for the first time, inviting your friends and communities to give it a go, and we’ve welcomed so many new players into the franchise for the first time.

As a reminder, if you’re already a big fan of TSW, but haven’t yet upgraded into TSW5 – make sure to claim the Free Starter Pack before it goes away, as it will stay in your account to play forever, and it will also be your way to access the latest improvements and features. You'll also be able to purchase new TSW5 content, like the upcoming MBTA Commuter route, and, if you already own it, gain access to Great Western Express Remastered without the need to pay anything!

For more information on the Free Starter Pack, please read our Train Sim World 5 FAQs.



Kicking off our Roadmap, we want to share more information about the first new add-on coming to Train Sim World 5 – get ready to catch MBTA Commuter: Boston – Framingham/Worcester, releasing on October 29th, 2024!

This route will feature a range of commuter and long-distance traffic coming from Boston South Station, heading off due west in the direction of Framingham and Worcester in the Commonwealth State of Massachusetts. You’ll be operating the new MBTA HSP46 diesel locomotive, as well as the MBTA F40PH-3C and the BTC / CTC Coaches (Bi-level and single-level coaches).

We’ve got a dedicated article to deep dive into the services, new locos and gameplay you can expect in the MBTA Commuter route later this week, and for today we wanted to share a small range of reference images that our audio teams were able to capture that showcase a recent trip to the US in order to better represent and reflect this add-on in Train Sim World 5.










We also wanted to touch on our additional announcements we've made since we launched Train Sim World 5, in case anyone who has joined us since the launch has not had a chance to discover the upcoming add-ons to Train Sim World 5.


The new remaster coming to TSW5, which is where we take an older released add-on, and pack it with the newest features and introduce a whole range of additional improvements, all as a free update for existing owners! Regardless of if you already own GWE, or decide to pick it up between now and the remaster's launch, you'll be able to make the most out of GWE with the newest TSW5 features, conductor mode, a new timetable, landscape and scenery overhauls as well as updated suspension physics to all GWE stock!




A new German adventure along the scenic Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn, as it was in 2014. Heading out of Mannheim Hbf, a hub for railfanning if there ever was one, the route starts off speeding along to Neustadt (Weinstr) Hbf then slows to wind through the valley to Kaiserslautern. Expect lots of variety from 111-operated regional expresses to 425s on the Rhein-Neckar S-Bahn, and even a station called Frankenstein!


Featuring a densely packed network within the city, intense passenger services will keep you busy aboard Transport for Wales Diesel Multiple Units, operating through many stations on various timetable patterns; a swift departure from the long inter-city running of the WCML routes. 


Experience the beautiful and scenic Tadami Line: AizuWakamatsu – Tadami in TSW5, featuring stunning environments and key railway landmarks, such as the “Miyashita three brothers”, a famous train spotting point featuring three bridges within a single picturesque scene.




Express and commuter services are the mainstay of the Zwolle – Groningen route, operated by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen’s iconic ICM3 Koploper and SNG (Sprinter New Generation) EMUs. Learn new signals and systems as you dash along the countryside in yellow and blue fashion. 

Development continues well across all of these add-ons, and we'll be sharing more detailed updates once they're ready to share.



Let’s welcome another brand-new partner to the world of TSW: Alan Thomson Simulation! Many of you may recognise them from their work with Train Simulator Classic, and we reached out to their teams to reveal their latest route development coming to TSW5.



Alan: “ATS was started in 2017 by YouTuber Alan Thomson and TSC route builder Peter Mitchell. Our main goal at the time was to ensure anyone could produce and publish content for TSC in a way that worked for everyone, and after four successful years, we started to look into development for TSW. Once our team was established, with Hayden and Danny at the helm, we were quick to dive right in with support from the community and DTG, and we settled on the 27-mile Manchester Airport commuter route.”



“We had a clear goal of getting a route out that we would be proud of. With some new and experienced hands, we got to work aiming to create a digital twin of the Manchester Airport Commuter network and, of course, the airport branch. With tons of blood, sweat, and at times frustration, we are finally able to show you, the community, what we have been working on.



Here are some highlights of the route:

• Manchester Airport Station and Airport Skywalk at Night
  
• Longsight Depot & Manchester International Depot
  
• Airport Line with Runway and Approach Lights
  
• Piccadilly Throat Improvements from Glossop Line and Piccadilly Station Improvements.
  
