Stampede: Racing Royale News

heyhey everyone,

It’s been quite the month in the world of Stampede: Racing Royale, so it feels like the right time to share our latest Dev Log and give you an update on how things are going. Lets’ get into it, shall we?

[h2]Switching Gears[/h2]
Last week we confirmed that the Early Access launch for Stampede will be shifting into the first half of 2024. Whilst we’ve been able to make huge progress in developing the game this year (thanks in huge part to your comments from each Steam Playtest), a little more time is needed to make key additions and improvements for Early Access.

The feedback from players has been super positive when playing the small slice of the game we’ve shared so far. Around that slice, though, are many other important things that we want to nail for Early Access. The goal, basically, is to give you more – more of the stuff you’ve already seen, like customisation items and maps, and then more new things to get stuck into, like modes, challenges, and goals to achieve.

The reaction to last week’s news was incredibly supportive and understanding, and we can’t stress enough how appreciated that is. Thank you. We’ll keep you as updated as we can on how things progress on our journey to Early Access.



[h2]Under The Hood of EGX and Playtest 3[/h2]
Of course, this month we also ran a new Steam Playtest, and brought the Stampede fun and games to another con! From both EGX and the third playtest, we received more brilliant feedback from folks, which we’ve started to address.

Whilst the game appears to be running very well at this stage on most supported setups, we’re continuing to optimise, so as many PC specs as possible get buttery smooth performance. We also made changes to lobby discovery behaviour to get more players into events together. Whilst this helped, we also saw the mentions on the two-minute lobby wait time being too long, so we’re looking into tweaking this for Early Access.

A couple of prominent bugs from the playtest are also being worked on now, including AI drivers getting stuck and the ‘wrong way’ indicator appearing incorrectly. Finally, we continue to log all the suggestions for features and content you send to us, and see if it’s something we can implement down the line. Quite often, the stuff you suggest is already in the works behind the scenes. Always great to see when we’re on the same wavelength!



[h2]What’s Around the Corner?[/h2]
We’ll get back in the lab to keep implementing new content, squashing a few bugs, and putting some polish on Stampede to ensure the best possible Early Access launch. We aim to be able to share details on some new content by the end of the year, then moving into 2024, we’ll bring you more deep dives on what to expect the next time you can hit the track.

Thanks again everyone. Take it easy

Hey folks,

So, we have some news. We’ve decided to move the Steam Early Access launch of Stampede: Racing Royale back from November 2. We’re now aiming to begin this in the first half of 2024.

We know this sucks. We were mega excited to permanently open the game to the world and enjoy Stampede with you all. We've had fantastic feedback from both the Steam Playtests and conventions, but after long chats with the team, we've decided we need a little more time to ensure we're delivering the game you want to see, without affecting our team’s health (no crunch! Crunch is bad!).

Nobody is more disappointed than us to share this info, but it means you'll get to play an even better game – just a little later.

Okay, that’s the headline news, but we want to be as open as possible on why this decision has been made. So, here are some answers to questions you may have.


[h2]Why is this change being made? [/h2]

Firstly, we're making this change to bring you a game that we feel aligns with what you want to see.

Many additions and improvements that are key to Early Access are in development right now, and some of it isn’t quite at the level we want it to be, or you folks deserve. Our team has put so much love into Stampede, and we see how excited you are for it. We'd hate to have it fall short of what's needed and expected from all of us.

Secondly, this is the best decision for our team. We are a studio that seriously cares about the wellbeing of our people. We will not force anyone to work in an unhealthy way to hit targets and deadlines. Shifting Early Access ensures our amazing team remain healthy and supported, to do what they do best.

This change means there will be even more to enjoy in Stampede when we go live – and after hearing your feedback from EGX and Steam Playtest 3, we know it's stuff you'll be excited for!


[h2]When is the new Early Access launch date? [/h2]

We’re now aiming for Early Access to launch in the first half of 2024 – so that’s between January and June. We know that’s vague. We’ll share a specific date as soon as this is locked in.

We confirmed previously that console versions of the game are planned for 2024, featuring cross-play capability. This news does not change that, and we plan to provide more updates on this next year.



[h2]What will be going on between now and Early Access? [/h2]

As more work is completed, we’ll share content that gives you a closer look at how Stampede is transforming for Early Access. We’ll get into the nitty-gritty details on new stuff like Special Events, deeper kart progression, Seasons and Challenges, so you can feed back with thoughts and ideas for our team.

We’ll continue to chat with the community and gather your thoughts via our channels, keep updating our Trello board with the status of known hot topics, and keep providing Dev Logs, so you’re up to speed on what we’re doing. The official Discord server will be live closer to Early Access, too.

Regarding additional playtests, we will keep looking at opportunities to run these, whilst also ensuring we don’t take focus away from creating the best game possible for Early Access.



A MASSIVE thank you to our growing Stampede community, who have already provided us with so much support and guidance. We apologise for the change in plans, but can’t wait to continue building (and playing) this game with you. We’ll be back in touch later this year with more game deets.

hey everyone :)

Who's ready to race and battle once again? The latest Steam Playtest for Stampede: Racing Royale is rolling out now!



If you've signed up to our previous playtests, check your Steam library to see when then usual 'Playtest' version of Stampede: Racing Royale becomes playable. If you're yet to jump in, head to our store page and hit the green 'Request Access' button to get involved.

The playtest is also playable at EGX, live from October 12-15, where we're in the Rezzed area. Come say hi if you're at the event!

The majority of work for this playtest focused on resolving more community-reported performance and gameplay issues. In terms of new content, a host of new features 'n' experiences are being worked on now, in time for our Early Access launch.

