Company of Heroes 3 - News

Balance Update - 1.1.4

We are excited to release our first major balance update in 1.1.4. In this update, our team has focused on several key areas to tone down oppressive strategies and increase unit and strategic diversity. We will continue to monitor unit/faction performance for future updates.
In this Update you can expect:

General adjustment to balance for all factions
Balance pass over Battlegroups
Addressing the power of Forward Reinforcement
Significant changes and boosts to Heavy Machine Guns and Anti-Tank Gun teams

Check out our livestream where we discuss the objectives of this update with our Gameplay Designers and what we're keeping an eye on.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

GENERAL GAMEPLAY CHANGES

Anti-Tank Rifles Afrikakorps Panzerjager Panzerbusche & British Corps Infantry Section Boys Anti-Tank Rifles
Anti-Tank rifles are overperforming in their ability to shutdown vehicle play and engage targets while under suppression. The following changes address these cases and allow vehicles to kite Anti-Tank Rifle Units.

Range decreased from 40 to 35
Weapon cooldown modifier when suppressed increased by +50%

Auto-Reverse Distance
Auto-reverse distance is being increased to reduce how often a player needs to use the Reverse ability and make it easier to back vehicles up during the heat of battle.

The distance a player can now right-click to issue an automatic auto-reverse command without using the auto-reverse ability has been set from 20 to 60

Barbed Wire

Armor increased from 1 to 10

Bunkers
Wehrmacht Bunkers & Afrikakorps Heavy Machine Gun Bunker

Build times standardized to 20 seconds

Button Abilities
Flak 30 AA Gun, M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage & M1919 Heavy Machine Gun Team
Button has been overhauled to be less punishing. Buttoned vehicles can now fight back and will no longer be immobilized, allowing them to maneuver or retreat.

Button no longer disables weapons
Button now reduces sight by 50% and speed by 25%; speed penalty is increased to 50% on penetrating hits
Duration set to 15 seconds
Indicator now added when the ability is active
Recharge time standardized to 120 seconds

Forward Reinforcement Times
We have adjusted forward reinforcement to lessen the power of front-line reinforcement, especially during combat. This should dramatically lower the efficiency of forward reinforcing, making it less oppressive in larger games.

Reinforcement time of in-combat units located +45m away from the HQ increased by +100% for a total of +200%
Reinforcement time of units located +45m away from the HQ increased by +100%

Mobile Anti-Tank Guns
Anti-tank guns are seeing improvements across the board, increasing their reliability and performance against vehicles. Additionally, we have implemented key adjustments to minimize the frequency of shells striking the terrain ensuring a more consistent performance at long ranges.

Accuracy at long-range increased by 7%
Build times standardized to 40 seconds
Aim-time decreased from 0.5 to 0.125
Horizontal traverse speed increased from 16 to 24
Reinforcement time standardized to 5 seconds
Will hit objects and terrain significantly less

Mobile Heavy Machine Guns
Heavy Machine Guns are seeing improvements across the board to address their unreliability in their anti-infantry / or “anti-blob” role.

Cost standardized to 240 manpower
Crew health increased from 80 to 90
Horizontal traverse speed increased from 35 to 50
Infantry now become pinned around 17% faster
Reinforcement time standardized to 5 seconds
Suppression radius increased from 13 to 15
Suppression recovery now takes 3 seconds longer

Smoke

Smoke duration decreased from 30 to 20 seconds

Snipers
We are reducing the effectiveness of snipers when operating independently. They will now require spotters to utilize their full range and are more vulnerable to incoming fire. Furthermore, these units will now fire marginally slower.