• Slade Lane Junction Bend to Airport Line (RRAP Location)
  
• Neutral sections added along the route at specific locations
  
• Heald Green Triangle Junction Areas
  
• Styal Station Curve
  
• Wilmslow Station with Underbridge
  
• Alderley Edge Station from the P2 Car Park and Turn Back Sidings
  
• Heaton Norris Junction with Signalbox
  
• Stockport Station and Stockport Viaduct (Day and Night)
  
• Edgeley Junction Areas
  
• Bridges Between Cheadle Hulme and Handforth

You will be able to find more information for the Manchester Airport Commuter route coming in future Roadmaps and articles.


Since our initial announcement of the WCML: Preston – Carlilse route, the JT team have continued to share new update posts on their blog that detail more about what you can expect from the add-on, as well as details about the station and history of the route era.

Just Trains: “In this route we’ve authentically recreated the 1986/1987 timetable using the correct working timetable and photographs of said services to provide as realistic an experience as possible, including formations and train lengths accurate as close as possible to that of the real trains.

Both Carlisle and Preston feature numerous locomotive changes throughout the day from diesel to electric traction and vice versa with some diagrams requiring the station pilot(s) to help facilitate a locomotive change.”

On their recent blog, the Just Trains team also shared a timelapse video showcasing movements at Carlisle Station over a couple of hours.



Feel free to read more from the Just Trains blog on their website, with additional details, as well as required layers to make the most about the upcoming experience.


Heading over to our partners at Rivet Games, they’ve got a range of new screenshots to share for the upcoming Leven branch update, coming for free to owners of the Fife Circle line, alongside a range of new improvements that you can get excited about!



Rivet Games: “Having recently released the Fife Circle DLC for Train Sim World, we decided it would be a great addition to the route to recognise and add the new Levenmouth Railway Link that was just recently opened. This new extension is in fact a re-opening of an old railway line, branching off East from the Thornton North Junction near Glenrothes to the seaside town of Leven, Fife.”

“The new Levenmouth Railway link extends for 5 miles, via the first new Station at Cameron Bridge, then on towards the coastline, terminating at Leven Station.







This new extension to File Circle includes:

• Over 40 new Timetable services for the new Levenmouth branch
  
• 2 brand-new stations to discover and explore
  
• 16 additional collectables to find

We look forward to sharing more about when you can expect to get these improvements in TSW, and Rivet Games have also shared that during the development of the Leven branch update, they have also worked on a range of Fife Circle improvements and bug fixes to further support the free update.


Continuing the conversation, we wanted to check in with Skyhook Games with their updates on the Rail Link livery, as well as announcing that this will be a free update to players who own the Scotrail Class 158.




Skyhook Games: “Our teams have been busy on multiple projects recently with updates to the ScotRail Class 158, following community feedback since launch, and continued progress on the next Cargo Line Volume 3: Intermodal & Volume 4: Military releases. We have also been working to adopt the new TSW5 features into our back catalogue. Additionally, the expansion of the Sprinter timetable for Edinburgh to Glasgow has gone well with a multitude of AI only services converted for player use.”



“On to the Leven Branch expansion for Fife Circle, this is going well and working in parallel with Rivet Games to provide a Class 158 timetable also continues. Guard Mode has been added to both ScotRail and East Midlands Trains versions of the Class 158 along with a number of updates from the former being ported to the latter to improve the overall experience. Testers have certainly been enjoying all the updates.”

Finally for this Skyhook update, their teams wanted to provide the first images of Cargo Line Vol.3 Intermodal - "These trains are long, heavy and a challenge to drive!"


As previously announced, Skyhook Games have been hard at work on developing Cargo Line Vol. 3 & Vol. 4, and we’ve got a few teasers to share more for their developments on the third iteration of the Cargo Line packs.







We'll be keeping you updated on Cargo Line developments, as well as the Rail Link livery progress in our upcoming announcements, so stay tuned. If you’d like to catch up on their developments for the Cargo Line series up until now, be sure to read their ‘Cargo Line: The Story So Far’ article.


Finally, to close off our third party section, we’re joined by the TSG team who are sharing news for an upcoming patch to the recently released Expert DB BR 101, the first loco in our ‘Expert’ series that offers a higher level of authentic experience within TSW through highly detailed functionality and advanced simulations, including random fault systems.



