[Jsonedecker]

We have heard the message loud and clear and are happy to announce that we are going to offer ALL of our Kickstarter backers that pledged from the minimum $15 reward up, the Singleplayer/Co-Op portion (with advanced AI) of GROUND BRANCH for FREE. Every copy of the game gets this; So for example, if you get a FIRETEAM EDITION then all 4 copies will be eligible for the additional release.

This will be available some time after the initial release that will include full multiplayer (objective-based TvT, PvP) and core single player/co-operation gameplay (e.g. terrorist hunt against bots) from the start.

Let the world know so that we can all enjoy GROUND BRANCH!

[WhiteKnight77]

I have been.

[V2_Bloodline]

I f###ing love you guys!!

[GabrielG]

YES!

[MurDoc]

lol I see what you did there.

[chainbreaker]

o may ...

[MurDoc]

How about free console version? 1-2 years after release? $60+?

Edited by MurDoc, 26 June 2012 - 01:45 PM.

[V2_Bloodline]

MurDoc, on 26 June 2012 - 01:36 PM, said:

How about free console version? $60+?

@MurDoc: off-topic, but I hope these help:

Jsonedecker, on 06 June 2012 - 10:53 AM, said:

I have nothing against consoles. I play my 360 and PS3 all the time. But developing for the console is worlds different for the PC because the manufacturers control everything and it costs a lot of money to do. To be a retail release on a console you must be associated with a publisher that is MS/Sony approved. There are no self published titles in retail for consoles. XBLA and PSN are different but they have plenty of challenges as well.

Retail console releases are beyond the scope of smaller self funded developers.

Jsonedecker, on 21 June 2012 - 12:51 PM, said:

In the first comment:
"BFS was too honest in their kickstarter, they should have promised a Single Player campaign and spoke more optimistically about a console version."

Well I'd rather that be the case then being called a liar or doing something I didn't have the means to deliver. Call me old school I guess.

And for the love of god.... someone needs to make a video (written word doesn't seem to get it across) about the difference between console and PC development. You CAN'T make a retail console game for the amount of money you can generate on Kickstarter. Period! And you cannot get a retail console release without a publishing partner. There is only 1 kickstarter that I have seen that has promised a console version and that is Takedown. There is a very good reason for that...... And they are going to have to wade trough a LOT of interesting situations to actually make that happen.

Quote

Right now we are focusing 100% on a PC release. We would like to look into a console release once that is done, but that is not something we are looking into at the moment… simply because we cannot publish a title on a console without signing on with a publisher. It’s just the way the business works. We can self-publish a PC title with few issues, but both Sony and MS have many hoops to jump through to achieve concept approval let alone certification. It is time consuming and expensive. If we did do a console version, the game itself would be no different between consoles and PCs. The only difference will be some minor changes to the control scheme to accommodate the controller as well as some memory reduction via reduced texture fidelity and things like that. So the project itself will easily transition over to the console with VERY little change with respect to design.

Edited by V2_Bloodline, 26 June 2012 - 01:50 PM.

[Konjureman]

Awesome John! I've already started to spread the word to other gamers I play with on verious games. By the way, how do I get my donator status and BFS sig? I am a kickstarter. The name's Warren. =)

[Jsonedecker]

Hi Warren, welcome!

The current 'Donator' badge is something from a while ago and isn't related to the kickstarter. If the Ks makes the goal then we will be doing a special badge for all those that backed.

[NmVision]

I'm a little confused about this announcement! So, currently MP and a basic singleplayer/coop is supposed to come out at release. This announcement is just saying that when you get Kynapse, that the new content will be free to everyone who pledged? Was it supposed to be a paid for expansion before that announcement?

[213]

MurDoc, on 26 June 2012 - 01:36 PM, said:

How about free console version? 1-2 years after release? $60+?

ground branch isn't about making promises you can't keep.

[SerenityDivide]

This is great news! Coop is the main reason why I still play Raven Shield to this day haha. If it weren't for multiplayer coop, I probab\ly wouldn't have bought it again. Ledanek and others have convinced me to pick up the original GR (never played it), so it's on my list of games to get.

Back on point, playing Thunt/coop GB style sounds amazing! A hostage rescue / VIP escort would rock socks too.

Yeah, I'm pretty confident that inclusion of coop with multiple mission types will ensure an infinite amount of replayability. Keep on.

[Jsonedecker]

NmVision, on 26 June 2012 - 10:26 PM, said:

I'm a little confused about this announcement! So, currently MP and a basic singleplayer/coop is supposed to come out at release. This announcement is just saying that when you get Kynapse, that the new content will be free to everyone who pledged? Was it supposed to be a paid for expansion before that announcement?

It has always been the the MP/Co-Op lite (terrorist hunt) at first. Then we were going to release the SP and full mission based co-op after that. It was always going to be 2 separate releases that you had to buy. Now, we are giving all the KS backers (from the minimum reward up) the SP/mission based co-op for free once it's done after the initial MP release.

[ApexMods]

Hmm... but doesn't that stand in the way of the "IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO ALL CONTENT" and "No DLC / Content restrictions, ever." statements?

[zoog]

ApexMods, on 27 June 2012 - 12:45 AM, said:

Hmm... but doesn't that stand in the way of the "IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO ALL CONTENT" and "No DLC / Content restrictions, ever." statements?

Considering that expansion packs have never been out of the question.... I think with content restrictions they mean stuff like weapons, gear etc. Also with DLC, you have these DLCs with only new weapons and maps which they won't do. They will be full expansion packs as far as I know.

[Colin]

Well that's going to go down rather well I think.  NICE ONE

[Jsonedecker]

ApexMods, on 27 June 2012 - 12:45 AM, said:

Hmm... but doesn't that stand in the way of the "IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO ALL CONTENT" and "No DLC / Content restrictions, ever." statements?

No. "MMEDIATE ACCESS TO ALL CONTENT" is in reference to no unlocks. If the content is in the game then you can use it. DLC is the industry term for buying content along the way. We have always said we want to do mission pack style add-ons and not smaller "nickel and dime" content releases.

[NmVision]

Gotcha. The explanation of expansions (not DLC), and pricing of the game is something I have never found on the website. I imagine that is the same for many actually!

Edited by NmVision, 27 June 2012 - 10:02 AM.