Today Spanish developer MercurySteam announced that its self-publisher shooter/brawler Raiders of the Broken Planet will relaunch as “Spacelords”
The change will happen on August 23rd, and the relaunch will be accompanied by a move to a fully free to play business model.
On top of this change, the same day will also mark the release of the game’s fourth campaign Council Apocalypse. It’ll include four new missions and the new recruitable character Valeria. All this content will also be free.
The studio is keen to clarify that Spacelords is not just an update, but they consider it a “new game built on the back of Raiders of the Broken Planet.” They promise a “huge, new sci-fi universe” for newcomers to the franchise, while veterans will see their requests fulfilled.
Game Director Enric Álvarez accompanied the announcement with a comment explaining the move, and rather frankly explaining what went wrong with the original game.
“When we launched Raiders September last year, we hoped its low price point of 9.99 per campaign- would open it up to a large number of users, but it didn’t work as we planned. Our vision is to see our game enjoyed by millions of users for years to come and putting all of the game’s rich content into their hands for free is the way to realize it. We’ve answered our community and hope this removal of any payment barriers will build our devoted community further”
He also explained the decision to rebrand the game as Spacelords.
“We felt that ‘Raiders’ only focused on one specific side of the battle for the Broken Planet: The Raiders. But this is about the Aleph, a mythical substance from the Broken Planet, a substance everybody wants -the Raiders, the Antagonists, each of the invading human factions…- All of them know that whoever controls the Aleph, will dominate the universe as the ultimate Spacelord. So, the new brand is not going to change the game lore at all, quite the contrary. Spacelords comes to embrace all of them -Raiders and Antagonists- under one umbrella.”
That being said, those who already purchased the game’s campaigns won’t be left behind. MercurySteam pledged to provide them with “exclusive, top-quality game content that won’t be available to anyone else.” An announcement mentioning what that will exactly entail is coming down the line.
On top of that, for those who want to experience the game before the relaunch, starting on July 23rd the free mission of the week will actually shift to a daily rotation, and the Gold price required to rent missions will be reduced significantly.
If you’re unfamiliar with Raiders of the Broken Planet, it launched on September 22nd, 2017 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, featuring asymmetrical gameplay in which four raiders squared off against an antagonist in story-driven missions.
When the game relaunches at Spacelords on August 23rd, it will retain the same platforms.
Below you can check out some lovely artwork, screenshots, and the reveal trailer, alongside a FAQ explaining the move in deeper detail.
DualShockers visited MercurySteam at its headquarters in San Sebastian de Los Reyes, Spain. Over the next couple of days, you’ll hear a lot more from our interviews. In the meanwhile, you can read more about monetization, and why the game won’t have loot boxes at all.
– I bought either Ultimate Edition Pack, Founder’s Pack or individual Campaigns. Is there something special for me?
We want to thank you for your continued support. You will get exclusive and unique content for each campaign you own, that won’t be available anywhere else.
– What happens with Shae, Loath and Ayana Kwena and Valeria?
These characters used to be exclusive to DLC owners. They will now be integrated in the progression system. As with all other Raiders, they will require a certain level and gold quantity to unlock.
Players who own each campaign will have its corresponding character unlocked. Everyone who supported the game with either Ultimate Raiders or Founder’s Pack will be able to play with Valeria from the beginning.– What happens with the SOLO mode?
The SOLO will no longer be immediately available to new users, in fact, the old SOLO mode is now called TRAINING MODE and rewards players with Gold in the same way that it used to.
After the Spacelords release, new players will have to unlock each mission’s TRAINING MODE separately. Unlocking each mission’s TRAINING MODE requires a number of stars which are obtained by winning online matches.
Anyone who already owns a campaign, whether it is from the Ultimate Edition Pack, Founder’s Pack or individual Campaigns, has the TRAINING MODE completely available from the beginning.– How will we unlock missions now?
Anyone who already owns a campaign, whether it is from the Ultimate Edition Pack, Founder’s Pack or individual Campaigns, has all missions for the corresponding campaign unlocked from the get go.
Other players, however, will find a new way to discover the Raider’s adventure:
- New players will be randomly assigned a campaign to start with.
- Once they unlock and complete all the missions of that campaign, they’ll be able to choose any new campaign to continue.
- Some missions have now a level requirement.
– Can I still buy a campaign?
Yes! Campaigns will be available right until the SpaceLords’ launch day. Just like everyone who purchased a Campaign before, you’ll unlock the following things:
- Direct access to the 4 missions the DLC includes.
- The playable character specific for that Campaign (Shae, Loaht or Ayana Kwena).
- An exclusive skin for one of the starting Raiders (Harec, Alicia or Lycus) to be received when Spacelords launches.
- Immediate access to the SOLO mode.
DLCs will no longer be for sale come August 23rd.
– I’ll rather wait for August 23rd.
Cool! There’s plenty of stuff coming this summer to the Broken Planet!
- Shae, Loaht and Ayana Kwena will be unlockable with gold just like every other character when Spacelords releases.
- All missions, including those from the new Council Apocalypse campaign will only feature a level requirement.
- There’s a new Rewards system coming (more on this later!), but rest assured that you’ll keep all Cards, Weapons and Blueprints you unlock in this period. In fact, they might become more valuable!
- Mission of the Week will disappear when Spacelords releases but until then it will become Mission of the Day and all levels of all campaigns will rotate in order.
- Mission renting will disappear as well but until then it will be discounted at a 60%.
- Remember! Invitations are also disappearing with the Spacelords release, make sure to spend them all!
– Will progression be reset?
Absolutely no! Players won’t lose Gold, Faction Points, Blueprints or anything they’ve unlocked in the game.