With Wild Blood just recently settling into the Albion Online patch archive, Sandbox Interactive is already moving on to talking about the game’s next big thing.
SBI’s Robin Henkys gets candid with players from the Comfy Chair, explaining that Wild Blood took extra time to produce owing to the launch of Albion East earlier this year, the novel features of the shapeshifter weapon line, the impact of awakened weapons on the overall combat system, and the parallel nature of this particular patch’s development. Consequently, he says, the studio aims to change all that in 2023 by – and this is becoming quite a major theme this year – shifting from slower large patches to faster small patches.
The new cadence will coincide with the guild season schedule – every three months – and involve smaller updates “targeted at a specific area of the game,” with other game changes happening “when they are ready.” And even if there’s nothing in the current patch for your personal playstyle, “the next patch is never too far away,” Henkys says, echoing studios like ArenaNet who’ve used nearly the same phrase.
“Updates will therefore vary in size depending on how many features are completed in each cycle, and the next update will never be far off,” SBI says in the accompanying blog post. “This way we can focus on the key features of each, ensuring they are delivered to the highest possible standard.”
All of this means the next update is slated for January, with new rewards, a new system for territorial season points, a new territory raiding mechanic, and daily might bonuses for territory play, in addition to tweaks for hideouts.
