Patch 5.3.6: Live as of 2 January 2025 & a Small Fireside Chat

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Years, fellow Blitzkriegers!

We hope you all got to spend time with your loved ones over these holidays and had whatever end to the year you desired, be it exciting, cozy, calm, or filled with champagne. We toast to your health and the health of your families and friends!

First, a word from Tiger who first broke the news on discord:

Originally posted by Tiger
Happy new year fellow Blitzkriegers!

it's been more than 10 years that our beloved BK MOD being developed.. & in late 2017, thx to the support of the community and the hard work of the Dev team, we also made it to Steam! Which expanded the MOD's accessibility & player base.

The dev team remained committed to updating the game out of pure passion.. particularly @MarKr who spent countless hours working on game patches for many of the previous years, efforts that continued until even today!

It's true - there was a small patch:

Fixes: (v5.3.6)

105mm "naked" howitzer in Defensive doctrine now has the same ammo upkeep as the emplaced version (was 0)
Urban Stormtroopers limited to 3 squads at a time (from unlimited)
Sturmtiger can no longer use its ability and rotate in place when it is detracked
Sturmtiger should no longer be buildable in infantry-only mode
It should be no longer possible to glitch Commandos glider's cost or get squads for free

You may have been wondering about the mod's progress, especially as development slowed and communication paused.. The issue is time, or lack of it. This mod's been in development for over 10 years and over this years, developers have come and go. Last year, MarKr, the head developer, made a small announcement that I believe went largely unnoticed:

Originally posted by MarKr
Hello, this update [5.3.3 Beta, live since 30 June 2023] has gone live and along with it I wanted to officially announce that I step down from active development of BK mod.
I wanted to do it a few times in the past when I got pissed by certain people but now it is more of a combination of other factors in my life that made me decide for this step, arguing with certain people still pisses me off, but that is a secondary reason, not primary. I joined the dev team when I still studied university. During my time as a dev I managed to finish university, get a job, get engaged, have a daughter (1 year and 2 months now), get married, and a year ago we bought a house which we've been reconstructing for the past year. As a result, I don't have as much free time as I would like to have and when I finally get to sit down in the evening and get some time to relax, I want to blow off some steam by mindlessly blowing up some Zeds in KF2 or just playing whatever I currently enjoy rather than go and keep arguing over and over if mortars should be suppression devices or that gun X should have 5% more penetration vs unit Y and whatnot.

I didn't want to leave the game in some half-assed state. While there will always be some people complaining about the state of the game and claiming that "4.8.x was the pinnacle of BK", I think that the game actually is in a pretty good state. Most complaints and suggestions we get these days are not about things that are game-breaking but more about "it would be nice if...". So it is more about flavor than balance at this point, which (I think) means that the balance is more or less right, so I think it is a good time for me to leave now rather than in the middle of some big rework.

There are still changes that I think could benefit the game overall.
For example there were suggestions for changing how the arty upkeep works (heavy arty has no upkeep but can only shoot with ammo trucks around) as that could differentiate heavy arty from the lighter versions and would open options for some new tactical play.
Despite being a controversial topic, I still think that the Tank Damage Reduction (TDR - the "2.0" version) would still be beneficial for the tank game as it would solve complaints such as those about Panthers being "useless because everything oneshots them" or AVRE could keep its short range because it actually could soak a hit from a heavy gun and get close to use its gun from short range. It would also allow the HP to have more impact and not be a pointless stat as it often is now. But these decisions are not for me to make anymore, just sharing some final thoughts.

It is also not up to me but I told Wolf that if he gives my position to someone new, I would prefer if it was someone who won't scrap in 2 quick updates most of the work we've done in the past 6 years and doesn't turn BK into a completely different game. The decision is up to him though.
That being said, I don't want to keep the game in a state where there won't be any updates for months simply because there isn't anyone to work on then, so until some replacement is found for me, I can work on updates. However, I would like it to work the way that someone from the dev team sends me a list of things to change for an update and I'll make them when I have time. But I don't want to participate in the discussions that lead to the final decisions. Hopefully, someone will take the modding position soon and this won't be necessary.

I don't plan to disappear from the community completely. I will still occasionally watch you guys stream your matches, so I'll be seeing you around. Or at least some of you.

It's been a good time spent on BK and it's been a great experience. Guys, stay cool and remember: it's just a game, take it easy! 🙂

As you can see from his message, he is still involved and contributed to the latest patch.. He's just not as active and available as he used to be, given the big changes in his life. I was scarcely active last year due to personal commitments. I'd been looking for and trying to get a new job for a long time last year, and now I'm waiting to find out when I'll be gone for three months training up for the next one. Additionally, after playing BK extensively for the past 8 years, I found myself burnt out and in need of a break.. When I became more involved in 2023 helping out as the BK Communications Specialist and helping moderate the discord channel, the extra amount of time I spent with BK ended up being too much when combined with my job search that started in January of 2024.

Other dev members and members of the moderation team have gone through various milestones in their lives as well, though I'm not at liberty to share the details.

I understand that the Dev Team's communication in 2024 left something to be desired. However, I want to assure you that this mod is not abandoned. While development has slowed due to limited time and resources, I will share another fireside chat as soon as possible to outline the mod's future direction.

I wish you all the best and look forward to sharing more updates with you soon.