Since taking over Skullgirls 2nd Encore development in January 2021, Hidden Variable and Future Club have been working hard to bring you, the players, the four new characters that are part of our Season 1 Pass DLC. And don't worry, you'll be able to get your hands on Dahlia soon! (First playable demo will be at Combo Breaker 2022) But that's not all we've been doing. The patch today is the result of a lot of hard work behind the scenes. Today, in the Beta build, we're testing out large scale refactors of the online multiplayer and the UI systems. These refactors are meant to improve the stability and reliability of our online lobbies, quick match, and spectating, fixing issues that have been longtime thorns in the community's side. While most of these changes will not be readily noticeable, these codebase upgrades pave the way for us to make more substantial improvements to the multiplayer experience in the future. They will also make console development easier going forward, and not just for PS4. More news on that coming soon! Of course, with refactors this big, there is a chance that new bugs have been introduced. That's why these changes are in the Beta build of Skullgirls 2nd Encore. There are no functional combat changes between Retail and Beta, but we still hope everyone will pop over to the Beta environment to test out these changes and enjoy the smoother multiplayer experience. And should you experience any bugs, these refactors should also make it easier for us to diagnose and fix the issues. Please report bugs experienced either in the 2e-bugs channel in the official Skullgirls Discord OR in the Bug-Reports thread(s) on the Skullheart forums. We monitor those areas constantly for bug reports, so that's the best way to let us know something is wrong. These are exciting times for Skullgirls 2nd Encore as both new characters and the old engine get lots of TLC, and we wouldn't be able to do this without the support of such an amazing community! - Hidden Variable [hr][/hr]

Retail Change Log

Tech

• New Beta logic to allow for separate Retail/Beta builds

Stages

• Fixed lighting bug on Class Notes

Art Gallery

• Added in updated Final Atrium 2D Art
• Added in Boardwalk Stage 2D Art (Prototype & Final)
• Added in No Man's Land 2D Art
• Updated Class Notes 2D Art
• Added Alt Class Notes 2D Art

Beta Change Log

Multiplayer

• Large scale UI refactors to improve reliability of navigating around the game
• Large scale networking refactors to improve reliability of lobbies and quick matches
• Large scale networking refactors to improve reliability of spectating
• Lobby Host now shown in Lobby UI
• Steam Profile Pics reliability improvement

UI

• Fixed stuttering when fast-forwarding credits
• Improved transition from Art Gallery to Main Menu
• Fixed logo screens not being skippable after a certain point
• Other miscellaneous fixes

Sound

• New "Master Volume" control that influences all in-game volumes.
• New "Mute When Unfocused" option that will mute the game when you switch to other programs.