Thanks so much to everyone who's taken the time to play [i][b]Hades II[/b][/i] in Early Access so far! We've been delving into all your impressions and feedback, and we're very excited to move forward in this new phase of development. In this post, we wanted to share our short-term plans. [h2]We're Focused on a Smooth Play Experience[/h2] Following our launch, we've deployed several small hotfixes that alleviated rare crashes and progression bugs. We typically don't provide patch notes for small technical hotfixes such as this, though they help us make sure we're building on a solid foundation. We are continuing to watch for error reports closely. [h2]We're Gathering Feedback and Data[/h2] Impressions posted here on Steam, our official Discord, and beyond are letting us gauge how everyone's feeling about the game and how that aligns with our goals. With the help of our translators, we're getting feedback from players all over the world! We're also collecting anonymous gameplay data voluntarily submitted by players, which helps us identify opportunities to improve the balance of Boons, weapons, foes, and so on. This is an ongoing process that's just getting started. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43315153/f6d71cae4f4ff215c582f52541f83ddc7e6db0f4.png[/img] [h2]Our First Patch is In the Works![/h2] Our first patch should be coming later this month, though note we don't have a more-specific timeline. With it, we're looking for improvements we can make in the near term, in a way that makes [i][b]Hades II[/b][/i] better for everyone and come closer to realizing our goals. For example: [list] [*][b]Resource Gathering: [/b]We want [i][b]Hades II[/b][/i] players to focus on goals that are important to them, though don't want resource gathering to feel too frustrating, such as if you didn't bring the right gathering tool along for the ride. [*][b]Getting Around: [/b]It's important to us that Melinoë have her own distinct style, and for players to be able to navigate her battles and other interactions in a nimble, responsive, expressive way. We have ideas for how to improve her Dash and Sprint. [/list] Our first patch will likely have a few other enhancements and fixes, and we'll have comprehensive patch notes when the time comes. So stay tuned! [h2]We're Considering Our First Balance Changes[/h2] If you were with us for the Early Access development of the original game, you know we love making balance changes! We're always looking for opportunities to make the content and choices in the game as interesting as we can. However, we're still gathering feedback and data that helps inform the kind of changes we like to make, so don't expect too many such changes just yet. [h2]Thank You For Your Support![/h2] We will likely have at least one more patch after our first, to make additional improvements and fixes in the short term. From there, we will focus on the development of our first Major Update planned for some months from now, which will contain various new features and content. Early Access has already been incredibly instructive to us about ways in which we might make [i][b]Hades II[/b][/i] the best it can be. We really appreciate you playing and taking the time to share your impressions with us! [i]Death to Chronos![/i]