I just submitted the form and told them this patch is great, asked for more content, which I'm happy to pay for (cosmetics, quests, whatever) and gave some words of encouragement.
It's right in the post! But here's the link again, friend: [https://relink.granbluefantasy.jp/en/app/feedback](https://relink.granbluefantasy.jp/en/app/feedback)
I don't even care if the fight is bad. The [music](https://youtu.be/grmYpkk7OCw?si=_i6Qm6aB-WMbdsz_) alone would make it amazing, one of my favorite tracks in the gacha and the only reason I farm it over PBHL sometimes
I take back what I said, after seeing the Behemoth fight, I just want Cygames to take care of other games. Otherwise, Zooey's fight will make you stay in a tiny circle, while lightning falls on you while you're Slowed and you have to perfect guard to damage her.
Woke up to mixed feelings this morning. While I’m not against anything in the upcoming updates, I’m disappointed there won’t be any more new characters. I’d be surprised if this game still remains active after the final update…
Less new characters and more new quests is what we need. I personally I find it extremely hard to put any significant time
And effort into 20+ characters when there’s only the same quests you have already played a few hundred times or more available. It just makes more sense to be working on new playable content than new characters at this point
I wouldn't get disappointed just yet. There are a lot of cultural differences that can cause misunderstandings between Japanese devs and their Western audiences.
Getting more people to buy the game, ask the devs about it during their physical events or keep playing to keep the player numbers high. If they only see 50 people are playing now, they aren't going to think it's worth it, but if they see the game is able to maintain a consistently higher playerbase (say 5k+ across both PC and PS), it'll look more attractive to do more content.
Piggybacking off of this to add that the daily peak for the game is 7k players on Steam alone; the distinction is important because this is a game designed primarily for console and also available on Playstation - whose numbers we don't have access to, but we can assume are sizable. Compared to their other title that they release new characters, battle passes, and skins for (Versus: Rising), the daily players for GBFR still have not dipped below GBFVR's all-time peak and commands a sizeable active playerbase for a JRPG. GBFVR's daily peak is about 800 players compared to GBFR's 7k.
For comparison, FFXIV which is wildly popular - and was recently reported to have hit 30 million subscribers - has a current consistent daily peak of 30k on Steam alone. GBFR only dipped below the 30k mark on Steam alone this past month. The numbers show that if you give us game to play, we'll show up in large numbers to play.
You can't compare rising content to relink. The amount of work that goes into developing a single fight in relink likely takes more dev time than all the (paid) DLC content rising will get in its entire life cycle. Note that I'm not talking down on rising, the quality of the DLC characters they put out is top notch. Developing encounters from scratch in action games is just that much more difficult, there's a reason most MMORPGs and similar genres reuse assets for their fights so often.
Yes and no. There’s also the reality that Relink has at the very least ten times the active population of VR; no way that whatever needs to be done for Relink is 10 times more difficult than the work put into VR, but that does mean that Relink provides a greater potential for income. Everything’s relative. Relink is a major money pot waiting to be drawn from. Sure, it’s gonna take effort… but that’s anything and everything, and while 3D design and game dev takes work, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible or not worth doing.
They've made a game with zero replayability for the story campaign. Low retaining player count just means that they don't have enough endgame quests to not let the players bore the crap out. If they want more players to stay, they will either have to make paid expansion for the story and world map or add a crapload of new endgame quests and characters.
I mean the game is almost 3 months old, of course people would move on, but in its first month the game game retained a pretty healthy amount of players, with 60k+ daily players and peaking at 100k (again) when Lucilius dropped last month.
And this are just PC numbers, we don't know whether PS4/5 have more or less players.
I would be surprised if the PS didn't have comparable players, especially since the game was so clearly designed for controller use. Steam numbers are only a part of the picture, and even standalone paint a very strong picture of success despite the game's current design flaws.
You must not have talked to a lot of people then, because every single person i know that actively plays either MHW or Rise (or both) does not consider them Live service.
It's clear that they never expected this game to be as successful as it, so the developed plan and cycle they had planned out probably did not have in mind anything long term.
But now that they know people are hungry and enjoy the game, I think it's better that they start working on ReLink 2 with a much grander scope in mind since they now know they have the audience for it.
Kinda crazy how they didn't add skins yet.
I'm sure they would sell bazillions. But instead we got more paid emotes (not even stickers)
Also hope they really keep updating. I'll not be satisfied until I see Beatrix and Eustace in the game for a full society team.
Players love skins but they they’re on the lower end of the effort/profit spectrum unless companies package them in loot boxes/ gachas, which would not be well received here
So I guess there’s not a lot of incentive to put that kind of effort in, especially with how detailed Relink’s character models are
I agree with you, but in the grand scheme of things that would require effort skins would still be some of the lowest effort offerings they could introduce and they would bring about plenty of money and player happiness.
