Let's talk about 1.0
Greetings Champions.
Following last week’s announcement that Predecessor is soon hitting 1.0, we wanted to openly discuss expectations surrounding this milestone release, providing you with insights into why we’ve made this decision, our vision for it, and what you can expect in this major update.
Expectations surrounding 1.0
We understand that the term 1.0 is turbo-charged with all manner of expectations. It suggests that a game is 'complete', or that there will be a fundamental shift in development away from adding major new features. We want to confirm that this will not be the case for Predecessor. We see Predecessor as a constant evolution, as most live service games and we’re extremely excited to use this update as a baseline for all the things coming to Predecessor in the future.
Make no mistake, the upcoming update is the most significant in Predecessor’s history for the amount of features, improvements and content it includes, and we believe it aligns with our goals for 1.0 and beyond.
Why 1.0? Why now?
We’ve heard your concerns about our readiness to launch into 1.0 as previously announced. Frankly speaking, after 1.0, our game won't be "feature complete". Defining feature complete is a task of its own with a MOBA, as it differs for each player and everyone will have a different list. So, instead let's talk about why we made this decision. It’s important we share the reasoning behind it, because we’re keen to continue developing alongside the community and want every one of you to be on board with our goals so you can support us in our efforts along the way and understand the vision we have for this milestone!
Firstly, 1.0 is a necessity to launch Predecessor fully on the Xbox store and to move outside of the limited Game Preview tab where it currently resides. This step is crucial in Predecessor’s growth, as it allows us to get the game into the hands of far more players due to the increased exposure that is afforded to games outside of the Xbox Game Preview program. Predecessor is doing extremely well on the Xbox platform, with new players getting stuck in and people playing more matches than other platforms. Given these strong results we want to ensure Predecessor gets the discoverability the game deserves – this is an important step in that journey.
Secondly, a 1.0 launch will bring in new players. We have a healthy, engaged player base at the moment, but our goal is to inject the player base with a flood of new players so we can properly validate and continue to iterate larger systems like Ranked mode. This will allow us to collect valuable data, make adjustments and have confidence in the long term growth of these systems. Is Predecessor ready for new players? We’ll look at this in the following section.
Thirdly, we know that Predecessor players have been waiting for a large marketing/advertising campaign. After all, growing the game benefits everyone, reducing queue times, improving matchmaking and building fiercer competition than ever before. After months of validating various marketing strategies, A/B testing, and receiving feedback, we believe we’re ready to go wider. Tying this release to Gamescom in August allows us the perfect opportunity to kick off our largest marketing effort yet, pushing the exposure and visibility of Predecessor to as wide an audience as possible. We’ll talk a little more about our marketing efforts further on.
What can we expect from 1.0?
One of our core goals for 1.0 is to improve the experience for new players joining the game. There are a number of reasons for this, but importantly we feel that by better preparing these new players and teaching them the core skills they need to succeed in Predecessor, we’ll be helping tackle feedback many players have expressed around toxicity, matchmaking, and new player insipidity.
Given this influx of new players, an important question is raised; is the game ready for them?
The updates we’ve made to the new user journey in 1.0 should allow us to put our best foot forward. One of the key pain points we identified in the current iteration of Predecessor was a struggle among new players in understanding the various strategic elements of the game.
Which role should I choose?
Which hero best matches my play style?
Which lane should I fight for?
What ability is best for me to level up first?
The list goes on.
Some of these are challenges that players face in all MOBAs and some of them are challenges unique to Predecessor. We identified many of these key issues and have introduced solutions to them in 1.0. That’s not to say there isn’t more work to be done here, but we believe these changes will make a massive improvement to a new player's early experience and should make the game more enjoyable for all players as a result.
So what exactly are we doing for new players?
Below are just some of the features we’ve included in 1.0 to address our new user journey, additions or improvements specifically tailored to helping our new players find their feet:
Draft Screen Redesign
We understand how daunting it can be for new players to get to the draft screen only to be presented with a number of options and decisions that might not be immediately clear, especially for those new to MOBAs. To tackle this, we’ve made it easier to pick a Hero using recommendations based on the team composition and the player’s skill level, made it clearer that Fill and Jungle are much more challenging roles for newer players, and made information like what each Hero does and how they play easier to find than ever before.
