Hello Bleeding Edge community! It’s been almost a month since we launched Bleeding Edge and we’ve certainly had our work cut out for us in that time. There are thousands of you providing us with your feedback and suggestions on how we can improve the game balancing, what new content we should add, what fixes need to be addressed and what content is in the future of Bleeding Edge. [h1]The Story So Far[/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/36186306/9bc6b7d6da05332664ebb29950ac8e26bc163d6e.jpg[/img] When Bleeding Edge launched on March 24th, the team were paying very close attention to what our players were telling us and we made some decisions that day that changed our content release schedule, as announced in our community update. On launch day we knew there things we needed to address such as connection issues, lag & stability, and game localisation. As mentioned above, [i][b]we made the decision to change our release schedule so we could focus on fixing problems that were having a negative impact on player experience[/b][/i]. This meant that Mekko, the latest addition to our roster, had to wait until we were confident everyone who wanted to play our lovable new mechanised fighter could do so with the latest fixes and optimisations in place. One of the major fixes in our last patch resolved a problem where players in a party could not find a game when matchmaking, and since then we’ve seen some people mistake the change as “region locking”. [i][b]We want to let you all know that Bleeding Edge is NOT region locked,[/b][/i] your ability to connect and play with others is based entirely on your connection strength and ping. Before the patch, players could party and search for a game with anyone, which meant that there wouldn’t be any servers available that would provide a quality networking experience for all players. This led to long matchmaking times, and in the case of a game being found the lag and high ping made the games difficult for everyone to enjoy. The changes we’ve made now ensure that only players with acceptable ping and connection to one another can find a game whilst in a party, which has improved the quality of matches for the entire community at the cost of slightly increased match making times. [h1]Mekko Coming Next Week[/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/36186306/40b8ebb892ff553e2bf5aad4f476144f14dcf1fd.gif[/img] We are happy to say Mekko will finally be joining the Bleeding Edge roster in our next patch, which we are hoping to push live next week! Alongside Mekko we are also adding [i][b]a new unlockable emote for all fighters and the TECHNO VIKING board.[/b][/i] This will of course come with a handful of paint jobs available to unlock with your credits to further customise your Bleeding Edge fighters! We have recently received reports from console players who have continued to experience problems when playing Bleeding Edge online. Following the last patch our team turned their focus to investigating these issues and looking for optimisations and fixes to improve the game for our console player base. We’re delighted to say the latest batch of changes we tested have shown a noticeable improvement to game performance across all platforms. [i][b]These fixes will also improve issues where players experience other fighters teleporting or rubber banding around the map.[/b][/i] [h1]What's After Mekko?[/h1] We don’t want to leave our amazing and dedicated player base wanting more so we’re stretching out this update to let you know about what other features and changes we’re working on for the NEXT patch following the release of Mekko. As those of you with the Punk Pack can confirm, it’s an awesome feeling when you have a cool and unique skin to make your fighter stand out from the crowd. Our team is thrilled to let you know [i][b]we will be rolling out a skin pack in our post Mekko patch[/b][/i] which will add multiple new skins for every fighter! These are not palette swaps or tints but entirely new designs from the minds of the Bleeding Edge development team. But don’t take our word for it, check out Maeve "The Baron" Murphy in all her glory! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/36186306/89344a8b3f5fd397732704c09d484ba6daed58ec.gif[/img] Whilst we don’t have a firm date on the following, we can let you know our team are also experimenting with new ideas for game modes, and we have another new fighter in the works. We’re looking into custom and ranked game modes to see if they have a place in Bleeding Edge and we have a new map currently in the works. The Bleeding Edge development team may be small, but we’re passionate about game and the amazing community we have, we will continue to read and listen to what you tell us and keep you updated on our plans for Bleeding Edge. [h1]We're Going Live![/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/36186306/4e48a179907bf022342fb514d97aecf25f91a783.png[/img] Finally, the Bleeding Edge dev team will be [i][b]live streaming the game on Friday the 24th of April, 3-5pm BST,[/b][/i] exactly one month since Bleeding Edge launched. [b]You can watch here:[/b] [url=https://www.mixer.com/playbleedingedge]Mixer[/url] [url=https://www.twitch.tv/bleedingedge]Twitch[/url] [url=https://www.youtube.com/officialninjatheory]YouTube[/url] We'll be playing against the community and showing off our skills (or lack thereof). We might even have more to say about the upcoming content we’re working on so stop by and say hi! Take care misfits!