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Unfortunately it has been announced today that online play for the original Hero Academy, Hero Academy 2 and Orcs Must Die! Unchained will be ceasing later this year, on April 8th 2019. The population of players on these games has reduced and regrettably no longer viable for Robot to provide on-going support for online play.

Orcs Must Die! 1 & 2 will continue to be available for play on Steam.

It is a challenging world for small independent developers like Robot and sometimes these tough decisions have to be made. By taking Hero Academy and Orcs Must Die! Unchained to sunset, Robot is able to focus more exclusively on TWO new exciting games which are currently in development.

Players and fans will no doubt reflect fondly on the great times they had playing these titles. Many of the community played a large part in helping to shape these games thanks to the high level of engagement Robot has with its community and its fans. We’ll remember these good times as we move into the future.

To help keep the spirit of these games going a little longer, Robot is offering active players who log in free in-game currency. Perfect if you have cards you have been wanting to unlock in Hero Academy or perhaps some heroes you have yet to try out in Orcs Must Die! Unchained. Be sure to make the most of this free in-game currency offer running until April 8th 2019.

For more information about this news, and information about the free in-game currency offer please take a look at the announcement on the Robot Entertainment website.

Future

Moving forwards Robot’s attention is firmly on the delivery of two brand new games. While there is no news to share on what these games are, be sure to stay turned for news and announcements in 2019. The bots are working hard at the factory and the studio is currently recruiting for a number of positions. We will keep you up to date, right here at REF.

You may have had trouble accessing the Robot Entertainment Fans website over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, we had some issues with our DNS provider which resulted in some regions being shown other websites instead of REF. We’re sorry about this and we expect the issue to be fully resolved in the new 48 hours.

Rest assured Robot Fans isn’t going anywhere!

So things have been quiet at Robot HQ for a few months now and fans might be asking the question, just what is going on over at Robot? Well the good news is that things are happening. The studio is currently in full throttle in the planning and development stages of a brand new game. Unfortunately at these early stages there just isn’t much to report on and as a result it may seem like things are akin to a tumbleweed. However, fans should not worry, this is quite normal.

Thinking back to the past we have had a number of “down times”, from when Robot was first formed there was  a long wait until we saw Age Online and there were again pauses of news between Age Online and Orcs Must Die! and from Orcs Must Die! 2 to the announcement of Orcs Must Die! Unchained.

What we do know is that things are cooking at the studio and what we are likely to see in the coming months is an announcement for an exciting brand new game.

Stick with us for all the news as it happens. Interesting new developments might not be too long around the corner! In the meanwhile.. get your thinking caps on… what could this new game be?

Good news for PC players – Hero Academy 2 is en-route to Steam today via the Early Access program. This early access lets Steam players take a look at Hero Academy 2 before its wider release. 

According to the developer commentary on the Steam store page:

Early Access allows us to get feedback from you, as passionate and engaged players, to refine Hero Academy 2 for PC and Mac. The core gameplay is complete, and we are continuing to tune and improve everything from the UI and strategic options with each release. We need your help to ensure Hero Academy 2 plays great on the PC and Mac.

It is expected that Hero Academy 2 will be in full release on Steam before the end of of year. Releasing on Steam brings Steam Achievements for those achievement collectors out there. You can take a look at the game on the Steam store.

$75 early access bonus content!

That’s right, playing now on Steam during the early access phase also unlocks $75 worth of in-game bonus content. This includes:

• 10 Card Packs, each providing 5 cards with a guaranteed Rare or better.
• 3 Ultra Card Packs; one for each House with a guaranteed LEGENDARY card in each pack.
• Council Rescue Campaign; 12 unique missions with an additional Hard Mode for each level. Rewards an additional Council Ultra Pack as you complete the missions.
• 2000 GOLD and 3000 GEMS to pick up new solo content or expand your card collection!
• Exclusive Steam Skull vanity crystal
• Exclusive Steam Mug avatar

So be sure to pick this up! In exchange for this Robot would love to hear your feedback and comments on the game, just head over to the Steam Forums and let both Robot and the community know your thoughts!