Aim-times standardized to 1.75 seconds
Target size increased from 1.33 to 1.5
Vision range decreased from 45 to 35
Weapon cooldown increased from 3.5 to 3.75/3.825 seconds

FACTION CHANGES

[h2]US Forces[/h2]
US Forces continues to struggle in team game modes where many of their advantages are less pronounced. Our focus for this patch has been to improve their mid-game options, reduce the price of certain upgrades, and strengthen their light vehicle play.
4x4 Truck

30cal machine gun lethality increased by 13%
Self-repair speed increased from 8 to 12
Self-repair duration increased from 10 to 15
Veteran ability Capture and Decapture speed increased from 100% to 125%

Advanced Logistics

Manpower cost reduced from 250 to 200

Assault Engineers

Reinforcement cost decreased from 25 to 23

Bazooka Team

The Destroy Obstacles ability damage penalty against infantry is increased from 25% to 75%
White Phosphorus Rocket ability cost increased from 25 to 35 munitions

Engineer

Reinforcement cost decreased from 25 to 23

Grenade Package

Fuel cost decreased from 25 to 15
Research time decreased from 30 to 25 seconds

High Velocity Armor Piercing Rounds
M4A3E8 Sherman & M18 Hellcat

Can no longer pierce through shot-blocking obstacles
HVAP rounds now use the reload times of the parent vehicle’s main weapon, this is a general reload time decrease of 1 second resulting in increased rate of fire

M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage
We have adjusted the M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage to be geared to destroying lighter vehicles and providing fire support against units like dug-in infantry and Heavy Machine Guns.

Aim-time decreased from 1 to 0.125
Barrage range decreased from 60 to 50
Barrage recharge decreased from 70 to 45 seconds
Penetration decreased from 300/250/220 to 200/160/140
Reload time decreased from 4/4.5 to 3.75 seconds
Rotation rate increased from 30 to 50

M3 Half-track

Conversion to M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage decreased from 75 to 60 munitions
Manpower cost decreased from 270 to 250
Non-converted form now gains Shared Veterancy

M4 Sherman 105mm Dozer

Manpower cost decreased from 420 to 400

M8 Greyhound
These changes are intended to increase the Greyhound’s performance against infantry in open terrain.

.30cal Coaxial Machine Gun lethality increased by 10% at all ranges
.50cal Pintle Machine Gun lethality increased by 20% at all ranges
Speed increased from 6.4 to 6.75

M8 Scott

Barrage minimum range decreased from 15 to 10
Cost decreased from 320 manpower and 60 fuel to 280 manpower and 50 fuel
High Explosive Barrage reload time decreased from 3/4 to 2/2.75 seconds
Horizontal weapon traverse speed increased from 30 to 45
Reload time decreased from 4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds
Vertical weapon traverse speed increased from 10 to 15

M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage

Armor decreased from 12.5/9.375/6 to 10/7/5
Can now use the Prioritize Vehicles ability
Damage against aircraft decreased by -77.5%
Weapon penetration decreased from 2.5/2/1.5 to 2.5/1.5/1.25

M24 Chaffee Light Tank
These changes will make the unit more effective at hunting down other light vehicles, give it better maneuverability to flank heavier vehicles, and disengaging from enemy threats.

Acceleration from 2.5 to 3.5
Deceleration from 3.5 to 5.5
Manpower cost reduced from 320 to 300
Now has medium vehicle pathing and medium crush
Rotation rate from 35 to 40
Reload time decreased from 3.875/4.375 to 3.5/4 seconds
Speed from 5.5 to 6.5

M1918 Browning Automatic Rifles

Research time decreased from 45 to 30 seconds

M1919 Heavy Machine Gun Team

Build time decreased from 45 to 30

Riflemen
Pour it On’Em has received a heavy adjustment to its suppression. Previously, it allowed Riflemen to win all infantry engagements through suppression while also receiving a damage boost. Browning Automatic Rifles have also had their accuracy slightly increased to improve their effectiveness at range.

Browning Automatic Rifle long-range lethality increased by 15%
Browning Automatic Rifle mid-range lethality increased by 5%

Pour it On’Em

Area suppression removed
Recharge time from 120 seconds to 180 seconds
Weapon suppression adjusted; changes are a general decrease
Browning Automatic Rifle suppression decreased from 0.005 to 0.003
Garand Rifle suppression increased from 0.005 to 0.0075
Thompson SMG suppression decreased from 0.01 to 0.00075

Survival Training

Fuel cost decreased from 80 to 50
Health increase now applies to team weapon crews

M4A3E8 Sherman
To differentiate the Easy Eight from regular 76mm Shermans, the High-Velocity Armor Piercing Rounds ability now comes as default, while also retaining the regular Sherman veterancy abilities, giving the tank excellent flexibility and options.

