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Generation Zero® News

Final Dev Letter and FAQ

Tjena, Survivors!

Well, we made it. Active development on Generation Zero is done, we've wrapped it up. GZ has been such an amazing project, an incredible world, and an absolute blast of a game that we're profoundly proud to be a part of. We’re so thankful to our team that dedicated themselves to build Östertörn, FNIX, and its deadly machines. This unique setting, story, and experience were brought to life thanks to a strong creative vision and unwavering efforts.

Over nearly six years since launch, the game has continued to grow, and we're in awe of the shape it's taken. Not only did the story of GZ, FNIX, and Östertörn unfold, evolve, and finally end in such an epic conclusion, but so did the world, the machines, and the gameplay.

However, GZ still retains much of its mystery. Questions surrounding the future of the machine network, the fate of Bolshakov, and the significance of Geneva and Boston remain unanswered. For now, we're hoping elements like the Rivals, Tyrants, Base Assaults and Defenses, Bikes, Companions, and Experimental Weapons keep you in the fight. If that’s not enough, there are still many hidden secrets across Östertorn to discover with your friends, and we’ve even heard rumors of something called the “Swedish Space Program” for those brave enough.

The development journey started back in the spring of 2016 during the last stretch of theHunter: Call of the Wild. Amid a regular play session, crawling around the digital fields of our in-game hunting reserve, there was an undeniable feeling of nostalgia. It echoed back to childhood days playing "krig" (war) with make-believe weapons and hearts full of adventure.

Though the 80s Cold War Sweden might have been worrying for adults, we remember it as magical. Our society was built around a collectivist spirit, and from Military to Civil Defense, there was a consistent presence and reminder that everyone had a part to play if the shit hit the fan. At the same time we were open to - and eagerly consumed - American movies, TV, and comics, absorbing one power fantasy after another. This dichotomy resulted in a sense of responsibility and invulnerability, not unlike the young characters and player avatars of Generation Zero. This nostalgia became the cornerstone of Östertörn and beyond, perfectly balancing reality with imagination.

We’ve poured our hearts into this world, and now we’ve reached the end of one of its stories. We're thrilled by the stories, mysteries, tributes, easter eggs, and more we’ve been given the chance to create with you - the players - by our side.

Because none of it would mean anything if it wasn’t for all of you. We’ve been blown away by your engagement, ingenuity, and passion from the first closed playtest to the final Showdown. A heartfelt thanks to all of you, and we hope you’ll keep finding excitement in the game for a long time still! We also hope that we see you again in the future. There are more Generation Zero stories to tell.

Vi ses,
The Generation Zero Team

[h2]FAQ[/h2]

We know you may have some questions about what comes next - both for us and for you. With that in mind we’ve put together the following FAQ:

What does no more active development mean?
We are not planning to develop any new content, and the development team is moving on to other projects within Avalanche. This also means that we are no longer supporting the game with patches and updates.

Will the game disappear from stores then?
No, you will still be able to buy and play the game as normal.

What about the multiplayer functionality?
No changes will be made, multiplayer will work as it does now.

Will there still be in-game events?
Yes. Procedural Missions and Daily Assignments/FMTEL Missions will still refresh as they do now. We will also have some special events go live from time to time.

Where can I find information and support going forward?
For customer support related questions, please visit our Support Page.
For general questions and tips etc, we suggest reaching out to other players in our Discord, Forum, or on Steam.

What happens to the community channels now?
For our main social media channels (Facebook, X, and Instagram) the only change will be a substantial decrease in posts. We will still keep them up and running for official news.

For the Forum we are investigating how to save all the fantastic information the community has gathered there, with the aim to one day compile all of that and close the forum. Until we are confident we have a good solution, the forum will stay open. However, we will no longer collect bug reports directly from forum posts. Any issues or bugs should be reported through the Support Page.

The Discord server is here to stay, but most moderation and server management will be handed over to the community. We will also still be here, but can’t be around as often.

Our TikTok channel will no longer have new content, but will stay up. This also applies to the Systemic Reaction YouTube and Twitch channels.

