Empire of Sin News

Empire of Sin developer says bug fixes and DLC are on the way

Empire of Sin is out now, and while the strategy game does a good job of putting players right into the mix of Prohibition-era Chicago, it's not without its issues. Game director Brenda Romero says that fixes and updates are on the way - along with DLC expansions that will add new stuff to do and places to go.

Romero, whose husband John has also periodically worked in game development, posted an image to Twitter today under the heading "A quick update on Empire of Sin." In it, she thanks players for trying out the new crime game, which she's developed with publishing support from Paradox Interactive.

"We have some updates coming your way," Romero writes. "We are dedicated to making this game as great as it can be and that's why the feedback we have been getting from you is so important to us. Over the upcoming weeks and months, we will be working on delivering patches to improve your experience with the game." As Joe Robinson notes in our Empire of Sin review, the current build of the game is buggy enough to require regular reloads and is in what he calls "a fundamentally fun but funky state."

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Extra, Extra! Empire of Sin is out now!

It’s time to bust out the giggle juice, boss: Empire of Sin is out now! Get ready to head out on the streets of Chicago as Al Capone, Stephanie St. Clair, Goldie Garneau or any other of the 14 mobster big shots and assemble a rag-tag gang, build and manage your criminal empire, and defend your turf from rival gangs. It’s up to you to hustle, charm, and intimidate your way to the top and do whatever it takes to stay there.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/604540/Empire_of_Sin/

Empire of Sin Version 1.01 Patch Notes - PC

Greetings, mobsters and crew! Today, on this day of our games release, we bring to you a swell ol' day one patch! It contains a number of great fixes and bugs squashed, and will be in the game at launch. Enjoy! :)

[h3]UI [/h3]
- Fixed issues around UI notifications overlapping other game UI - Fixed icon issues
- General UI polish
- Radial menu unclickable icon fixed
- Implemented additional tooltips

[h3]Tutorial [/h3]
- Fixed issues around skipping tutorial
- Tutorial polish
- Fixed tutorial disabled buttons that should be active
- Additional tutorial text

[h3]Combat [/h3]
- Fixed camera issues
- Improved combat AI
- Polished combat abilities
- Fixed issue with characters spawning off the nav mesh so not engaging
- Combat balance polish
- Throat slit execution fixed
- Fixed pooling blood issue

[h3]Art [/h3]
- Updated character flags
- Adjusted lighting in sitdowns
- Safehouse interior variants
- Animation polish
- Lip syncing polish
- Improved particles and lighting
- General fixes and polish

[h3]Miscellaneous[/h3]
- Fixed various VO bugs
- Updated localisation
- Implemented Paradox SDK for telemetry
- Fixed issue with sitdowns timing out
- Fixed issues with selling buildings
- Mission fixes
- Sound effects polish
- General audio polish
- Fixed issue with game saves delaying loading
- Softlocks fixed
- Faction AI polish
- Trophy/Achievement icon issue resolved - Optimisations implemented
- Gameplay balance
- General bug fixing

Empire of Sin Release Stream!

We're donning our fedoras and packing our tommy guns, because the Empire of Sin release stream starts soon! Join us as we count down the hours together with amazing guests from Romero Games! Stream starts at 16:00 CET, on twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive

Empire of Sin review - very flush, but not quite a full house

Credit where it's due: I was mistaken about Empire of Sin. Doubts festered during the game's preview stages, as while Brenda Romero is fascinating to talk to and has assembled a knowledgeable team at Romero Games, I struggled to escape the impression that they just wanted to make a game about gangsters with some strategy parts tacked on at the end.

I was wrong; Empire of Sin is a pretty fascinating sandbox game about running a crime syndicate in Chicago. The tactical layer is smart and satisfying (up to a point), and the strategic layer features a living world that can be quite fun to watch unfold (again, up to a point). And yeah, it's a game about gangsters: you can tell a lot of love was spent bringing the theme to life in all areas.

While my fears about the game's design were unfounded, there are other flaws beneath Empire of Sin's legitimate façade. An underbelly of bugs, odd behaviour, and gameplay loops that don't quite scale with time prevent it from fully living up to its potential. This is a good game, but it could use a little more love still.

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