PORTSMOUTH. ENGLAND, February 2nd 2023 - Nearly ten years have passed since Freejam released their first-ever public alpha for their award-winning robot-building online PVP game ROBOCRAFT. During those ten years, 16 million players built, drove and fought online against others in epic robot battles.
Freejam is planning to re-energize the franchise for those 16 million players and capture a whole new generation of creators, engineers and fighters in an explosive and ambitious sequel, ROBOCRAFT 2.
ROBOCRAFT 2 is a powerful block-based robot-building game where players will create destructive battle robots out of blocks, drive them in online combat and seek to eliminate the competition with high-powered sci-fi weaponry.
A trailer, which features gameplay from real matches with the community can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/pYPAdXWFZ4o
Mark Simmons, CEO and Game Director at Freejam has said:
“Since we quietly unveiled that we were working on ROBOCRAFT 2 with our community, we’ve had a lot of players who have come back to share stories about their time on the original game. Over 50,000 people have added the game to their Steam Wishlist and that’s been really humbling to see players still want to play a robot-building online action game like ROBOCRAFT.
“We’ve had players return after years who have told us that the original ROBOCRAFT inspired them to study engineering or are currently doing so. Then there are those who became parents and are now beginning to introduce their kids to the sequel. That is just amazing and we can’t thank these players enough for sharing their personal stories with us
“We hope that ROBOCRAFT 2 will really resonate with players for a new generation while also being a comfortable return to what players really loved about the original, with a few improvements and surprises!”
New additions to the franchise since the original title includes
- Block-by-block destruction - Deal damage to the blocks of each robot to destroy their connections! Robots break block by block and this affects the structural integrity of a machine and ultimately its performance in battle.
- Get out of the robot - Leave the robot and hop into a teammate's spare seat. Control multi-manned machines and in the future, larger Mega-bot-like creations which could be found on the map!
- On-foot combat - While out of the robot you are equipped with the Quantum Machine gun, great to use against other pilots
- Server-side physics - Every smash, collision and projectile is handled server-side. Machines can even lift and push each other. Weight really matters! Accelerate a heavy robot into a light robot and it’ll tear it apart in a satisfying explosion of blocks!
- Stretch and scale - Blocks can be stretched into various shapes across the grid to create unique shapes for your robot.
- Material painting - Paint each block with a different material which affects weight, strength, friction and bounciness.
- A huge selection of new shapes not seen in Robocraft before - Including plates, pipes, cones, and posts which offer unrivalled robot design and functionality.
- New joint parts like Axles, servos, pistons and hinges - Create interesting mechanical designs like robots that crush other players with deadly pincers, or a machine that is capable of launching itself into the air to quickly travel across a map.
- Robust logic and sensor blocks - Use a variety of logic chips to create a plethora of engineering functions which can create very unique robot mechanisms.
- Wiring system - Wire up the pilot seat to control various parts of your machine. Combine logic and sensor blocks for complex robot functions. Auto-wiring makes the building accessible for all!
- Tweakable stats - Each part of your robot can be tweaked, including max/min angle and extension. You can even tweak the fire delay of your weapons to change weapon fire rates from a single shotgun-style blast from all guns to a coordinated sequence of guns for a constant fire rate.
The team have also released a Roadmap of their future plans for ROBOCRAFT 2 which include:
- RGB Colour system - Choose from over 16 million shades of colour to paint your robot.
- Modular Tank Track system - An innovative procedurally generated system to create functional working tank tracks.
- Aerodynamics - You can create working wings by just stretching and scaling blocks! This opens up huge possibilities for building and can be used to create an assortment of flying machines and can also impact ground-based machines.
All these features help to re-energize the ROBOCRAFT franchise to give more power to builders and creators. There are also plans to provide a world editor tool which would let players create their own maps and game modes.
Freejam is currently planning a number of online battle tests for Europe and North America and is encouraging players to get involved and try out the online gameplay at specific times. The next scheduled online battle test is planned to take place on the 5th of February at the following times:
- US West (Oregon) - 9:00AM - 11:00AM
- US East (Virginia) - 12:00PM - 2:00PM
- UK - 5:00PM - 7:00PM
- Germany - 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Players who want to be involved in the next online battle test need only to go to https://www.ROBOCRAFT2.com and download the free launcher. They will be able to start building their robots and test them out immediately whilst waiting for the online battle test to go live.
Players can join the other 50,000 players that have added Robocraft 2 to their Steam Wishlist by visiting the Steam Page here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1991140/Robocraft_2/
Please contact Chris Cleveland for any press-related enquiries at ccleveland@freejamgames.com
Socials
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Robocraft2Game
Discord: discord.gg/7352EBj2vk
Assets: https://bit.ly/Robocraft2_Assets_2-2-2023
About Freejam
Freejam is an independent games developer located in Portsmouth, UK. The studio focuses on producing experiences that have User Generated Content (UGC) at its core. The studio's debut title Robocraft launched on PC in 2013 and has over 16 million registered players worldwide. They are currently working on Robocraft 2 which is currently in pre-alpha with a scheduled release in Steam Early Access in 2023.