High-Velocity Armor Piercing Rounds veteran ability is now a default ability
Veterancy abilities changed to the match standard M4A1 Sherman – High Explosive Rounds and White Phosphorous Rounds

Sherman Whizbang

Cost reduced from 400 manpower and 100 fuel to 380 manpower and 80 fuel
Population cost decreased from 14 to 13

[h3]US Forces Battlegroups[/h3]
Armored Battlegroup

Rapid Production Command Point cost decreased from 1 to 0
Seek and Destroy Command Point cost increased from 2 to 3
Strength in Steel Command Point cost decreased from 2 to 1

Field Repairs
Field Repairs has been reworked to be easier to use and have a greater impact.

Ability duration increased from 30 to 45 seconds
Health restored per second increased from 11 to 20
Munitions cost decreased from 125 to 100
Will now activate if the vehicle is on the move

M4A3E8 Sherman Combat Group
The cost of the combat group has been significantly reduced to better reflect the capabilities of the Sherman Easy Eight, its timing, and its position in the Battlegroup.

Cost decreased from 800 manpower and 120 fuel to 640 manpower and 100 fuel
Command Point cost decreased from 8 to 7
The Sherman Easy Eight will now enter the field carrying a Veteran Level 1 Assault Engineer Squad instead of the standard Rifleman Squad

Special Operations Battlegroup

Sherman Whizbang Command Point cost decreased from 6 to 5

[h2]Wehrmacht[/h2]
The Wehrmacht is receiving boosts to its early game with improvements focused on the Panzergrenadier Kompanie to increase build and composition diversity. We are also addressing the dominance of Jägers across all game modes.
251 Medium Carrier

Conversion to Stummel cost decreased from 90 to 60 munitions
Non-converted form now gains Shared Veterancy
Riegel Mines now properly camouflage and trigger
Riegel Mine damage increased from 300 to 500
Riegel Mine deployment time from 11.5 seconds to 7.5 seconds

Armored Car 221

Cost decreased from 280 manpower and 30 fuel to 220 manpower and 25 fuel
Panzerbusche mid-range accuracy increased by 18%
Panzerbusche far-range accuracy increased by 43%
Speed increased from 6 to 7.75

Fallschirmjaeger

FG 42 ready-aim time from 0.125 to 0.5/1

Fallschirmpioneers

Reinforcement cost increased from 28 to 30 manpower

Flak 30 20mm Anti-Air Gun

Build time decreased from 50 to 45 seconds

Grenadiers
Grenadiers have received several adjustments to slightly improve their performance, so they are in-line with other early game infantry.

Assault Package cost from 45 to 50 munitions
Assault Package Sprint ability munition cost removed
Sprint recharge time increased from 35 to 180
Manpower cost decreased from 270 to 260
Medical kit healing duration increased from 15 to 30 seconds
Medical kit healing rate per second reduced from 8 to 6
Veterancy Level 2 accuracy bonus multiplier increased from 10% to 15%
Veterancy requirements decreased from 900/2700/5400 to 800/2400/4800

Hulldown Ability
This ability now has a delayed activation to prevent immediate defensive boosts.

Hulldown bonuses are activated 10 seconds after the ability is triggered.
An indicator was added to represent the countdown before the bonus triggers.

Jäger Light Infantry
The Panzerschreck Jägers high flexibility, powerful base stats, and superior anti-tank capabilities have made them dominant in all modes. We are shaving off a significant amount of power from the unupgraded Jäger and Panzerschreck Jägers, emphasizing tradeoffs when opting out of the Reconnaissance Package.

