March Live Event - Recap

[p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]A few days ago we hosted a live event on our Twitch channel to update you on Broken Arrow’s Baltic Battalion release development progress. In case you missed it, you can re-watch it here.

Below, you’ll find a recap of what was discussed. Thanks for your continued support, the game will continue to evolve according to the Roadmap and your feedback. The next live event will be held in April.
[/p][p]First of all, we wanted to address the release date.[/p][p]We want to assure you that Baltic Battalion will be released before the end of the month, so you can expect it within the next couple of weeks, between March 26th to March 31st. We encountered a last minute, unexpected problem with the voice over.[/p][p]Regarding the Spring Sale, Broken Arrow will be discounted by 15% from March 19th to March 26th. However, we will extend this promotion until April 6th so that players can take advantage of the discount alongside the release of Baltic Battalion.
[/p][p]The roadmap has been updated to reflect current progress.[/p][p]The Baltic Battalion DLC is considered complete and is awaiting release. The next specialization is in development, while spectator mode is now actively being worked on. Post-match reporting has already been implemented.[/p][p]This roadmap remains a live document and will continue to evolve over time.
[/p][p][/p][p]The Baltic Battalion DLC introduces a new army specialization for the US faction, increasing the total number of available specializations to six.[/p][p]It is built around the concept of allied reinforcements, combining Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia into a single playable force. These countries have been grouped together because, individually, they do not provide enough equipment to form a complete specialization. This system is designed to expand further as new nations are introduced.[/p][p]The specialization focuses on motorized and mechanized warfare, with a strong emphasis on infantry and infantry fighting vehicles. Compared to other US specializations, it is less tank-focused, heavier than Stryker-based formations, and more versatile than Marines, while having more limited access to helicopters and aircraft.[/p][p]A key aspect of the design is the wide mix of modern and older equipment, reflecting the reliance of Baltic armies on reservists and conscription. Players will have access to a broad variety of units, but more advanced equipment is available in lower numbers, encouraging diverse deck-building rather than repetition.[/p][p]Infantry plays a central role, with a large variety of units organized by role rather than loadout. Each role includes one unit per country, and players can switch between national variants, fully replacing the unit, including its weapons and visual identity.[/p][p]The specialization also includes diverse reconnaissance options, ranging from combat-ready recon squads to stealth-focused infiltrators such as snipers and amphibious units capable of operating through waterways.[/p][p]The vehicle roster complements this approach with a mix of reconnaissance, transport, and combat platforms, including fast tracked vehicles and older systems equipped with specialized weapons such as early top-attack missiles.

If you’d like to go into more detail, you can read the latest Dev Diary about Baltic Battalion’s units here.
[/p][p]A major update will be released alongside the DLC.[/p][p]This update includes numerous fixes for gameplay exploits that have been identified recently, along with significant technical improvements. Most notably, the game size has been reduced from 100 GB to 60 GB thanks to a new texture compression system, which will also allow for smaller and faster updates going forward.[/p][p]Several quality of life improvements have also been introduced. A Streamer Safe Mode allows players to hide chat content to avoid potential bans on platforms such as Twitch. Players can now report others after a match, addressing cases where reports were missed during gameplay. In addition, anti-cheat has been disabled in scenario lobbies to better support modding, which often relies on systems similar to those used by cheats.[/p][p]From a gameplay perspective, infantry balance has been adjusted, with medium-range weapons such as machine guns and designated marksman rifles receiving buffs. The protection system has also been reworked so that smaller squads benefit more from protection, while larger squads benefit slightly less.[/p][p]Finally, a new feature called emergency airdrop has been introduced. This allows players to immediately deploy units from transport aircraft when threatened, making airborne strategies more viable, particularly in multiplayer.
[/p][p]A Public Testing Environment will be introduced after the release of the DLC, with a planned launch in April.[/p][p]The purpose of this system is to test major gameplay changes without affecting the stability of the main game. It also allows developers to gather structured feedback from the community.[/p][p]The testing will focus on three main areas: air combat, ground combat, and game modes.[/p][p]Air combat changes include a rework of missile allocation systems to improve interception logic. Ground combat adjustments aim to reduce the dominance of artillery while strengthening both tanks against vehicles and infantry against vehicles.[/p][p]An experimental game mode is also being tested where capture points generate score over time rather than instantly, which could significantly impact pacing and strategy.[/p][p]The Public Testing Environment will be publicly accessible, allowing all players to participate.
[/p]

• [p]On the monetization of future US and Russian specializations: Will all future specializations for the two base-game factions (USA and Russia) be free for those who own the core game? Or should we expect new specializations for existing nations to be sold as paid DLC, similar to how entirely new factions are handled?
