GU Roadmap for the first semester of 2024
The Gods Unchained team released a Roadmap for the first half of 2024. As many of you probably are aware, mobile was supposed to launch officially on the app stores last December, but some last minute requests by Apple delayed the launch. It is now just around the corner. The main milestones for this Roadmap are
- Mobile release (expected before the end of February)
- New major expansion
- Awarding the remaining ToF Mythic variants
- Additional game modes
- Server logic re-write for performance improvements
- A new progression system (quests and achievements)
- Finally chest migration to L2
Quick commentary
My take on this is that development is still suffering from the ongoing sluggishness everyone has been pointing out for a long time. Many of these milestones should have been released a long time ago. It seems from the replies that the team is struggling to have enough developers to tackle all the necessary features in parallel and at an acceptable pace. The lack of staff seems to be an important limiting factor, still.
The game has a lot of competition in the web3 TCG space and some of the competitors have had a much more polished product for a long time already. Gods Unchained is still struggling to catch up and reach at least the same state of polish and player experience quickly, so it can then differentiate itself further with talented and creative game features.
On the other hand I'd like to commend Daniel and Eclipse for the transparency with the community about these issues and I hope they continue to take this stance going forward. It builds trust to know what is causing the delays and reasons for why certain features the players request aren't being implemented.
Another sad commentary is that I got the impression that everyone was looking at the Roadmap without dates and assumed it was for the whole of 2024, which at this point would surprise no one. It was good to see that this plan is in fact for half of the year and more features will be released later.
One major pain point that is not going to be addressed still is the ranking system, which I find very disappointing not being higher in the priority list. It annoys and frustrates players every day. Let's hope it will be tackled on the second half of the year...
AMA audio recording
Following this Roadmap release, Eclipse and Daniel hosted an AMA on Discord and Twitch. I recorded the audio and took notes of the topics with timestamps for ease of seeking.
Timestamped topics
Start Is this Roadmap a complete list? Mixed bag of information
03:02 Mobile release status. Launch before the end of February.
05:14 Order of the milestones in the roadmap and dates. Roadmap is for the 1st half of the year.
08:20 Trinket crafting and upgrading.
09:35 Status of development of each of the milestones in the roadmap.
12:15 Peeking decklists mobile players vs PC.
13:57 When story PvE mode
14:36 Will API be closed from server code rework?
15:20 Timeline for the API rework / fix
16:05 Plans for expansions during 2024
18:05 Mass forging - going to be part of crating
19:27 Situation of the upgrade for the MMR system
20:50 Animations to shine cards in the future?
22:08 Progression system is related to ranks rework? (No) What the progression system is about.
23:40 Benefits from server logic rewrite
25:00 Chest migration allows for unopened packs? More chests in the future?
26:00 Amount of game modes. Relationship with Weekend Ranked events(10-12)
27:35 Rollout of server logic rewrite and possible changes to card behavior and game rules and card mechanics
30:10 Possibility to vote on game modes / governance
30:50 Direct challenge rules change
31:40 Balance of development of mobile after release with other game feature development
33:00 Mobile develop affects server logic rewrite?
34:00 iOS and Android release will be simultaneous
34:25 Marketing strategy for mobile release
36:14 Localization (other languages) status on the roadmap
37:25 Pack purchase via mobile with fiat
39:05 Mobile demo-ing first or straight to release?
40:31 Mythic cards in new expansions?
41:44 Pace of release of Mythic variants for ToF
43:25 Plans to show more stats in the client
44:40 Collection rewards are part of the progression system
46:00 Soft launch of mobile before official App Store release?
47:58 Mythic variants graphical effects
49:06 Extra details on new game modes
50:34 Is Sealed evergreen? Sealed events
51:18 Battle pass for the new progression system? Staking as a Battle Pass
52:35 When new Sealed rewards?
53:53 Set rotations with the new expansions?
55:42 Measures to stop bots from farming Core packs in Casual