Capture and decapture rate decreased from 150%/125% to 133%/100%
Smoke grenade range decreased from 45 to 35
Sight reduced from 42 to 35
Reconnaissance Package now increases vision by +7 and capture and decapture rate back to 150%/125%

Panzerschreck

Accuracy against infantry decreased by 50%
Area of effect damage removed
Long-range aim-time multiplier increased from +50% to +100%
Ready-aim time increased from 1/1.25 to 1.25/1.5 seconds
Scatter increased; rockets should no longer reliably scatter into vehicles at longer ranges

Marder III M Tank Destroyer

Long range accuracy increased by 20%

MG 42 Heavy Machine Gun Team

Build time decreased from 26 to 25

Officer Quarters Upgrades
Infanterie Kompanie, Luftwaffe Kompanie, Panzergrenadier Kompanie & Panzer Kompanie

Research time decreased from 45 to 30 seconds

Panzer IV Command Tank

Acceleration increased from 1.9 to 2.5
Deceleration increased from 3 to 4
Speed increased from 5 to 5.5

Panzergrenadier Squad

Manpower cost decreased from 360 to 340

StuG III G Assault Gun
We have made major changes to the StuG III to make the vehicle more attractive in larger and later games where it was unreliable at fighting enemy armor.

Acceleration increased from 1.9 to 2.67
Cost adjusted from 360 manpower and 50 fuel to 300 manpower and 60 fuel
Deceleration increased from 3 to 4
Long-range accuracy increased from 0.045 to 0.0475
Rotation rate increased from 30 to 40
Reload time decreased from 4/4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds
Weapon penetration increased from 180/140/110 to 250/180/140

Stosstruppen
Stosstruppen have received a number of improvements to make them the premiere anti-infantry squad for their cost and timing.

Armor increased from 1 to 1.25
Reinforcement cost increased from 39 to 40
Overall DPS output increased by 13%
- G43 accuracy increased from 62% / 61%/ 57% to 70% / 67% / 64%
- G43 now properly reloads after 10 rounds fired, not 9
- LMG accuracy from 46%/ 45%/ 40% to 48% / 47% / 44%
- LMG will no longer spread damage on the targeted squads but instead focus down individual entities

StuG III D Assault Gun (Short Barreled)

Acceleration increased from 1.9 to 2.67
Deceleration increased from 3 to 4
Rotation rate increased from 30 to 40

Stummel Half-track
The Stummel has been adjusted to make it a more effective fire-support unit against infantry through increased range and area of effect damage.

Auto-fire range increased from 40 to 45
Auto-fire minimum range removed
Area of Effect radius from 5 to 6
Area of Effect damage increased from 33% / 25% / 15% to 35 % / 25% / 20%
Penetration for barrage and auto-fire standardized to 20

Sturmpanzer IV Brummbar

Build time decreased from 55 to 45 seconds
Cost decreased from 440 manpower and 120 fuel to 440 manpower and 110 fuel
Rotation rate increased from 25 to 28
Reload time decreased from 8.25 to 6/6.25 seconds
Speed increased from 4 to 4.25

Wespe Self-Propelled Gun

Barrage recharge time reduced from 60 to 45 seconds
Creeping Barrage recharge time reduced from 180 to 70 seconds

[h3]Wehrmacht Battlegroups[/h3]
Breakthrough Battlegroup Panzer IV Command Tank

Command Point cost reduced from 4 to 2

Luftwaffe Battlegroup

Luftwaffe is adjusted to be in-line with the other battlegroups.
Lg 40 Paradrop and Reserve Infantry abilities positions are now interchanged in the Battlegroup tree

Fallschirmjager Paradrop

Manpower cost increased from 340 to 380

Fallschirmpioneer Paradrop

Manpower cost increased from 260 to 280
Recharge time increased from 60 to 75 seconds

Mechanized Battlegroup

8 Rad Armored Car Command Point cost reduced from 3 to 2
Stosstruppen Assault Package Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1
StuG III D Assault Group Command Point cost reduced from 4 to 3

Mechanized Assault

Munition cost increased from 80 to 120

[h2]British Forces[/h2]
The British Forces’ dominance with massed infantry backed by powerful upgrades led to oppressive gameplay and reduced build and unit diversity. We have significantly reduced the effectiveness of these strategies, requiring the faction to rely on combined arms to get the most out of their units.
Bishop Self-propelled Gun

Barrage recharge time increased from 30 to 45 seconds
B.L. 5.5 Inch Artillery Emplacement
Build time decreased from 70 seconds to 40 seconds

Centaur
The Centaur has been improved to push the unit towards a mobile anti-infantry vehicle that deals steady damage to infantry, while being able to disengage from most threats.

