Blood Bowl 3 developer Cyanide Studio has apologized to players for the "problems" that have plagued the game since it released earlier this week.
In a statement posted to Steam, Cyanide said it was committed to giving players "an update on the main topic without avoiding anything" and surmised that the main issues affecting player satisfaction were, in order: the monetization, the Brutal Edition, the game "state", the server issues, the Faction Leaks, and the Blood Bowl team. The team then outlined how it hoped to address each of those points.
"We’d like to start with where the game is at launch and what players can expect from us as we move forward," the team began (thanks, PC Gamer). "We know there are some features missing that players expect, being able to reconnect in a game, for example, and we are working hard to get those features added.
"The functionality of the game is our main priority, and rest assured, we will do our best to address any bugs or broken elements as soon as we can.
"We hope that Blood Bowl 3 will be a game that is ever-evolving. Even the end of the roadmap is not the end of the road. We will continuously add content and events. We have big plans and ambitions for Blood Bowl 3 and these initial stumbling blocks don’t change that."
The statement later said that the team wanted to "take this opportunity to apologize for the server issues leading up to and during launch".
"This has been our main concern since the start of the Early Unlock. Since yesterday’s patch our servers are more stable," it added.
As for the complaints about the game's monetization model? The team admits that it's a "sensitive topc" and admitted that it "will probably not be able to convince all of you, but we truly believe that our system is fair, rewarding and optional, and that’s understandable". It does, however, detail what players can get for free through leveling - 1000 Warpstone, 8 Common items, 24 uncommon items, and eight epic items - as well as pitches, grandstands, coaches, cheerleaders, balls, and dugout "among other things".
Finally, the team has promised to put right what it says is an "unfortunate error" which gave all pre-orderers the more expensive Brutal Edition, even if they hadn't paid for it. This meant some players received cosmetics and in-game currency that they were not supposed to get.
To compensate, Cyanide says it will remove cosmetics given to anyone who didn't legitimately purchase the special edition, but will let everyone keep the 1000 Warpstone. Real Brutal Edition buyers will get more, though.
"We understand this does not solve everything, but we hope that it will at least ease this feeling and show our gratitude. We will always follow this policy with our community," the update concluded.
Best described as sporting XCOM, Blood Bowl casts you as the coach overlooking a match of American football-inspired violence. The goal is to score as many touchdowns as possible, but if you can kill a star player along the way, that won’t hurt your chances of winning.
"Funnier, bloodier and more spectacular than ever, Blood Bowl 3 will be a hit with fans of the universe and strategy games alike," a press release says. "At launch, the game will include 12 teams with their own pitch and cheerleaders, Campaign and Multiplayer modes, and more customization options than a Blood Bowl game has ever received before."
Parisian studio Cyanide has been responsible for all of Blood Bowl’s digital adaptations to date, though it’s found a new publisher this time in Nacon, formerly known as Bigben Interactive.
"Blood Bowl 2 may have been a good representation of the tabletop experience, but it didn't truly feel like a sporting match," we said in our Blood Bowl 3 preview a couple of years back. "The atmosphere was never truly there. With that in mind, Blood Bowl 3 feels much more impressive."
Blood Bowl 3 is out now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC via Steam, and Nintendo Switch.
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