  The approach doesn’t depend on whether the specialization is for the US or Russia, but rather on the scope and amount of content included in the DLC. If a DLC is large and introduces many new units and features that require significant development time and resources, we can’t realistically release it for free, as development time still has a cost. In this specific case, we wanted to make a gesture to the Broken Arrow community by celebrating an important milestone together: the release of the game’s first DLC. That said, we will absolutely continue to release free content updates as we’ve already done for events like Halloween. However, applying the same model every time (for example, releasing one free specialization per faction) wouldn’t be economically sustainable in the long run.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]What are the next features we can expect?
  Saves for solo, observers for multiplayer are the next two big things but it will take some time.
  A beta testing branch will be open soon after the DLC to let the community test quality of life improvements and game mechanics modifications.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Some players have been asking about the team’s capacity to support the game long-term. Could you share a bit about how the team is currently structured and how you plan to support future content and updates?
  We’re slowly increasing the size of the team, we released the game with approximately 15 persons working full time, we are approaching 30 now.
  We plan to support the game for many years with new armies, biomes, game modes etc..[/p][p][/p]
• [p]When do you plan the next balance update?
  The DLC will contain some global changes impacting the balance:[/p]
  • [p]Howitzers and MLRS aim time increase[/p]
  • [p]Infantry medium and heavy machine guns and marksman rifles damage increase.[/p]
  • [p]A modification on how infantry damage works, more soldiers in the squad means slightly more damage taken.[/p]
  • [p]More accurate tank guns.[/p]
  [p]But we plan to have major changes coming from the PTE that will impact the balance so we wait for the feedback from the public and will adapt.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Are you willing to open a map making section of the editor?
  Impossible in short to medium terms as we use third party softwares to make the maps.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]After hearing the community's response, are there any plans on rearranging or speeding up the release of DLC so that the upcoming new faction comes before 2027?
  It’s not just a faction but also a new campaign, new features etc. so it takes time to make.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Any new news in regards to modding?
  Next patch will allow players to open scenario lobbies with modifications of the game. (one of the two anti-cheats was not disabled previously)[/p][p]Also, we are working on a feature to include a copy of the units database in scenarios.
  This database can be modified with a third party editor (many of them available for free).
  This means that you can create a scenario (remember: a multiplayer game mode is a scenario) with units having different characteristics.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Are you planning to add a Middle East campaign?
  Yes but not in the near future.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]In the last live stream you all teased a bit about having attack drones. Are these attack drones going to be one way attack drones like Shahead? Or are they more like FPV scout and bomber drones for infantry? Will they be countered by MANPAD missiles? 
  Loitering ammunition is the term we used. These are basically missiles with man in the middle control or AI terminal guidance.  The rules of what can intercept or not must still be defined and tested.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]On the status of Baltic Battalion and upcoming factions: Currently, the Baltic Battalion specialization is announced as a free 6th specialization for the USA. If a dedicated European Union (or a joint European) faction is introduced later, do you plan to migrate the Baltic units to that new faction? Will this specialization remain a permanent part of the US roster, or is it a placeholder until a more fitting faction is released? ​
  We will take this decision when the moment comes. But technically nothing prevents a specialization to be present in two factions at the same time.
  And this works in both directions, you can imagine USMC or US airborne being part of another faction as ally reinforcement.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Will ships or similar units arrive at some point?
  We will expand the ships options in the future with rubber boats, patrol boats and larger ships supporting ground battles with guns and missiles.
  As for true blue water naval warfare the scale is very different from ground battle, fleets are strategic assets and fit better a game like ICBM than Broken Arrow in their use.
  So we are thinking how we could make that compatible with our game but it’s not easy.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]We already have things like the M10 with the UT50 turret or the F/A-18C with the AIM-174B. Will we see more things like this for example, the M1 Thumper, the AGDS, certain Object tanks like the 640, or a wheeled Sprut, which to my knowledge is a real concept that was even shown on April Fools as an in-game vehicle. I can’t speak for everyone, but I personally enjoy seeing this kind of equipment in the game.
  There are also people who react negatively to anything that is not standard equipment. So we try to find a balance between realism, fantasy and gameplay interest.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Are there any plans to improve the implementation of the overkill mechanic & ROE?
  Yes but there is a lot of bug and exploit potential. So a small improvement will arrive with DLC and bigger changes will be tested in the beta branch.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]In a few years down the line after you have added most of the major and minor countries, do you imagine yourselves releasing a massive DLC with a sandbox campaign expansion?
  We will not wait to have all the countries released to start proposing more diverse content otherwise this will be done in 10 years, there are so many countries.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Are there any plans to remove/rework the elo system?
