DCUO Development Update - January 2023

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by Mepps, Jan 11, 2023.

  1. Mepps Sr. Community Manager

    DEVELOPMENT UPDATE - JANUARY 2023

    Happy New Year! Please read on for your January 2023 Development Update to learn more about what the team has been up to and what's next for DC Universe Online.

    What follows are our plans laid out as transparently as possible based what we know or expect to be true - as of right now.

    Plans can always change.


    NEWS

    If you do not read this whole update, here's what you need to know:
    • Episode 45 is Shock to the System.
    • Emotes are coming.
    Let's catch up on what we have been working on.


    PREVIOUSLY ON DCUO: SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER

    2022 has come and gone. It has been a minute, but if you can stretch your memories back to this fall, we saw the launch of the new Homecoming seasonal event with Starfire and Blackfire, The Witching Hour in October, and of course Season's Greedings just wrapped up this December.

    We got new rewards from Doctor Fate each month, Batman himself and Black Adam as allies, and several new bundles. We celebrated Extra Life as we closed out the year, and launched new storylines in Episode 44: The Sins of Black Adam.

    In game updates, we launched an updated allies interface, a new scorecard feats interface (so you can quickly see what feats are relevant for you while inside content), and a new custom play interface. And then revised each. And then revised them again. We don't say it enough, so: thank you for your feedback and help getting these systems where we want them to be.


    NEXT ON DCUO: JANUARY-MARCH

    We will kick off 2023 with the annual Attack of the Anti-Monitor anniversary event, and we will follow with new rewards in both the Love Conquers All (in February) and Mister Mxyzptlk's Mischief (in March) seasonal events.

    In case you missed it, the Shazam ally just released last week, and we have at least one more ally on the way in this quarter. We expect to have a new artifact, new time capsule, new Doctor Fate's Daily Rewards each month, and a new episode, too.


    [IMG]

    Episode 45: Shock to the System

    Dakota City’s just built different. The Big Bang attack that created new heroes, villains, and victims has drawn sinister, otherworldly attention. Ebon’s powers cast a long shadow, but it’s the Apokoliptian Parademons that has Static shocked enough to contact you. Why are people disappearing, why has Apokolips turned its attention to Dakota City, and will you be able to take on such a shadowy threat?

    In SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM, players will travel to the heart of the Milestone universe in Dakota City to offer help and to investigate why these heroes and villains are disappearing.

    THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM:
    • SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM will offer normal and elite versions of On Duty content, along with level-agnostic event versions available for a limited time.
    • The content will include open world missions and world bosses, with a duo, alert, and raid.
    • The episode will feature DC and Milestone characters including Static, Ebon, Rocket, DeSaad, and more.
    • The storyline will include adventures centered around the new Dakota City and written by acclaimed comic book writer Leon Chills.
    • The episode will launch new player rewards, including gear, styles, and more.
    EPISODE 45: SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM will launch in spring 2023 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.


    NEXT AT DIMENSIONAL INK: JANUARY-MARCH

    The bulk of the next few months will be focused on Episode 45 and then the early stages of Episode 46.
    We are also very excited to announce we will work on a new emotes system. With this feature, you be able to collect new emotes and animations to better express yourself throughout the game. We will have more to share on this feature in the coming months.

    Of course, work will also continue on our next gen console releases for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, due later this year.


    NEXT ON DCUO: APRIL - THE FUTURE

    Looking to the rest of the year, we expect to launch Episode 46 in the summer and Episode 47 in the fall, along with new allies and artifacts. One of these episodes is likely to be pretty dark while the other is expected to be very not. We expect to return to Save the Universe and the rest of the seasonal events as well and, yes, release on those next gen consoles.

    More on the future as we live it.


    CALENDAR

    If paragraphs are not your thing, maybe calendars are!

    [IMG]

    Thank you for reading! Please join the discussion below with any questions and let us know what you want to see in 2023.
    • Like x 25
  2. Eve YouTuber

    Yesssssss new emotes system..Guess this explains what happened to the emotes list ;)
    LOVE that we are going to Dakota City and meet milestones characters. I know a certain Controller will be very happy :D
    • Like x 12
  3. K3str3lDC Dedicated Player

    Frag yeah! I was wondering if the weird **** with the emotes had to do with them tinkering with the interface to figure out if/how they could add more!