We've also updated the Trello board of known hot-topic issues, which the dev team are looking into. Any issues experienced during the playtest can be sent to our team via our official reporting form.

Patch notes are below. Thank you and enjoy the playtest!

MATCHMAKING

Changes made to lobby configuration and server logic to ensure more live players in matches


GAMEPLAY

Improved accuracy and shortened lock-on time for the homing projectile power-up

Reticule colours changed for the homing projectile power-up. Reticule will initially be green, then turn red when locked onto an opponent

Homing projectile and shield power-ups added to Battle mode events

Resolved instances of the homing projectile reticule persisting on-screen after using the power-up

Visual size of the shield power-up has been rescaled to be smaller

Fixed the corrupted visuals for the minimap and player icon during events


LANGUAGES/LOCALISATION

Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese languages added


TECHNICAL

Resolved issue causing a ‘Connection failed, logged in with another device’ pop-up to incorrectly appear

Resolved issue causing players to be unable to use A/X button to enter a lobby after viewing the ‘How to Play’ screen

The ‘hit feed’ will now show when players are affected by the Nitro force curve

The ‘No Selection’ option is now selectable in the Wardrobe for glasses and head items when using a controller


FRIENDS/PARTY

Resolved some issues causing some players in a party to not join a lobby with other party members

Fixed instances of friends being removed from the Friends menu if they have been re-added as a friend

Block notifications now appear in the Friends system

Heyyy everyone,

So, you already know our dev team is hard at work prepping Stampede: Racing Royale for Early Access on November 2, but we’re here with exciting news on stuff to keep you occupied until then!


First up: our next Steam Playtest will take place from October 11-15. Get ahead of the curve and be able to say you were there before Early Access. Want to make sure your voice is heard? Want to help Stampede become the racing game of your dreams? Hit the green 'Request Access' button on our Steam page - or if you've done that already, check your Library on October 11.





Alongside the third playtest, we’re super excited to be taking Stampede: Racing Royale to EGX! Taking place next week at the ExCeL in London, we’ll be in the Rezzed area as part of the Secret Mode stand. Attendees will be able to take Stampede for a spin, and participate in the Steam Playtest against the globe. If you’re heading to EGX, come say hi to our team, enjoy the playtest, and look out for more surprises…





The third playtest remains an early, work-in-progress version of the game with a limited feature set. We’ll share full patch notes ahead of its release, but the changes from August’s playtest focus around technical and performance improvements.

When Early Access begins, we’ll be rolling out a host of brand new features and content including Seasons, special events, challenges, new customisation items, and much more. We’ll be sharing full details and first looks later this month. You know the drill: Wishlist the game and follow our official socials to stay in the loop.

Thanks folks: see you on the track!

Hey everyone,

We’re back with the Stampede Dev Log, after a wild couple of weeks in the world of Stampede: Racing Royale!


[h2]AUGUST ANTICS[/h2]

In August, we were incredibly excited to bring an early version of our chaotic kart racer to Gamescom, alongside rolling out our second Steam Playtest. The week-long test saw thousands of players get involved, checking out what we’ve improved and added since July. A huge amount of work from our team went into creating this updated build, particularly on creating the first iteration of our Friends and Party systems, which we’ll continue to polish up.



Bringing Stampede to Gamescom, alongside our second playtest, was helpful not just to speak with our community in person, but to also observe how the game performed over a long stretch of consistent play ‘in the wild’. It was great to see several player-reported topics and suggestions from the first playtest be resolved – from obvious stuff like bug fixes, kart collision improvements and performance boosts, to more subtle things like audio tweaks, lobby behaviour, and kart handling changes.


[h2]YOUR FEEDBACK [/h2]

Of course, whilst we’re seeing Stampede’s development progress nicely, there are still plenty of areas to address, and your feedback has once again helped us identify key areas of focus going forward. In terms of bugs, we’ve noted the reports around a rogue ‘Connection Failed’ pop-up message, some UI and visual errors, and more.

You can check out a wider list of what we’re investigating on our Trello board. Everything on there, alongside much more, is being looked into right now, and we'll continue to keep it (and you!) updated throughout development.

From Steam Discussions and our latest survey, we’re also taking in the wider feedback on gameplay and features. A common request from players has been to add more fanfare and messaging around our three-round events, both to help explain the format and increase the sense of tension. This is something we fully intend to implement over time and are currently working on!

Another good example is the suggestion to add more ways to earn XP and rewards beyond simply competing in events – like completing certain challenges, or doing something ‘X’ number of times. Again, we’re on it, and aim to add more options like this through Early Access. Ah, speaking of which…


[h2]EARLY ACCESS [/h2]

During August, we also revealed that Early Access on Steam will begin on November 2! We’re so pleased to put a date to this major milestone, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help and feedback of our community so far.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Whilst Stampede will still be in development during Early Access, it’s a big step forward for the game, with new features and options not yet seen in the playtests, such as Seasons, challenges, and limited-time events. We’ll also be expanding and improving existing features, like adding loads more cosmetic items to discover and show off.

All of the above is currently in the works, but will take time to finalise. Our team have plenty on their to-do list, so over the coming weeks, we may be a little quieter than usual, as we focus on Early Access preparations. We’ll share more looks and details at what’s coming up as soon as we can.


[h2]ONE MORE THING [/h2]

A final note: Discord! We’ve seen the requests for a Stampede: Racing Royale Discord server and this is coming. We’re making sure it’s ready for you and will open its doors before Early Access kicks off.

Thanks everyone. Catch up soon