TWO TIME CLUB: Monetization & Summer Games Update

Hey all, we just wanted to hop on here to address some concerns that the community has brought up.

Regarding monetization:
We understand the concerns regarding the new monetization options and the Boombox, and we want to provide some transparency on our end regarding this. Forsaken has always been a F2P game, and never something where you are required to pay for anything in order to play. Recently, we have added new monetization options that provide cosmetics for people who like them or are interested in supporting the game, alongside things such as the Boombox. None of these are required to play the game. Also, monetization options within the lobby have been adjusted and repositioned to feel more natural and less intrusive.

We also felt it was important to clarify that we will never add anything monetary that provides an advantage in-game, especially since we've seen some discussion and concern regarding that.

Another important note is that we are not trying to sell out, and we're sorry if some of these recent additions made it come across that way. The main goal of these monetization options is to allow us to continue paying our developers, contributors, and other partners who help us sustain and continue creating the game. We want to create something special for the community while also making something that we are proud of.

Regarding the Summer Games Pass:
This definitely needed more thought and consideration from us, and we apologize for that. Throughout the upcoming weeks, we will be taking in everyone's feedback and adjusting progression where needed, as we want to make sure everyone has an enjoyable time progressing through the pass and getting all of the new goodies.

We also feel it's important to provide some more clarification on how the event works, as there currently isn't much information about it:

• You will have access to all previous weeks whenever a new week is unlocked. Previous weeks will not be locked away.
• Gaining Summer EXP will apply to all unlocked weeks. This means that once Week 2 and Week 3 are unlocked, gaining 100 Summer EXP will progress all of those weeks by the full 100 Summer EXP.
• There will also be a catch-up week. We will provide more details as we get closer to it, but its purpose is to help players finish the pass more easily.

Some of these aspects may change over the coming weeks as we continue receiving feedback. If anything does change, we will make sure to communicate it.

Regarding the Boombox:
This could have been executed a lot better, and we apologize for how it was rolled out. We have a lot more planned for the Boombox, including adding much more of our OST to it. We've wanted to find a way for people to listen to our OST while in the lobby for a while now, and this felt like the best way to introduce that using RELICS.XYZ's technology.

Obviously, there is other licensed music that was introduced with the update as well, but none of it is something you are required to purchase or use. A major factor behind the Boombox's current price is the cost associated with licensing music from the artists and partners involved. However, in the future, the Boombox will offer much more within the lobby alongside the existing music and the ability to play your own music (SongIDs), even if it feels a bit barebones right now.

Another important thing we want to address is the concern that the new music player utilizes AI. This is not the case, and we would never support the use of generative AI within Forsaken. If you'd like to see how the art was made, you can see the process here: https://discord.com/channels/1273022636053499914/1355583116529500220/1543387460548169728

Final Note:
We felt it was important to provide some transparency about where we are at right now. We've seen the concerns from the community, and we wanted to make sure everyone has the full context behind these additions.

This update certainly did not meet the standard we want to hold ourselves to, and we are taking the feedback surrounding it seriously. There will be updates expanding upon this one as we revisit certain aspects and make adjustments where appropriate. We want to provide the best experience that we can, and we hope the next couple of updates will reflect that, with our focus being primarily on gameplay and important visual improvements (including new objectives on certain maps, new mechanics, new game modes, and new generator puzzles).

We appreciate everyone who continues to support us, hold us accountable, and give us feedback as we work toward the future of Forsaken.
- The Forsaken Team