Improved Automations
Once in the game we know how important it is that a new player understands what is happening to their Hero. Sure, Auto-Buy takes the pressure off of having to understand some of the more complex decisions straight out the gate, but we know how confusing it can be to not know what’s happening to your Gold, to not know which Ability to upgrade first, or to generally feel detached from the important decisions being made on your behalf.
All of this and more is why we’ve added Auto-Crest and Auto-Level, as well as new visual showcases for all player automations to make the decisions being taken on the player’s behalf more understandable for newcomers.
Attack Range Indicator Upgrade
We’ve all been there, especially as new players. You’re chasing down an enemy Hero, desperately trying to secure the kill. They’re so low. You fire an ability, confident you can take them down. And you…miss?
One of the biggest hurdles in a MOBA like Predecessor is learning about attack range, which is crucial information in the heat of the moment. So, we’ve made it clearer, with bold outlines and text that tells you if you’re missing or just out of range.
There’s Plenty More
On top of what we’ve already shared here, 1.0 includes many more improvements and additions for new players. We’ll be sharing more throughout the weeks as we lead up to our big launch, so keep an eye on our socials for more information.
What can existing players expect?
We’ve spoken a lot about new players and our various goals for 1.0, but what about existing players? We've heard your feedback on wanting more options to spend Amber, along with functional updates to the map to allow more traversal over the hard to reach places. These updates will allow for much more verticality in higher level competitive play, and promote skill expression that we've never seen before!
Purchasing Hero Affinity & Bundles With Amber
Got Amber to burn? You can finally use it to purchase Hero Affinities. But that’s not all, we’ve also added a couple of Bundles to the Store that you can also spend Amber on.
Additionally we’ll continue to expand the ways in which Amber can be utilised after 1.0, such as adding support for individual cosmetic purchases for Sprays and the like, once the Store is ready to support non-bundled cosmetic items.
Map Verticality Adjustments
We’ve raised the roof for 1.0, literally! We’ve taken the time to remove all vertical boundaries across the map, opening up complex new opportunities for certain Heroes to play like never before.
There’s More!
This blog post would be an awful lot longer if we went in depth with everything coming, so instead here's a quickfire list of everything else arriving in 1.0 that we've not already mentioned:
A new legacy Hero
Tutorial improvements & voiceover
Voiceover for communication pings
Total rework of map foliage
Visual, lighting & reflection improvements
Better assist indication
New loading screens
New post-match screens
New post-match player reporting options
System messages in chat (Bounties, Objective timers etc.)
Twitch Drops
Code redemption
Xbox Achievements
Localisation on Xbox
With all of the above features confirmed for 1.0, we're also excited to confirm that even more features are coming throughout the rest of this year too, specifically targeting the topics we know you care about, such as matchmaking, game balance, toxicity and more.
We'll showcase more of these 1.0 features over the coming weeks, so keep an eye on our socials for more!
Marketing Predecessor
As already mentioned, our largest marketing campaign to date is launching alongside 1.0. More players means better queue times, a more vibrant and lively community and of course, more competition! So what's the current plan to attract these players?
We are:
Releasing a trailer at Gamescom during Opening Night Live.
Partnering with Discord for an exclusive Quest event.
Marketing across each platform store.
Adding the ability to redeem codes in game, enabling giveaways, competitions and partnerships.
Working with top influencers across the internet to build coverage of Predecessor like never before.
Launching Twitch Drops, rewarding players for supporting their favourite streamers.
And so much more.
Conclusion
We hope that this discussion has helped bridge the understanding on the "Why" of 1.0, what we at Omeda have as a vision for this milestone, what you can be a part of, and what you can expect in Predecessor starting August 20th.
Be inviting to our new Champions, help them find a new home in Predecessor, and join us for this exciting new chapter in Predecessor's future!
- Robbie Singh, CEO