    And a Static related episode! And Rocket will be involved, too?! Thought Christmas was over!
    • Like x 3
  4. Dead13 Well-Known Player

    No new power again?
    • Like x 2
  5. Pale Rage Dedicated Player

    Looks like it'll be another interesting year! So glad we won't have to see the giggling Batman again lol.
    • Like x 7
  6. Eve YouTuber

    Mepps already explained why they are not making new powers but are aware that players wants new powers.
    • Like x 6
  7. jolaksi Well-Known Player

    I hope Ebon is the first baby step into creating Shadow powerset.
    • Like x 2
  8. K3str3lDC Dedicated Player

    Dude saw the golden goose and complained about not getting a bronze goose. I mean... new emotes that are actual emotes and not trinkets and a Static/Milestone episode set in Dakota City with characters like Rocket being involved?! Forget powers, there's so much in that single sentence so many of us have been wanting so badly for so long and been doubtful would ever happen, let alone together!
    • Like x 7
  9. Tiffany6223 Loyal Player

    This is fantastic! I don’t know anything about the Milestone Universe but I can’t wait to experience it! I looked Leon Chills up on LinkedIn, and his resume of works is impressive so it makes me even more excited about the story we are going to get!

    This is fantastic! I love a good story as much as good game play! I hope they are allowing themselves the proper amount to time to get the story & game play right. If need be, Sins of Black Adam is entertaining enough to get me to Summer. At first I was like, I’m not sure about this DLC, but now, I really like it. I’m excited for Shock the System, I want it to be a great story and a fun DLC, and from what we have been told today it looks like we are going to be delighted!

    Thank you Mepps for the Development Update! The good folks at Daybreak / Dimensional Ink have been working really hard on this.
    • Like x 7
  10. Icon Active Player

    My "Into the Dakotaverse" League has been chomping at the bit for this episode. WE ARE READY!
    • Like x 12
  11. TheLQ-DCUO Loyal Player

    Thanks for the update! :)

    Just to confirm, in episode 45 we are only getting one raid?

    • Like x 1
  12. PrimaryMercenary New Player

    Hopefully the emote update also means the cut scenes involving Iconic character gets retouched too
    • Like x 1
  13. Gassius_Spray Loyal Player

    Well about the emote system coming... Maybe making new emote animations might bring new animations for new power(s) ...... at some point. Trying to be a little optimistic here. I want new powers, we want new powers, they now we want new powers. Wanted new powers for a long long looooooooooong time. I want Legends toon powers unlocked to use on my toons... but this is one of my pipe dreams.

    I dont know how these emotes will be distributed. Earned as loot drops, booster bundled, time capsuled or off the MP. But if time capsuled... inb4 seeing people selling Larfleeze boogie down emote 2 billion dollars plus as well as seeing them on these gold sellers and their sites.
  14. OneWhoLaughed Committed Player

    I did the exact same thing. I was more impressed he was able to transition so fluidly from JP Morgan & a career in finance to writing. Within 3 years he was already working at Netflix.

    I bought Icon & rocket season 1 almost immediately afterwards.
    • Like x 3
  15. FluffyCloud99 Well-Known Player

    While i am a fan of devs communicating with members of the community, enlightening us on what they have planned, i feel like this development update so far is...bland.

    To sum up the dev update for those who have not seen.

    Ep 45: Labels the basic jist around what to expect. Duo, Alert, Raid along with new open world + missions in said open world revolving around Dakota city. Characters in this dlc are Static, Ebon, Rocket, DeSaad, and more.

    Events: Seasonal Events scheduled as per usual throughout the year with the addition of Save the universe and homecoming making a return in Q3

    Episode 46: Q3 Release. No other info

    Emote rework: They will be reworking Emotes with newer animations to express yourselves more in game. The word they used was "Collect" So by my understanding, I would assume some are purchasable, found in Niche content and/or time capsules (Grrrr)

    And the one you have all been waiting for... Next Gen Consoles:
    There was nothing in here about that other than "We continue to work on it". In the roadmap it is set as "Future" so who knows when that will be.

    Personally i feel this is sort of a let down of an update. I feel like it was more of a "hey, this is a preview of next episode information" rather than "We have XXXX planned for this year. This is our progress. This is what we aim for. What would the community like of us?" Maybe include answers to a few of the FaQ that pop up on the server?

    Idk, maybe i got my hopes up for something big but got slapped with "Normal scheduled events, new dlcs and emotes"

    What do you all think? Was it all it lived up to be? How do you feel about it?

    Either way, i am thankful that there was at least something surprising to see and being in the loop of at least the little things going on behind the scenes.
    • Like x 8
  16. Mepps Sr. Community Manager

    This is correct. We have one raid and we have the world boss big group content, like we had in Wonderverse.
    • Like x 9
  17. zNot Loyal Player

    And this year we still wont have no balancing/adjusting of certain stuff? Art swap? Eog? Prec gadgets?
    • Like x 1
  18. zNot Loyal Player

    Will that episode contain Elite Plus?
  19. TheNumber 2 Well-Known Player

    I believe cross-progression may have been left off of this list by mistake. All good though, we all know it’s in the works. Thank you!
    • Like x 1
  20. Stag Active Player

    What about survival Mode Season 4???
    • Like x 1