We’re almost there. Having spent the better part of a year in Steam’s Early Access, we are nearly ready to launch the complete release of Faeria. We’d like to illuminate the path we’ve set ahead for the near future, and let you know what to expect.

Full release is scheduled for March

In March, we plan to release the complete, full version of Faeria (1.0) for both PC and iPad. What’s so important about 1.0?

• Leaving our Early Access status
• Full release of the iPad version in all available regions
• Significant UI updates
• Stability and Performance improvements
• Mythic Chests
• A couple of surprises we don’t want to spoil yet…

Leading up to then, we have some other important milestones to step upon. Let’s talk about those.

Rolling out the iPad version

We have completed the development process necessary to meet the standards of the Apple store, and have a version with which we are ready to begin more expanded testing. We will slowly begin rolling out the iPad version region by region, helping us polish it as much as possible prior to the complete 1.0 release in March. Starting today, the iPad version is available for download from the Apple store in Belgium only. (For those who may not know, Faeria comes from Belgium, and our small but wonderful country is an ideal place to test our iOS implementation of the game before opening up to wider audiences - specifically, this sees us change our internal processes when it comes to releasing updates to fit around Apple’s review process, and prepares us for providing consistently high quality cross-platform updates.) In February, Canada will become the second country in which gamers will be able to find Faeria in the App Store for iPads. Canada offers us a much larger gaming population than Belgium for us to get more data about how tablet players differ to our current PC audience, allowing us to consider what final tweaks might need to be made before 1.0. During this time, we will also open up a waiting list for users outside of these regions who are anxious to begin playing before March. Our latest iPad build of Faeria is much more optimised than when we previously opened up applications for iPad testers, and as such we now support even more devices than we did back then. Android users: don’t despair. Much of the work we have spent on getting Faeria ready for the Apple store has directly supported preparing for Android release, and will soon follow. While we have no exact dates for Android release, know that it is our next platform priority after iOS is complete. We are also working on expanding to Apple and Android phones not too long after launch. The list of current compatible iOS tablet devices are:

• iPad 3 / 4
• iPad Air / Air 2
• iPad Pro
• iPad Mini 2 / 3 / 4

Older iPad models (original, iPad 2, iPad Mini 1) will not be supported in the future. Click here to apply to test Faeria on iPad before it launches in your country

February update

Before the full release in March, we plan another large update in February. This release version will be 0.96, and will contain numerous updates to the UI for both PC versions and iPad - although there will be further UI improvements to come at launch. This update will also introduce changes to the in-game economy and how items can be bought in the shop, offering us more flexibility to give special offers and fairer pricing. As mentioned in a previous update, we have had to conform our prices to meet requirements of the Apple store. After implementing this new economy system, we will be more in control of the prices offered in our store. For instance, last November/December there was a slight price surge in some regions that was outside of our control. We want to avoid things like this as much as possible. Our goal is to keep a solid price consistency across all platforms in order to prevent any favoritism or inequality.

Monthly Cup hiatus

In order to more fully focus on our impending launch, the Monthly Cup will be put on hiatus in February. This means that after the next Monthly Cup Finals on February 11th, there will be no Monthly Cup activity until we release version 1.0. We believe that during this time, the community will be able to occupy this brief time with tournament events of their own, as many have already been doing. If you wish to organize a community tournament for February or early March and are looking for prize support or otherwise, please contact Atmaz in Discord or by emailing gary@abrakam.com. - The Faeria Team

[ 2017-01-24 18:30:18 CET ] [ Original post ]