This post took a little extra time because we want to explain in detail why we will be releasing the game on our own platform/launcher. Please read on for a full breakdown.

Mod support

As discussed in the previous update, mod support is very important to us. One of the main reasons for building our own platform is to properly provide support and moderation for mod content as well as to maintain ethical ownership agreements. Many other platforms require you as modders to forfeit ownership of your creations in order to upload and distribute it. We are simply not ok with this. We want modders to feel empowered to share and create without draconian licensing agreements that strip you of your rights. Standard trademark and copyright restrictions will exist of course as is standard but your original work is yours. Should we wish to integrate a popular mod into the base game then we will work with you directly as independent clients.

Updates

Using our own platform gives us the ability to roll out updates in an efficient and lightweight manner. Streamlined delta patching, live updates, debugging tools and more will be available to keep things running smoothly without the headaches of being out of sync during patches. This includes tools to automatically keep unofficial modded servers up to date as well.

Reviews/Feedback

Maintaining the ability for users to leave feedback and reviews is import from a consumer standpoint and will be supported in our launcher. Portals to social media, forums, and our website will be available as well.

Refund Policy

We will be following an industry standard refund policy with full money back within a specified time window (TBD) and under a certain amount of gameplay hours. Known and trusted payment processing services will be used to handle all of this.

Regional Pricing

We will also be following an industry standard regional pricing model to insure that prices in different areas of the world correctly reflect currency strength and local economies.

General Concerns

We know that many people do not like the idea of downloading ANOTHER launcher. It can be cumbersome and inconvenient if not done correctly and it may feel less “secure” than something from a larger, more established studio or company. We weighed all of these concerns and others when making this choice and the bottom line for us was the importance of functional and ethical mod support and the ability handle updates in a much more clear and user friendly way. Our launcher is lightweight and easy to install/uninstall and we will be committed to maintaining and improving it as time goes on.

This does not preclude the possibility of launching on other platforms in the future should that make sense for development, but for now this is our plan for the immediate future. Thank you for reading!