What games are you working on next?
We don’t have any upcoming titles that are ready to be announced, but if you would like to be a part of our game development we encourage you to join our Frontrunners program. This is our super secret playtesting community that is part of our prototyping phase very early in development. If you would like to try some of our prototypes from time to time and give feedback on your experience, join the Frontrunners Discord!

Showdown Update - Hotfix

Greetings Survivors!

Before we left for the winter break, you may have seen us mention that we were looking into a few changes to the Showdown Update that would address some of the feedback we saw from the community after its release. This Hotfix is now available to our players on Steam, and will roll out for console players very soon.

While the changes to Base Defense and the introduction of the new resources tested well with our smaller beta testing group, it's clear that it didn't quite land with the wider playerbase in the way we expected. We saw and listened to your feedback and we are happy to share with you some changes we think will keep this new mechanic interesting while making it more rewarding for all playstyles.

We have significantly increased the amount of resources you receive from Base Defense missions, which we hope makes your crafting (and hoarding) a bit easier to attain. We also saw a lot of requests for ways to obtain them without needing to complete Base Defense missions. We heard you - Rivals and Tyrants can now drop small amounts of these resources. A Rival or Tyrant should drop resources roughly equivalent to half the resources you would get from doing an Easy Base Defense mission. Rivals can drop Refined Aluminum, Refined Tungsten, and Refined Uranium, while Tyrants can drop Phosphorous and Ethanol.

Finally, we also increased the Base Defense structure health. We hope that together these changes make your resource hunting more varied and exciting!

We have also fixed some critical mission progression bugs we discovered after the release, made several crash fixes, and polished numerous other issues and bugs we found through testing and player reporting.

Here is a summary of the hotfix:

Crash / Stability
- General crash fixes and stability improvements.
- Various performance improvements.
Showdown Missions
- Fixed a potential mission blocker in the radio tower for Exclusion Zone.
- General tweaks to Showdown missions breadcrumbing, triggers and timings.
Economy Tweaks
- Base Defense economy changes, more resources should be dropped.
- Base Defense building health has been increased.
Gameplay
- Fixed an issue where some players could not change ammo type after aiming down sight.
- Fixed an issue where experimental weapon drops for Rivals was much lower than intended.
- Fixed an issue where player skill points were not being reset correctly after the last update.
- Fixed an issue which allowed for instant weapon switching.
- Companions will no longer set off or receive damage from Spiked Wall traps in Base Defense.
- Fixed an issue on Steam where Companion Armor in the Companion Station could only be changed using a mouse.
- Fixed a bug where players couldn't use or see the Quality Level 2 N144 Minigun when equipped.
- Recalibrated Portable Homing turrets so they no longer target player structures.
- Fixed an issue with the Scout Firebird to ensure explosive payloads now actually explode.
Other fixes
- Player screens will no longer display unsupported/null characters when joining or leaving the multiplayer
- Fixed an issue where some players were not automatically shown new messages.
- Field radios now work as intended in multiplayer.
- Various animation bug fixes.
- Various environmental clipping fixes

~The Generation Zero Dev Team

Snowball Event | Ends 31 December

Crush your friends with snowballs and topple them over! If you're feeling brave, you could assault your neighborhood machine too. What's the worst that can happen? ☃️



Mounds of snow can be found all over the map. Just grab a snowball and throw away. But if you're not into it, you can opt out of the snowball fight in your game options.

Showdown Update - Out Now!

Read the Patch Notes here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/704270/view/509566179781642287

Watch the Launch Trailer:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The final, free Generation Zero update for the co-op FPS is a game changer

An alternate history 1980s Sweden where giant robots have taken over the countryside is, frankly, the last place I'd expect a survival FPS game to be set. And yet, Generation Zero has been home to just that since 2019. With so many survival games coming and going in recent years, Generation Zero has firmly planted itself as one of the best and most-supported entries in the genre. Sadly, however, the game's last update is about to drop. But there's a blessing disguised in that news, because this last patch makes some great changes, all to the tune of an 80% off sale.


Read the rest of the story...


RELATED LINKS:

Generation Zero dev says co-op FPS' next update will be its last

Generation Zero update adds top secret experimental weapons

Generation Zero Dark Skies update lets you start over fresh