Area of Effect radius increased from 4 to 6
Cost decreased from 380 manpower and 80 fuel to 360 manpower and 75 fuel
Horizontal traverse speed increased from 25 to 50
Reload speed decreased 6 to 4.5 seconds
Smoke Shot veteran ability now only fires 1 round
Speed increased from 5.2 to 6

CMP15 CWT AA Truck
We have adjusted the CMP15 CWT AA Truck to primarily be geared to shooting down aircraft. We will be revisiting this unit in future updates.

Anti-aircraft range bonus from +600% to +1000%
Horizontal traverse speed increased from 120 to 160
Now deals +50% extra damage against aircraft
Range reduced from 45 to 40

Commando Light Machine Gun Section

Manpower cost reduced from 350 to 320
Population cost reduced from 9 to 8

Commandos

Reinforcement cost decreased from 40 to 31

Crusader II

Fuel has been increased to better reflect the performance of the Crusader.
Fuel cost increased from 60 to 70

Dingo

Coordinate Barrage and Decoy Flare range decreased from 60 to 45
Coordinated Barrage cost decreased from 45 to 35 munitions
Distribute Medical Supplies duration increased from 15 to 45 seconds
Distribute Medical Supplies recharge time decreased from 180 to 120

Infantry Section
The following change now forces Infantry Sections to be in cover to gain their veterancy 1 ability bonuses, making them less effective when in the open.

Base of Fire passive veteran ability now requires the unit to be in cover to activate
Coordinated Barrage cost decreased from 45 to 35 munitions

Matilda II Heavy Tank

Population cost reduced from 14 to 13

Royal Engineer Section

Build time increased from 16 to 20 seconds

Training Center Upgrades
The Training Center provided excessive value for its cost, could be confusing forplayers and enabled Veteran British units to heavily out scale their opponents. We have streamlined the combat bonuses to only apply once and removed the damage bonus. This significant reduction should maintain British units’ early-to-mid game power but result in a noticeable drop in late-game scaling.

Combat bonuses now only apply once to units with at least 1 level of Veterancy
Damage bonuses from all upgrades removed
No longer stacks per veterancy level. Is now a consistent 10% bonus that is applied only once

Vicker Heavy Machine Gun Team

Build time decreased from 41 to 30 seconds

[h3]British Forces Battlegroups[/h3]
Air and Sea Battlegroup

Hawker Typhoon Anti-Tank Loiter Command Point cost increased from 3 to 5
Incendiary Bombing Run Command Point cost increased from 1 to 3

Naval Blockade

Duration reduced from 60 to 30 seconds
Munitions cost reduced from 80 to 50

British Armoured

Churchill Black Prince Command Point cost increased from 6 to 7

Indian Artillery
These changes to the Battlegroup better reflect the power of Volunteer Infantry and its role as a middle to late game option that requires the player to commit to the end of the Battlegroup tree to obtain.

War Cry and Volunteer Infantry positions swapped; command point costs for both abilities unchanged

4.2 Inch Heavy Mortar

Cost increased from 440 manpower to 440 manpower and 20 fuel

Perimeter Monitor

Perimeter Monitor Cost increased from 150 to 225 munitions

[h2]Afrikakorps[/h2]
The Afrikakorps were oppressive in its middle and late game while also being overly vulnerable early on. We are making minor adjustments to even this out by strengthening its early game and reducing the power of their Armory upgrades.
250 Light Carrier
These changes should allow Afrikakorps players to delay building dedicated healing.

