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Hi, fellow gamer and MMO enthusiast!

There are times when game developers get estimates right (rare), and there are times when they get them wrong (frequent). Then there are those when they get them very wrong – the times everybody really hates, devs and community alike. Well, I guess we just stumbled upon one of the latter.

Back in August, we mentioned that we were busy porting Fractured from the old “alpha” integration between Unity and SpatialOS (our frontend and backend engines), no longer maintained, to its new, largely redesigned, way more performant version. We initially thought it would take us a couple weeks, then we warned you we had been wrong, and it would take us at least one month.

In the end, it actually took two, and some.

Today, I’m glad to announce we are finally done and moving to the implementation of new features and content – the knowledge system, carts, and a handful of new points of interests and creatures.

Before getting to test those, however, let’s see if the new tech passes the trial of player testing, shall we?

Porting Test Weekend

On Friday, October 11, at 4pm CEST (10amEDT) the doors of Fractured will be opened again for all backers with Alpha 1 access.

The test will last until the morning of Monday, October 14, and will be strictly focused on judging the soundness of the new tech. More in detail, we want to assess:

• Client stability (should be stable as before)
• Server stability (should be stable as before)
• Launch issues (should be gone thanks to the new launcher)
• World loading issues (should be gone thanks to improved world streaming)
• Connectivity issues (should be gone thanks to the new communication protocols)

As stated, this is purely a tech test. If you’ve played Alpha 1- Test 2 in July and are only interested in new features / content, you can skip this – although we’d love for you to be there anyway!

If, on the other hand, you’ve experienced any of the problems listed above during Alpha 1, this is the chance to make things right!

Alpha 2 Launch

Even though we’ve run very late with the porting, the development speed advantage of the new tech is already visible, so we don’t have to delay Alpha 2 further.

We can now officially confirm that Alpha 2 – Test 1 is going to start in November – exact date to be announced!

Before Alpha 2 begins, we may run another testing weekend or two. Specifically, we are considering:

• A stress test weekend, open to all registered users – including those without a pledge! We sorely need it to assess server stability under “real” heavy load, since simulated players can do only so much.
• A feature pre-testing weekend, open to all backers with access to Alpha 1. A good way for us to iron out nasty bugs before launching Alpha 2, and a due reward for all of you who supported us early with high-tier pledges!

This was all for today. Stay tuned for the announcement of the next test weekends!

DISCUSS