This update coming shortly will bring a full list of fixes and improvements to the add-on, and also includes all-new fault simulations for the Expert 101, new suspension physics for the IC Steuerwagen cab car and, following a large range of community feedback, will also add timetables for the Expert 101 onto Bremen Oldenburg and the new Frankfurt Fulda routes.

Here are some of the top highlights of the patch notes that the TSG team wanted to focus on:

• Gameplay Changes
  ▹ Added Expert DB BR 101 Expert timetable for Kinzigtalbahn: Frankfurt - Fulda
  ▹ Added Expert DB BR 101 Expert timetable for Bremen - Oldenburg
  ▹ Replaced SKA 406 ICE 3M in Dresden-Riesa Expert 101 timetable with Frankfurt - Fulda BR 411
  ▹ Added a driver assist prompt for trying to apply power with the Electric Train Supply disabled
  
• IC Steuerwagen & Expert DB BR 101
  ▹ Reworked light setup featuring light cones under volumetric fog
  ▹ Implemented LZB/PZB test logic
  ▹ Implemented LZB transmission failure support
  ▹ Implemented LZB transmission failures as faults
  
• Expert DB BR 101
  ▹ Added missing behaviour when train leaves LZB and AFB is active
  ▹ Fixed missing glass rain effects in cab 2
  ▹ Fixed the cab 2 auxiliary control
  ▹ Fixed a mistake that made LZB Ende sounds not play as expected
  ▹ Adjusted Pantograph physics to match real life more closely
  
• IC Steuerwagen and/or Coaches
  ▹ Implemented new suspension physics (Cab car only)
  ▹ Fixed cab car windshield rain visuals
  ▹ Added "IC" logo on the Bpmmbdzf
  ▹ Fixed numbering on Bpmmz coach
  ▹ Taught the driver the correct way to sit on a chair
  ▹ Added Door Keys for Cab Car and Coaches

You can expect to see the full range of updates once they’re ready to get into your hands, and we hope you’re excited. Additionally, you may have noticed that we've added a new DE Route to the October 2024 roadmap asset coming from the TSG team, and whilst we're not ready to talk about this yet, we look forward to sharing more details in follow-up roadmap articles.



So far, since the launch of Train Sim World 5, we've been able to implement a few smaller post-release patches that help us stay onto of key issues from launch and address immediate feedback we're seeing from all of you.

• September 17th Update – Class 377/2 Suspension and Frankfurt PIS
  
• September 18th Update – PlayStation Profile Importation Fix
  
• September 26th Update – Menu Pop-ups, PS and Epic Achievements and PS5 Cursor

We heard that many of you are still struggling with performance issues at times during gameplay on TSW5 core routes, and at times crashing, which has likely been due to memory usage limits being reached. This is one of our teams top priorities to address, and we've been investigating ways that we can help save memory across all platforms, to help reducing the amount of crashes we're seeing, and this first patch will be the first to add some of those changes.

These improvements are almost ready to send out to you all, and outside of the optimisations mentioned above to help improve your experiences, it will also include sweeping changes for all of TSW5 core content, adding key fixes for community raised issues, and additional fixes to others routes, including Bremen-Oldenburg, Niddertalbahn and Rosenheim.

• West Coast Main Line
  ▹ Euston lighting changes, added OHLE outside Milton Keynes, Bletchley station texture fix, Watford junction signage updated
  ▹ Improvements to stop passengers clumping in stations and getting clogged on stairs / passageways
  ▹ Class 350 headlights no longer stay on when de-activated in the cab
  ▹ Class 350 added track joint sounds, updated gangway door audio and removed clicking sounds in fans
  
• Frankfurt Fulda
  ▹ Fixed BR 114 brakes not working correctly
  ▹ Fixed a gap in BR 411 the gangways
  ▹ Updated BR 411 digital screens and ensured they tilt with the train
  
• San Bernardino
  ▹ Adjusted duration of services and scenarios to ensure they can be completed within time limits
  ▹ Added additional car traffic to some areas
  ▹ Fixed various floating assets found around Covina
  
• FlixTrain BR 193 Vectron
  ▹ Distributor release valve can now be interacted with
  ▹ Exterior brake indicators now display as expected
  ▹ Hose pipes of the Talbot coaches are now connected at the gangway
  ▹ Brakes no longer release by themselves if cab is deactivated

We're still finalising the patch and compiling the notes, there are many more not listed on the above list which target key issues raised by the community, and you should be able to expect this coming very soon.