20mm autocannon conversion cost reduced from 75 to 60 munitions
Build time reduced from 40 to 35 seconds
Distribute Medical Supplies duration increased from 15 to 45 seconds
Distribute Medical Supplies recharge time decreased from 180 to 120

Advanced Field Repairs

Manpower cost reduced from 250 to 200

 
Booby Trap

Armor reduced from 35 to 1

Emergency Repair Kits

Manpower cost increased from 250 to 325

 
Fire Support Elements

Cost reduced from 150 manpower and 45 fuel to 100 manpower and 40 fuel

Flak 36 88mm Anti-Tank Gun

Build time increased from 30 to 45 seconds

Flakvierling Half-track
The Flakvierling Half-track is having its effectiveness increased to better reflect its timing and role as a low durability, but high firepower unit.

Accuracy increased from 40% / 35% / 30% to 44% / 42% / 36%
Angle scatter reduced from 8 to 3
Burst duration increased from 1.75/2.5 to 3.5/4 seconds
Weapon cooldown reduced 2/2.5 to 1.5 seconds
Weapon long-range cooldown multiplier increased by 50%

Guastatori
Guastatori have been adjusted to remove their anti-vehicle snare, focusing their role as an anti-infantry and anti-garrison unit. Their cost has been reduced to reflect this.

Anti-tank satchel ability removed
Manpower cost reduced from 440 to 400
Now able to plant regular mines
T.35 Gas Mask ability now requires Veteran Level 1

Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team
Build times are being reduced to improve the standard Afrikakorps openings, that include Panzergrenadiers.

Build time reduced from 35 to 30 seconds

L6/40
The armor of the L6/40 has been increased, pushing this unit towards a low health vehicle that is immune to Heavy Machine Guns and small arms.

Armor increased from 40/20/15 to 50/40/25
Flamethrower munition cost reduced from 75 to 50

Le.IG 18 Support Gun

Build time reduced from 61 to 45 seconds

MG 34 HMG Team

Build time set to 30 seconds

Pak 38 Anti-Tank Gun Team

Manpower cost reduced from 290 to 260

Panzerjaeger
Panzerjaeger Tear Gas Shot ability no longer creates a White Phosphorous Cloud explosion effect. The performance is unaffected.
Panzergrenadier Squad
Build times are being reduced to improve the standard Afrikakorps openings, that include Panzergrenadiers.

Build time reduced from 25 to 20 seconds

Rapid Advance

Rapid Advance manpower cost increased from 250 to 325

StuG III D Assault Gun

Acceleration increased from 2.5 to 2.67
Deceleration increased from 3 to 4
Rotation rate increased from 30 to 40
Support Advance ability range reduced from 60 to 45
Support Advance ability toggle recharge now from 0 to 5

Tungsten Rounds
Tungsten Rounds is having its damage bonus removed as they added too much passive power for Afrikakorps vehicles against infantry and vehicles. Penetration bonuses have been slightly increased to compensate.

Damage bonus removed
Penetration bonus increased from 20% to 25%

Vehicle Survival Package
We are lowering the durability bonus so most vehicles, when combined with Emergency Repair Kits, can survive one additional hit rather than two.

Health bonus reduced from 80 to 40

[h3]Afrikakorps battlegroups[/h3]
Armored Support 

Assault Salvage Command Point cost reduced from 3 to 2
Panzer III Flame Tank Command Point cost increased from 3 to 4 
Panzer Storm Command Point cost reduced from 3 to 2
Superior Fire Drills Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1 
Stuka Anti-Tank Loiter Command point increased from 3 to 5
Veteran Gunners Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1

 
Italian Combined Arms 

Force Recon Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1
Secure Location Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1