Announced earlier this week on the Robot Entertainment blog, there is unfortunate news to share about the studio. Following studio growth in the ramp up to launch Orcs Must Die! Unchained and the recent launch of Hero Academy 2, the studio has been hard at work on two new original IP games. Recently the decision has been made that the studio needs to focus its efforts on shipping just one game and as a result, regretfully the studio has had to let go numerous staff to suit the economies of scale to deliver one game rather than two.

Over 30 staff are affected by this news across all disciples of the production process including art, design, infrastructure, marketing, programming, and others. This is a large number of staff which is no doubt very upsetting for all. Robot Entertainment as a mid-size developer has grown from its inception and as well as shipping multiple award winning games, it has been home to a number of long-standing developers, many of whom calling back to the days of Ensemble Studios. It goes without saying a mid-size developer is about friendship and values with many colleagues having worked together for 10 to 15 years or more.

We would like to express our heartfelt sympathies to all those affected by this transition. With a great track record of games shipped we know that Robot is full of many talented people all of whom whose skills will no doubt be valuable to many companies. Lay-offs are a dark side of the nature of the gaming industry, but many companies band together to help their industry colleagues and I am sure many companies will be reaching out to Robot Entertainment talent. The studio is also supporting staff in these transitions. Unfortunately there are many challenges for a studio like Robot to manage a number of in-flight, full production projects at once.

Lay-offs are never a good thing and we know that everything possible would have been done to avoid this scenario. Robot’s mid-sized position makes things very difficult, especially in the earlier production phases of new IP.

Continuing onwards

The studio however is pressing on with this so far unannounced upcoming new game. Although a smaller team now, the studios ambition to make great games continues. Hero Academy 2 and Orcs Must Die! Unchained will continue to operate, the servers are not going anywhere. Hero Academy 2 will also be receiving updates and patches, having just recently received the Ketsali faction update.

While there is no news about the upcoming new game yet, keep your eyes peeled for news in the coming months.

Hero Academy 2 has a new faction on the block – the Ketsali. This new faction is quite unique both in play style and art design making an interesting new entry to the game.

The Ketsali can be summed up pretty much as “bird people” with iconic design style of bright colours and feathers. They have a unique play style, with their units and spells focusing more around movement and board control, expect to see lots of cards for anti-movement and movement buffs. Units are diverse from warriors like War Talon to various animals.

The Ketsali are available now in Hero Academy 2 and they are completely free! Players can unlock Ketsali cards from card packs by playing the game or in store with a new Ketsali starter pack. For top tips on how to get started with the new faction you can also check out the blog on the Hero Academy 2 website which covers strenghts, weaknesses and some useful card synergies. Check that out here:

https://heroacademy2.com/en-US/blog/post/KetsaliGuide

Happy patch day, heroes! BonusXP and Robot Entertainment have released a new patch for Hero Academy 2, bringing not only some balance changes to cards but also some brand new cards in the form of new Vermin weapon cards. Fancy 50% dodge or veil? Equip one of these new weapons!

• Skitter Skulls – On Equip: Gain Dodge 50%.
• Gut Opener – +1 Damage, Deal +2 Damage to Heroes with 3 or more Attack.
• Talked-Too-Much – +2 Damage, Heal 1 Health at the End of Turn.
• Calamity’s Candle – +1 Damage, Draw a random Spell from your Discard pile.
• Snapback Shot – +1 Damage, Eulogy: Add a Snapback Shot to your hand.
• Unfortunate Soul – +1 Damage, On Equip: Veil.

There are two new challenge packs now available as well to test your wits, themed around these new weapons.

In other news, in response to player feedback the mandatory tutorial has been re-tuned to be much shorter, helping players get into games quicker.

There are quite a few balance changes for each faction. You can review the full patch notes on the Hero Academy website, link below.

https://heroacademy2.com/en-US/blog/post/Patch1-32