![]() After several years of development, we decided together on the conditions to which the game had to fulfil before leaving Steam Early Access. ![]() Releasing Verdun was hard, this especially from a developer standpoint as the game never feels finished. Beyond the surface level change of not shooting each other in a first-person shooter, it’s cool when games let us look at our foes - human or not - in a different light. Plenty of games have Christmas events, but I really like the idea underlying this one. ‘Steam Shooter Copies Real War, Declares Truce For Christmas. We started this new approach in May 2014 together with a big game update and from that point on we saw more activity from our players, more interest from the international press and an increase in our daily sales by 200%. We worked out a more clear and consistence message about this and put the Verdun 4-pack at a lower price, something that would benefit the multiplayer mode and player engagement in the long run. Another USP we defined was the original in-depth squad-based gameplay in the frontline game modus. This was done to distinguish ourselves from WW2 themed games, to stand out. For example, we started using characteristic WW1 images in our banners and added the WW1 period in our Verdun logo 1914–1918. Keeping this in mind, we starting utilizing the USP more effectively by keeping the developments in and around the game historically accurate. ![]() The setting was rarely explored in games but was one that garnered quite some attention, especially with the WW1 centenary coming up. It also gave us the opportunity to focus a 100% on our own project.Īfter discussing the Unique Selling Points (USP’s) of the game, we agreed that we should put more effort in showcasing the WW1 theme. These freelancers worked hard with us to improve the look & feel of the game, the in-game usability and to get a bigger reach for potential players. It was the income of the first Christmas sale in 2013 that gave us the opportunity to bring the game to the next level, this by reinvesting in a few specialists. The game entered Steam Early Access on September 24 2013.Įarly Access phase gave Verdun the opportunity to growĮarly Access gave us a chance to receive direct feedback from our target audience, as well as generating an income during the development of the game. We believe it was the original theme and renewing squad-based gameplay that garnered interest. An achievement that we reached in just 2 weeks’ time. The Steam Greenlight acceptance rate was around 75% at the time with over 30.000 votes. The web player, with its social feature, definitely helped us to get a Steam approval for Verdun. In addition, by integrating a clear Facebook like button in the menu (2013), we made sure that those interested would follow the news about Verdun on Facebook, which now has almost 75.000 followers. It also had a positive effect on our CCU, something that was necessary to balance out the game and tackle some common multiplayer game obstacles such as match making and server (connection) problems. The web version of the game was received positively as the market showed an interest in a WW1 themed FPS. This version would be a simplified version of the game, supported over a limited period of time and distributed worldwide by M2H’s own web portal Wooglie. ![]() To test the waters we made sure to release a free web version of the game quickly. We started working out the first steps soon which entailed ‘do your research’ such as visiting the actual Western front, talk with experts, visit WW1 museums and more. The challenges we faced were developing a multiplayer only mode game, low resources, unexplored WW1 trench warfare and an unknown brand name. My brother Matt Hergaarden and I had some experience in the multiplayer game genre, yet a FPS would be new and an interesting challenge for the both of us. Verdun was the first Dutch game to make the Steam Greenlight!īack in college, Jos Hoebe and I (Mike Hergaarden) frequently discussed the idea of making a game where each of our passions would be combined a WW1 setting and a FPS in a multiplayer format.
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