Additionally, as a longer term project, our teams have been working on a wider plan of WCML timetable improvements, including adding new services to the route. These timetable changes do not have a timeline for release yet, and when we have more details we will let you know. As a note, currently these changes are planned for PC, XSX, and PS5 platforms.

Thank you for waiting patiently whilst we work on these updates and implementing community feedback, we'll continue to work on additional improvements and support the launch of Train Sim World 5.


We also want to take this chance to talk about some of the messaging from launch that wasn't initially clear, and provide an update on where we're at.

Firstly, we want to apologise for some of the confusion caused on which routes would see this feature from launch, and which routes would have it as part of a future patch. At first, we announced all of this together as a combined list, but we incorrectly communicated that all the routes listed would have it from launch. Our teams are still working hard to implement the feature to the add-ons we initially announced on our August Roadmap, but currently this is only applied to the ones shown on our TSW5 Track Shadow FAQs. Thank you for understanding, we'll keep striving to give you the most accurate information that we can.

Due to performance constraints, with the launch of TSW5 we made changes to the amount of available layers Xbox Series S and it meant that it differed from the Xbox Series X layers for TSW5 core routes and caused confusion. We talked about the memory differences between these two consoles on our XSS Layering Thread, and since then we've made optimisation improvements to reduce the gap of experience for the two platforms.

Currently, Series S players will get all layers for both WCML and San Bernardino, but will see some adjustments for Frankfurt Fulda which are detailed on the thread above. We apologise again that this wasn't originally clear, and our teams are constantly looking at further improvements to bring more layers to Frankfurt for Series S players, with more coming in a future patch.



We’ve seen many incredible submissions from the community, making use of the new features in Photo Mode and showing off the new content in Train Sim World 5, and we wanted to give a highlight to some of our staff picked shots we’ve found over the last month.

Submitted by Dantechmanify:



Submitted by SBl32:



Submitted by jtmdias-2874:



Submitted by wellington-9478:



Submitted by Trainiac:



Submitted by Eee:



Submitted by Suth:



Submitted by rpb1966-2:



If you want your own screenshots to be featured in our TSW loading screens, or highlighted on our TSW social accounts, then be sure to submit them to our community threads on our Creators Club forums, with the weekly screenshot competitions and #TSWRailshots submissions!


At the start of this month, we started our new mastery challenge system as a way to reward players each month for getting involved across a variety of unique missions. In October, we’ve tailored these challenges to be suitable for our new players joining TSW for the first time, but as we move through the year, these challenges will become more complex to further test your abilities.



If you’re able to complete these challenges each month, you will earn the respective challenge badge decal for you to collect, and then show-off on your favourite locomotives using Livery Designer.



We’re also looking at future rewards we can introduce using this system, and ways we can improve this to make the experience as best it can be, so please let us know your thoughts and feedback!




We have an exciting event to announce coming up this weekend, that our executive producer of trains Matt Peddlesden will be hosting working with our charity partners at Special Effect, to celebrate One Special Day - a fantastic yearly charity event to raise awareness and money to support the livelihood of physically disabled people across the world.

The Special Effect teams work hard to change the lives of people who need it most, with the innovative use of technology and games, and we're proud to support the wonderful work they do to make games as inclusive as possible.

Matt will be live for ~12 hours on both Saturday, October 12th and Sunday, October 13th to help fundraise and share new content in Train Sim World 5, with special guests and ambassadors joining in throughout the event.

Learn more about One Special Day on the Special Effect website, and read about the fantastic impact they make with all of the support raised by volunteers and donated from the community.


Exec Producer Matt, and Senior Community Manager Alex will be talking about all the things we’ve featured above and answering your submitted questions in our October 2024 Roadmap livestream. The stream will begin from 18:00 UTC / 19:00 BST on our YouTube and Twitch channels.



Have a question for us? Put it in our October 2024 Roadmap Q&A thread, and we’ll answer as many as we can live tonight!


Thank you for reading our first roadmap of TSW5, we're very grateful to welcome so many new players on the journey with us, and we're exicted to share more news about the future projects and improvements coming your way. All of your community feedback has been crucial during this period, and we will continue to use it to inform how we can deliver the best experience for you all moving forwards.