First up, thank you for spending your time with us last week during our PC Playtest. We enjoyed the run and it can’t be stated enough – we learned a lot. We know a number of you were hit with server related issues, and although some had no issues at all, we need to deliver a smooth experience for everyone. This is our top priority and focus for launch on June 9th.

Here’s some additional context on the technical issues we hit: 

• We adjusted our server setup to be more cloud focused vs bare metal machines (which is what we had set up for the first playtest). This was a technical test to see how the new servers could handle the game (we got our answer). 
• This was the first time we’ve tested the KO Solos Game Mode at scale, and we ran into a reproducible crash at higher player numbers (which we’ve now fixed). 
• We observed spikes in CPU usage during the test, which led to the lag & disconnects that some players experienced. We’ve narrowed down the issue and we’re working on the fix. 

These issues are on us as a Development Team to fix, and we don’t take them lightly. We’ve been working around the clock to get these issues fixed so that we can get the game back out to everyone ASAP. To that end, we’re going to open the game back up soon, with consoles included in the mix for the next playtest. We want to give everyone a chance, across all platforms (PC / PS5 / Xbox), to run with us before we launch.

Outside of the server issues, we heard your feedback and we’re making improvements to the core gameplay as well. Here’s what we’re working on now: 

• Tuned down effectiveness of shoves
  • Slowed shover additional 3% while shoving, making chase down shoves harder
  • Increased shove energy cost, making shoves a more strategic decision 
  • Lowered odds of a successful shove on throw ins and while passes are in flight
  • Refactored shove success formulas to raise floor for weaker characters and lower ceiling for the strongest characters
  • Further reduced Zone Point reward for successful shoves

• Improved Rebounding
  • Added boosted height for rebounds (gives more advantage to good rebounders) 
  • Added assist towards the ball when rebounding 

• Tuned guarding to make blocks easier to pull off when guarding opponents 
• Tuned shooting to make in traffic / contested shots harder to pull off 
• Made moving shots more punitive to shot chances
• Tuned intercepts to be slightly easier to pull off (particularly against long passes) 
• Tuned ball and rim impact to allow for higher / more dynamic bounces off the rim 
• Added new “runner” jumpshot animations 
• Improved MVP presentation at end of round 

Last but not least – you want to style on people in The Run. We get it, so do we. We’ve been working in the background, and we’ve added the initial implementation of style moves to the game. They’ll be in for the next playtest. While we’ve tuned down shoves in most places, they’re actually a powerful counter to style moves – someone gets flashy, you get physical. In our team playtests, this has added a whole new layer to gameplay. In the next playtest – hit a Crossover, a Shammgod or a Slip ‘N Slide and let us know what you think in Discord. 

Looking forward to running it back with you all again soon. 

– Scott Probst