Developer Briefing #160 - A Big Start To The Year!
Hi everyone,
As you’ll have seen, Hell Let Loose has become a permanent part of the Team17 family.
This is a huge moment for Hell Let Loose. Here at Black Matter we’ve worked extremely closely over the years with our colleagues at Team17 - to the degree where we work as one single team - regardless of company.
We at Black Matter feel that this is an amazing opportunity to give Hell Let Loose the ultimate boost when it comes to the future - with a much larger, dedicated team striving to continue to push the quality and quantity of content in the game. It’s important to understand that while Team17 have always given us full creative and development control over Hell Let Loose, they have been working with us on a day-to-day basis for the entire time since release. They know the game as well as we do, and have worked with us to take the game from the three-map title of our Early Access launch to the game Hell Let Loose is today. Because of this, we feel extremely comfortable and confident in their ability to not only support the title - but to take it far beyond where it is now.
That said, we know that there are justified concerns around understanding the change, and how it might affect the title. We’ve witnessed the horror stories of core gameplay being compromised, or aggressive game-affecting microtransactions being introduced and more. As such, we’ve laid out a QnA below in the hopes to clarify things.
How does this change the development of Hell Let Loose?
Ultimately, merging the teams will mean that there will be greater fluidity in the way Hell Let Loose is developed on all platforms. A single, centralised team can organise priorities and deliver huge, coordinated impact with the ability to plan both for the short, middle and long term. Initially the largest development goal is some significant housekeeping - to bring the console version of the game to parity with the PC version of the game. Black Matter will still be working on Hell Let Loose full time into the future, as we work on content, bugs and optimisation. We will also be working with Team17 to expand their team.
Does this alter any of the content promises made for the future?
No, all content described is being worked on. With the merging and expansion of the teams, it would not be unusual to actually see an increase in development speed and quality. This includes both future updates and patches, as well as expansions and a sequel. This also includes Kickstarter tier rewards.
Will there be plans for game-altering microtransactions?
No, Hell Let Loose has established the following patterns for additional content: paid cosmetic DLC and paid Expansions. These forms of paid content enable the team to continue supporting the development of the game. As laid out previously, paid Expansions will be introduced in a way that still allows players that own the base game to play them, as we feel that splitting the community across different map packs is detrimental to the game.
Does Team17’s vision for the product differ from Black Matter’s?
No. Everyone on the development team - from both T17 and Black Matter - have come on the journey in both finding the unique DNA that makes HLL what it is. As a team, we know that to compromise on any of those things would be very harmful to the title. It is both Black Matter and Team17’s belief that our difference from other mainstream FPS games is our strength - not a weakness that needs to be corrected.
Finally, on behalf of Black Matter and Team17 we want to thank the community for the incredible support we’ve received since the very beginning. We’re extremely excited to continue the journey of Hell Let Loose as we continue to polish and optimise, as well as create more content - including forces, maps, weapons, game features, vehicles and so much more.
Community Content
We continue to see some great content from the Hell Let Loose community members showcased in the official HLL discord. Being separate from the dedicated team of ‘War Correspondents’ the HLL general community comprises every person who is involved with HLL (That means you as well!).
Let's take a look at some of the fantastic screenshots from a community member [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems, thanks for some amazing action shots!
‘Overwatch’ - [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems
‘Taking The Beach’’ - [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems
‘Holding The Line’ - [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems
‘Taking A Knee’ - [233C] Chrysallia Van Cheems
War Correspondent, Content Creator and Community HLL Videos
Time for some more community highlights from the below creators.
We highly recommend giving these a watch. If you see a Video you like make sure to post in the Discord #hll-videos channel.
The 2022 Complete Guide to Hell Let Loose
Hell Let Loose - How to play Forest Maps
How Halftracks Work - Hell Let Loose - Update 11
