Underrail - New Expansion Announced

A new update for Underrail announces a new expansion is in the works which will feature a new main character.

Version 1.1.1.0 - Core City Factions Update

Hi guys,

We're rolling out the first content update after the Expedition release and we're doing it directly on the main branch so good luck everyone! But first, a few words regarding our current state and our future plans.

Despite having hardly any mainstream press coverage upon release, Expedition sold decently well in the initial wave and then kept doing well in the following weeks. This is very encouraging because this tells me that during the years we did manage to establish a big and dedicated enough of a fanbase, that is keeping an eye on the game and spreading the word about it, that we are no longer at the mercy of whims of individual mainstream journos of dubious gaming pedigree. Speaking of individual whims, we did in the end get a huge visibility boost (that translated into a financial one) from our friendly Ugandan YouTuber in the form of this video. Much love to Sseth.

Our plans for the future are two-fold. First, we intend to release at least a couple more content updates. These updates will vary in size, but you can probably expect something comparable to this one. They will feature mostly minor quest changes, new items, couple new areas and possibly some moderate mechanical changes. I don't know how frequent these will be, but we'll do our best not to keep you waiting for too long.

Secondly, and this will be our major focus, we'll start working on another expansion for the game. This one will be a standalone campaign in which you'll play as a new character in an area that will not be connected to the main game. We decided to do it this way for two reasons: first, because the base game is big enough as it is and we don't want to add more of the big content chunks either horizontally or through further character scaling (we will be adding some smaller stuff through the content updates, though); and secondly, we want to be able to revisit certain base mechanics and design patterns we used in the base game and improve upon them without either making the game inconsistent or having to redesign major parts of the base game. We'll talk more about what these things are and how we're improving upon them in the future.

That's it regarding our plans. We'll try to keep you guys posted on the development.

* * * * *

Anyway, here's the patch notes for the update (the list includes the changes from 1.1.0.13 and .14 that were not present on the main branch until now):

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More information.

Well this came as another surprise. I still haven't played the first expansion.

Now with even more walking…

Their right about their fan-base, anything Underrail can only be good news.

"This one will be a standalone campaign in which you'll play as a new character in an area that will not be connected to the main game."

Why even call this an expansion? Sounds more like a sequel.

I'm guessing it's probably due to the size.

It's a safe cash-grab, and I don't even mind

A stand alone sounds like a good idea, that means I can play through the game again shortly with the latest expansion without having to consider if I should wait for the new content.

At least is standalone and not a mid-campaign punishing your customers who bought it before it was even announced and beat the game already

I'd rather see something new, but I understand the comfort level of reiterating what worked. Many authors get stuck doing this too. I won't pay for anything Underrail related at this point, but will continue to download the expansion stuff, that I'll never play

Originally Posted by JDR13
I'm guessing it's probably due to the size.

Also, it'll probably use the same engine, ruleset, assets, etc. It's cheaper for them to create more content this way so I'm ok with that.

Good news! Sales-wise they are doing very well: the game has recently Overwhelmingly Positive (141 reviews)
Separate game, so less more walking.

It's a strange maneuver, in my opinion, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong. The first/base game is so fantastic I completely trust them on this newest offering.

Gosh, the loaded comments towards "the mainstream". I don't get the need for so much self-pity and martyrdom. We're not in 1990, now there is this thing called the internet where word of mouth is an unstoppable force and if you don't get mainstream coverage it means your product just isn't worth talking about.

Sure, investing on marketing will make it easier/faster to reach the wider audience, but a good product sells itself. Just look at all the coverage and "mainstream" air time a game like Disco Elysium is getting. Here's what you can do: Invest less effort on crying about the mainstream coverage and more on creating worthwhile products.

Simple rule: If you make a gimmicky, niche game, you get a gimmicky, niche audience.

Originally Posted by Nereida
Simple rule: If you make a gimmicky, niche game, you get a gimmicky, niche audience.

I smiled a bit at those comments too, but I honestly believe that's smart marketing for a game like Underrail. Fans of the game like to be reinforced in the belief they're special. I would know, I'm one of them.

In what way is Underrail "gimmicky"?

Nereida is the cousin of Borcanu.

The concept is to optimize negativity and minimise contribution.

I'm surprised you guys are falling for this level of trolling.

I guess Nereida represents what Caddy would call amygdala-human behavior

Originally Posted by BriefDArt
Nereida is the cousin of Borcanu.

The concept is to optimize negativity and minimise contribution.

I'm surprised you guys are falling for this level of trolling.

I guess Nereida represents what Caddy would call amygdala-human behavior

Agreed, but on the other hand I find the best way to deal with negativity it's to not get upset. Not that I always manage that.

Originally Posted by TomRon
Agreed, but on the other hand I find the best way to deal with negativity it's to not get upset. Not that I always manage that.

Sounds like a wise disposition