Hey, Renegades! Andy Duthie here, Executive Producer for HAWKED, back again with another Dev Diary.
HAWKED is now available in Early Access, and we’ve given console players a taste of what’s to come in the recent Crossplay Open Beta. Our team is firing on all cylinders, but it’s clear we’ve still got a lot of work to do. So we’re tackling issues and all of your feedback and reports head-on and shoring up HAWKED for a successful launch in early 2024.
In today’s Dev Diary, join me for a look at how the Early Access launch went, what our limited-time events will look like, and all the upcoming content and updates we’re focused on right now.
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EARLY ACCESS LAUNCH[/h3]
First of all, I’d like to say a massive thank you to all the Renegades who joined us already in the first few weeks. I know it’s a big ask to put your faith in a game Early Access, so we’re committed to repaying your faith by shoring up HAWKED and preparing it for an amazing 2024 and beyond.
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The launch was not as smooth as we wanted. We faced a lot of challenges, bugs that impacted or prevented gameplay, and some unfortunate instances of downtime. Though frustrating, our downtime and maintenance—whether scheduled or unscheduled—have been necessary for us to apply fixes and roll out a smoother, more polished build. Now, though, we are starting to move towards a period with a lot more certainty and regular patches.
As thanks for sticking with us through the turbulence, we’re gifting all Renegades a
3-day GRAIL+ subscription. It’s available to claim for free via the in-game Shop now until Monday, December 18 at 08:00 CET / 01:00 PST.
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WHAT WE’VE FIXED SO FAR[/h3]
Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest improvements in the first couple of weeks, all possible thanks to your feedback and playtime:
- Matchmaking improved
- We want players to have a satisfying matchmaking and in-game experience no matter where they are or when they’re playing.
- During busy periods, skill-based matchmaking prioritizes matching players into fully populated matches with low ping and shorter waiting times.
- Matchmaking may take slightly longer in quieter periods, but matches will not be fully populated to prioritize low ping and a better play experience.
- Crash instances massively reduced
- We’ve worked hard to reduce the number of crashes you experience, and with your help, we’ve reduced this to below 3.8%. Our current goal is to have this below 1%, so we still have some work to do.
- Server and client optimization
- Hoverboard fixes
- Frame drops resolved
After initial reports from day one players, we resolved most of these issues with hotfixes in the first week of December. This goes to show how important your feedback and reports are. We’re still actively monitoring all data and reports, and we’re keenly focused on improvements to matchmaking, technical stability, reducing crashes and their causes, FPS improvements, and authentication issues.
The team truly appreciates your patience as we continue working on fixes. Patch notes and hotfix notes are published regularly in English on the website and Steam, so please
take a look for more details about what we’ve improved and fixed so far.
One final note. Feedback on bugs and needed improvements is crucial, but knowing what you like is good too! If you’re digging HAWKED, or if we’ve squashed your major bugbears so far, be sure to
drop us a review on Steam. Your support means the world to us, and we’ll keep working diligently to earn it.
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LIMITED-TIME EVENTS & HOLIDAY HEIST[/h3]
We think it’s essential to give you new experiences to keep the game fresh and exciting, whether through map changes, quests, events, new rewards, or a combination of all the above. We have a raft of limited-time events penciled in for HAWKED in 2024, and we can’t wait to roll them out!
Kicking off this week, get ready for
Holiday Heist. This festive update sees Cynthia Keene perplexed by a case of missing presents in the Riftwake—sounds like a job for you Renegades, right? X-Isle will be decked out in twinkling decorations, there’s a festive questline to tackle, and you can unlock a sleigh-load of free rewards. New items will also be available in the Shop to help get your Renegades in the holiday spirit.
The scale of limited-time events may differ. Holiday Heist is an Early Access test for larger-scale events—not all events will last so long or come with full map makeovers, for example. Still, we thought the first holiday season in HAWKED was worthy of a fitting celebration.
Look out for the new update dropping on December 14.

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NEW FEATURE INBOUND: CONTRACTS[/h3]
Back in Open Beta, you told us you wanted more things to do in-match, from tackling new activities to earning rewards. We will deliver this in a near-future update with a new feature: Contracts. Undertake them to add extra goals to your match, including more PvE- or PvP-focused gameplay challenges or specific requests like extracting a particular color of Trinket.
As we develop this feature, these time-based quests will offer incentives like currency (including GE-0 Cash for top hunters), XP, and more upon completion. Compete with other players to raise your standing on the leaderboard and enjoy even more rewards from the GRAIL Shop!

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WHAT ELSE ARE WE WORKING ON?[/h3]
Whether you’re actively sending feedback, completing surveys, or just playing the game as intended, you’re helping provide valuable data and learnings so we can improve HAWKED. It’s been incredible to hear all your feedback so far and we are continuing to improve the game to match this. Through Early Release, we will continue to raise the bar and get the game where it needs to be for full launch.
Here’s a quick rundown of what we’re working on in the immediate future:
- 2024 Roadmap: In the next Dev Diary, we’ll reveal the 2024 roadmap for HAWKED. That includes launching on more platforms like PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.
- Holiday Heist: Our first limited-time event, launching December 14.
- More Patches: New updates and hotfixes will roll out as soon as they’re ready to address issues. Keep up the great work sending us feedback so we can keep pumping out updates, Renegades!
- Australia/Oceania Server: As a direct result of the passion of Renegades down under, we’ve ordered a new server, especially for this region. Thanks for speaking up, and stay tuned for more updates!
- Crossplay Open Beta Feedback: The second Crossplay Open Beta ended on December 11. Thanks so much to everyone who played. A special shoutout to our first Renegades on Xbox! We’re still processing feedback and data from this playtest, but I’m happy to say we’re full steam ahead to launching on PlayStation and Xbox in early 2024!
- Technical Performance Survey: If you’ve joined our Discord, keep an eye out for a survey asking for your expectations around technical performance.
This is just a taste of things to come. Keep an eye on our website and official social channels for the latest news, updates, and hotfixes.
With HAWKED in Early Access, we’re relying on your feedback to help push us over the finish line to a full launch. We try to be vigilant regarding fixes, improvements, and new features, but ultimately, our work and success hinges on
you. So please jump on
Discord to join the wider Renegade community and share your thoughts, feedback, and ideas with us.
Thanks for reading, Renegades! See you next time.