Bug Fixes

Dingo is now properly affected by Training Center upgrades
Fixed an issue where all Marders would take additional damage on rear-hits
Fixed an issue where Improvised Armor did not apply to M4A1 Sherman 76mms and Sherman Whizbangs
Fixed an issue where mines would suppress retreating units
Fixed an issue where Paratrooper carbines did not ignore cover at short-range
Fixed an issue where the Commando Grenade had minimum range
Fixed an issue where the Training Center Upgrades would not apply
Fixed an issue where the Wehrmacht 8 Rad Armored Car did not share the same mobility or autocannon stats with its Afrikakorps counterpart
Fixed an issue where the White Phosphorous Rounds for the MG 42 would cause a Blind effect on vehicles
Fixed an issue where veterancy 3 was not providing the correct bonus to Anti-Tank Guns
Riegel Mines now properly camouflage and trigger

In Conversation with Steve Mele

Following Company of Heroes 3’s launch in February, the entire team has been busy rolling out hot fixes, addressing bugs, and releasing our first major update with Operation: Sapphire Jackal. Throughout all of this we’ve been seeing lots of valuable feedback from our amazing community, and as we’ve been doing throughout development, we want to keep you in the loop.

John from the Community team sat down with Company of Heroes 3 Executive Producer Steve Mele for a conversation about what we’ve been up to, some of the key areas we’re looking to address based on your feedback, and what’s next for Company of Heroes 3.

*****

John: Thanks Steve for taking the time to chat with me and answer some of our community’s questions. First, I wanted to quickly go over the launch of Company of Heroes 3. From your perspective, what are the big takeaways from the last few weeks? 

Steve: It’s been incredible, and busy! Interacting with the community has really highlighted the player outreach and interest in Company of Heroes 3. It’s just such a big game, it’s easily the biggest Company of Heroes game we’ve delivered at launch. We’re really excited about the breadth of experiences we were able to provide with four factions, the Italian Dynamic Campaign, North African Operation, and new features like Full Tactical Pause. This is a beloved franchise with dedicated fans, and it’s always exciting to finally get the game in players’ hands to enjoy.

We’ve also been listening to feedback around issues that are preventing players from enjoying CoH3 as much as we want them to be. Some of that feedback we’ve already been able to address in the hot fixes since launch, and in our first major update we just released, Operation: Sapphire Jackal. We still have lots of work to do to make CoH3 the best it can be, and we’re committed to giving it the same level of support we did for past CoH titles with updates and new content for years to come.

John: One of the new programs we championed throughout production was our player-focused approach, CoH-Development. Can you talk about how we incorporated early feedback while working on Company of Heroes 3?

Steve: We knew right from the jump that we wanted to get players involved as early as possible. That feedback really helped us validate the directions we wanted to take, like moving to a Mediterranean theatre, which isn’t very common in World War II games, as well as the Dynamic Campaign being a feature that sounded exciting and made sense for a CoH game. CoH-Development was also vital in making sure that we introduced new features like Full Tactical Pause in a smart way, helping us with our goal to provide options for players, especially those who are new to the franchise or to strategy games, without sacrificing the core CoH experience that veterans expect. As those features came to life, being able to let people play early versions of the game allowed us to see how things were working, and even get a head start on balance, map designs, and more.

It’s always a balance, because there were areas where we were confident we knew where we wanted to take the experience. CoH-Development was always intended as a way to validate, correct where it made sense, and bring our community along for the ride. I really can’t express how valuable it was to have that level of communication with our dedicated players so early.

John: Speaking to that feedback and communication loop with our players, what does that look like now that we’ve launched?

Steve: It’s important to say that the work doesn’t stop when the game launches. It’s actually the opposite - we believe that this is where the real work begins, because we’re committed to Company of Heroes 3. Any of our players who experienced CoH2 on launch day compared to what it is now knows how much it continued to evolve with added content, maps, bug fixes, and balance patches. We plan on evolving Company of Heroes 3 for years to come as well.

More specifically to your question, our players are critical to that evolution. Relic has been around for over 25 years. In those early days we weren’t able to continue to evolve our games the way we are now, and we sure weren’t able to speak to our players so quickly and so directly. Our Community team is incredible. They’re constantly bringing feedback from players straight to the team about what people are loving, and what we still need to work on. The Community and Production teams then work together to look at our data and our roadmap, since often what people are asking for is actually something we’re already working on. Then, when we know we can commit to delivering something great, we’ll share that back with the players so they know they’re being heard.

