00:00During the previous phase, we realized that to live up to the player's expectations,
00:04we have to take the game offline.
00:06When we were online, we couldn't deliver the changes fast enough.
00:09We couldn't build up the team, we couldn't change the infrastructure and improve on our processes.
00:14It was absolutely the right thing to do, because now we are back and we are ready.
00:23So we are back and we are very excited.
00:26We are excited because finally, again, we can talk to our community.
00:30We are also excited because we signed a deal with Wargaming.
00:34And as the player feedback is invaluable for us, also Wargaming's free-to-play experience is invaluable for us.
00:41So together with Wargaming, we can really live up to the player's expectations.
00:46So we are much more confident and we are going to develop the right game for our users and our
00:50community.
00:50So the partnership with Wargaming and working close with Wargaming and joining the two companies up in many ways,
00:57the two teams up, just allows us to get great feedback from very experienced gamers.
01:02And combined with our knowledge of Total War, the two companies working closely together should mean a great game for
01:09fans,
01:10both new players and existing hardcore fans that we may have had in the past.
01:14So since we went offline, and we took the service down earlier this year, one of the key things we've
01:20been doing
01:20is actually building the team up, so we've made some great additions, primarily they're in three main areas.
01:27So we've made additions in content teams, animation, audio, character art, and that's to make the battle as immersive as
01:34possible,
01:34so you really feel you're there on the battlefield.
01:37We've also made additions in gameplay programming, because we wanted to tweak and amend battle features and some front-end
01:46features.
01:47And finally, probably the most important area, is we've grown the team in the online services team,
01:54which has everything to do with the infrastructure.
01:58We've been working on a lot of features under the hood, many of them that the user will not see,
02:04but actually it'll improve their experience in the long run.
02:07Many of those are to do with stability and deployment, and of course we've been doing a lot of work
02:14to integrate with the Wargaming platform.
02:17We're very happy to have them as a partner, because we can leverage their experience in that field.
02:22So some of the features we will be working on that the user will notice are many little gameplay refinements,
02:29as well as the UI, the information that is presented to the player as they play the battle.
02:35For example, the minimap is a lot clearer, there will be the unit overlays telling you in a much clearer
02:43way what's happening during the battle.
02:45Obviously, Total War Arena was offline for a while now, and we are now entering our closed alpha phase again.
02:52It's an alpha really, because a lot of the features we are working on are simply not finished.
02:58We went back to the drawing board and really looked deep at what we think we need to change to
03:04make this game much better than it was last time players interacted with it,
03:08which is why it's really an alpha, right? It's a work in development that is incomplete.
03:14So we've reworked, for example, how the rewards work and how players are rewarded for what they do in battle.
03:20It's the same with the matchmaking, that has seen a lot of work. It's the same with the way certain
03:25unit types work.
03:26And again, that's something where we wanted to get data and statistics, and we needed to test if that is
03:32working as intended.
03:33And to do that, we needed a large number of players to play a lot of battles.
03:37So at the moment, we're running a closed alpha, which is primarily a technical test, but it's also an environment
03:43where we can try out some new features.
03:45And we'll be looking to run day sessions or weekend sessions from now through to next spring, and we'll be
03:51trying out, as I said, new things, such as the tutorial journey.
03:55After a while, that closed alpha will turn into a closed beta, and we're hopeful by springtime we'll be able
04:01to open the game up to more players and get more feedback in,
04:07because listening to players is what's going to drive this game and what's going to make it great.
04:10And we can take it through a full-on closed beta through next spring and into next summer.
04:15So all the previous players, of course, we intend to invite them to the closed alpha and closed beta stages
04:21as soon as we can.
04:22The last test we did was a very limited closed alpha test, where we invited the players who had played
04:28the most battles in the game from the Europe and Eastern Europe CIS region.
04:34We will invite players from other regions in the coming months for the next tests.
04:39So yes, all the players from the closed alpha and closed beta from before will get invited.
04:45Also, all players from the previous closed alpha and closed beta tests that we have done will, upon final release,
04:52receive some sort of reward.
04:54We will have various tiers of rewards that we will give out once the game is in a stable state,
05:00where there will be no more resets and players are expected to be able to continue playing.
05:05So for the next development cycle on Arena, our ambition is to take the game to the next level.
05:11We want to develop the game up to early medieval times, including gun power units in the future.
05:17We want to add new factions, new nations, new technologies to help product.
05:21For Arena and for our development process, it was always very important to work closely with the community.
05:26And we want players to sign up, join our closed beta.
05:30We need your feedback, we need you on the Baha field.
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