  Splitting Elo by faction or country is something we consider valuable, and it’s a direction we would like to pursue. However, it comes with technical challenges tied to how the current matchmaking system works. At the moment, players are grouped based on a single Elo value before factions are assigned. This becomes particularly complex when players choose a random nation, as the system cannot reliably determine which Elo rating should be used during matchmaking. Because of these constraints, we currently maintain a single Elo per player. In the meantime, to ensure the system remains fair as the game evolves, we plan to introduce seasonal resets, where Elo is partially reset following major balance updates or new DLC releases that significantly impact gameplay.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]What happened to all the skins from the betas?
  We have added many skins to vehicles since beta, for infantry this was experimental, there are some technical difficulties and we have been focusing on other stuff since release.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]When will the next spec release after you release baltics?
  This Summer normally.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Why are you guys not releasing minor hotfixes every week or two for units? Rather than doing one major update 3 or 4 months later and end up making other units or factions overpowered until another major update to fix that. 
  Because it takes time to prepare a patch and make sure we don’t introduce bugs regardless of the time it took to make the actual change.
  Making small changes all the time would drastically increase the amount of time spent with patching and this time wouldn’t be used for developing new features.[/p][p]The beta testing branch we are opening soon is one way to make this process faster. Because it’s a beta branch we can push changes faster there, potentially break it for a day and then fix it the next without generating a lot of negativity because the game is unstable.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Hello, have you planned a rework for lightly armored transport vehicles that can survive a direct hit from an MBT and still remain with 1 HP?
  This is part of beta branch tests to increase damage of tank guns vs vehicles.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Will blowing up a transport damage and shock the transported squads more?
  beta branch tests[/p][p][/p]
• [p]When will it be possible to see the mission name from the lobby, so I don’t have to enter a room to decide whether to play or quit? 
  There is a balance to find between the refresh rate of the lobby list and the quantity of information we can display before entering a lobby.
  So I take note of the demand and will ask if this is possible.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]This isn't supposed to come off as rude, and I apologise if it does. It just seems that a majority of the playerbase has been dissatisfied with the state of the game, and I rarely saw any action on it. It took a while to get an anti-cheat, and it's still as powerful as a slug. For the first 5 months (ish) of the game players genuinely believed devs ditched this game, and it was a complete cash grab. I just wanted to know why, what happened and/or will this be changed?
  We’ve been working non stop since release and will continue to work on it for years, it’s just that most of the work is invisible from the users’ point of view.
  It’s like adding a new light switch on the wall. All you see as a user is the plastic switch, this takes 5min to install or change but the majority of the work is to bring the cable to the switch. And if there was no plan to have a switch there when the house was built you have to tear down some of the wall to bring the cable.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]The waiting times are crazy and cheating is staying forever. So please give us these modes: 1v1 and 2v2
  Splitting between multiple modes will increase the wait time and will not eliminate cheating.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Are there any plans for more infantry friendly ammo supply?
  Yes, beta branch[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Have you considered rotating, experimental or wacky gamemodes that would be available for a limited time. These could be either just a fun gimmick that gets old in a weekend like infantry only mode, or a way to gain insight on potential changes, like map layouts, 3v3 or attack & defend.
  Multiple game modes means less people for each of them so you don't find any matches if you have too many.
  But time limited events are a good way to focus the attention of enough players on one game mode at a time. Definitely something to be considered.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Would love to be able to select ONLY the Marines or ONLY the Airborne instead of having to combine 2 specialities at all times.
  An improvement of multiplayer rules that will arrive with the DLC is to calculate the upkeep based on a fixed deck value of 10000 instead of the actual value of the deck. Meaning that if you want to make a deck with USMC units only and that represents less than 10000 points you will not be penalized.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Do you plan to build in some kind of "randomness" to Maps, for example "randomized" capture points, slightly rotated layouts, changes to spawn locations, etc.
  Yes, this involves some challenges in terms of network synchronization, UI and balance but it’s definitely something we’re trying to create.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Could radar vehicles be added?
  A vehicle which would only act as a SAM but without missiles is weak in terms of gameplay interaction.
  So a dedicated radar vehicle would have to combine more than that to be interesting. For instance combine anti-air radar with counter battery radar with electronic surveillance all together in a single unit.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Are you guys going to add the ability to jump out a osprey or chinook heli with troops that have parachutes or have the airdrop ability?without the helicopters needing to stop but continuing in motion like a c17
  No, but we plan to add fast roping animations at some point to drop infantry directly in forest and in buildings from the roof.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Are there any plans to improve AI for skirmish and maybe 25% progress for unlocking camouflage ?
  Improved AI is planned but is a long work.
  Unlocking more rewards for players playing only skirmish is something we are okay with.[/p]