John: What about bigger features? How does the team decide what we include for launch, and what comes further down the road?

Steve: That’s a great question. The short answer is lots and lots of very difficult decisions throughout the entire development process, because we want to do it all. I won’t get too into the details of how games are developed, but it’s worth mentioning that CoH3 is developed on Essense Engine 5, the newest version of Relic’s proprietary engine technology. When players tell us CoH3 plays and feels just like a Company of Heroes game should, that’s a huge win because moving to a new engine always brings some challenges along with it. We knew that in order to evolve our gameplay in exciting ways and bring in new features like the Dynamic Campaign and Full Tactical Pause, we couldn’t just bring over what we had built before. We had to do a lot of work to make it happen.

Deciding where to spend our time and resources is always difficult, because we’re huge CoH fans too. Every map, mode, faction, and feature of past CoH titles has its fans at Relic. However, one thing we all knew was that to justify releasing a proper numbered sequel that we can call Company of Heroes 3, it had to be more than just new maps and missions. Our team is so talented, and they had a lot of ideas as to what a Company of Heroes game, and what a strategy experience, means in 2023. Our primary goal was to provide players with something new and exciting, both for the franchise and for Relic. That lead us to Company of Heroes 3, which is by far the most content we’ve ever included in a game at launch. As developers we will always want extra time to add this or that. But there's a point where you have to release the game, get it in players’ hands, and start getting that feedback to help crystalize where we can go from here.

We know there are features players still want to see, and we knew that was going to be the case when we launched. What I can say is we’ll be supporting this game for a long time, and some of those features are already being mapped out.

John: Let’s talk about our first major update, Operation: Sapphire Jackal. I think the big question from players with this update was why we focused on rolling out Challenges and cosmetics before some of those additional features we know players are requesting. Can you elaborate on that? 

Steve: As I touched on, we had a couple of main goals with Company of Heroes 3. The first was to deliver the biggest Company of Heroes experience to date. I’m proud of where we landed on that - CoH3 has a huge breadth of content and features, a brand-new theatre, and some of the most ambitious missions and set pieces ever seen in the franchise. Second, we knew we wanted to support CoH3 for a long time. That support will come from a number of areas including updates and balance patches, new maps and modes, and substantial DLC expansions. We know from past CoH titles that player customization is a big deal for our fans, especially in multiplayer battles, and we wanted to ensure there was a way for players to express themselves in-game as soon as we could. Cosmetics in Company of Heroes 3 are just that, purely cosmetic, and can be obtained via premium currency as well as a selection obtained with Merit, an in-game currency earned by playing the game.

Challenges and cosmetics are features that were in development before the game was released. We were aiming to provide those for launch, but we decided to wait a bit while we focused on the core gameplay experience. Now that they’re out, we’re able to continue to iterate and improve them based on player feedback, as well as continue work on other features and updates we have planned.

John: Can you speak to any of our upcoming plans for Company of Heroes 3?

Steve: We’ve been listening to the feedback from our players, and right now our goal is to improve the gameplay experience for them. The team has been working hard, and in the weeks following launch we’ve been able to deliver multiple hot fixes and updates that have helped address many of the most common issues players have experienced. As developers, we never want there to be friction in a player’s ability to enjoy our game, and while we’ve made a lot of progress, we still have work to do there.

We’ve also just released Operation: Sapphire Jackal, our first major update that introduced a number of fixes and weekly Challenges. We’re currently working on introducing a major balance update, which players have been requesting, as well as a new multiplayer map and improvements to the user interface. The team here is so passionate, and working hard to make this a great experience for our players. While we can’t do everything at once, going forward you’ll continue to see a regular cadence of updates, balance patches, and content drops. Also, while I can’t say too much right now, we’re working hard on our first DLC expansion that I think players will love.

John: That’s all great news. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer some of these community questions, Steve. We’ll have to do this again!

Steve: Thanks John, and thanks again to all our players!

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