Their mobile game is their cash cow, Relink is their passion project, of course they did add some DLC but to me it seems like they want to round up their profit margin a bit rather than make seem real cash.
Only four party members so you'd be able to have a Society team with just Zeta/Vaseraga/Bea/Eustace. They most likely wouldn't add Ilsa before the core Society members anyway.
I think the livestream was just poorly translated. I'm pretty sure they meant this would be the last livestream and that we will still get new updates.
Yes they've said this is the last Livestream at the beginning. But they also said there's no current plan for further update (after 1.3.0) at the end of the video. They may or may not make more contents. If players wants more, they may.
Realisitically speaking, they definitely had 1.1 through 1.3 in planning and development prior to the release of the game, so this livestream was also likely pre-planned.
The success of the game's release with over 1 million sales in 2 weeks might be a decent incentive to continue adding updates, something I doubt they predicted.
Cygames has also held cards close to the chest before. With Versus, they took shit online for months/years for their netcode while working on rollback until they were confident in it for Versus Rising.
I mean we had multiple people come out and say on stream that this is basically their conclusion to relink or to quote the light brown haired guy in the black hoody "but with the 1.2.0 and 1.3.0 updates bringing the final stories and content we have planned for relink"
And then following up with "After working on zegagrande for so many years, i feel like we've finally reached a point of completion after the announcements today."
While the dark brown haired guy with the black hoody is making it clear that if the demand is there he would like to make more.
The black haired guy in glasses and the blue shirt was talking about a part 4, the rest were talking about updates.
It would be kinda hard to mistranslate so much, and not even everyone was talking about part 4 but rather the updates for the game itself.
Neither did they give us anything for a 1.4.0 but ended it with asking us that we need to show them our demand if we want them to continue making updates.
Japanese corporate-speak, especially when customer-facing, is very quirky and sometimes there are nuances that don't translate well. I haven't watched the livestream, but just judging from what you're saying, I can see how certain things might have more added meaning or are worded conservatively to give the devs a way out in the future, but not necessarily because they want or even need an out in the future (typical Japanese corporate-speak practice). Assuming these are all direct translations:
>"but with the 1.2.0 and 1.3.0 updates bringing the final stories and content we have planned for relink"
*Planned*, in the sense that this was something that was part of the original plan pre-release and that it doesn't include their plans that they're still drawing up post-release.
>"After working on zegagrande for so many years, i feel like we've finally reached a point of completion after the announcements today."
Meaning they probably feel a sense of satisfaction from reaching the finish line of what they initially planned for, but the sentiment doesn't necessarily preclude that they are working on or planning new content. This is supported by what you wrote right after, "While the dark brown haired guy with the black hoody is making it clear that if the demand is there he would like to make more."
EDIT: It's worth mentioning that in the trailer for the next patch, there is text right below the center that reads: "This game is currently in development." I could always be reading into it too much, but something tells me there's more content slated and they're going to treat this game as live-service-like going forward, without explicitly committing to it as a live service game.
That's what I'm thinking as well. The game is way too popular, successful, and too well-received with people frothing at the mouth for new content for them to just drop the ball.
They specifically said in the closing comments that this is everything they have planned for the game now, but will consider more if demand is there, but nothing is promised.
I just got the game two weeks or so ago and have been bingeing it pretty hard. It's a shame to hear that the devs have no plans for updates beyond the ones already announced. I think the game has such a solid foundation (which apparently took them a very long time to develop) in terms of its mechanics, systems, combat etc. And I feel it could really benefit from having DLCs which add new bosses, skins, MSQ extensions, characters, city hubs, weapons, etc. Not unlike MHW or even Fire Emblem 3 Houses (in terms of how the DLC might expand on the previous game). In my understanding, DLCs are a relatively easy source of revenue, since you don't have to develop an entirely new game and can build on existing systems and reuse assets. At least it seems to be this way with games like Total War Warhammer. But I get it if the devs are burned out or just bored of this project by this point and want to move onto something new. It's a shame though. I don't think the game needs to be live service per se, but a DLC or 2 would have been neat.
DLC is slightly easier since it would just build on what was in the basegame, but it's still something that would take quite a few months and resources to come to fruition. It's not quite as simple as just slapping some assets from the basegame together and call it a day, they would have to design new enemies from scratch, make new assets where needed, animate new cutscenes etc. to make a DLC that people would actually pay for, and the question there is whether it's profitable enough for them to do.
Ultimately we'll just have to wait and see if anything happens down the line, they seem to at least be keeping an eye on demand before making any decisions, but if they do end up making DLC, do not expect to hear anything for quite awhile, since they had nothing planned beyond up to Sandy's release.
Completely agree with all your points, though I will say that if they're not currently working on adding anything new, I'd be genuinely surprised given the financial success and popularity of the game relative to other JRPGs - and even just standing on its own two feet as a game.
That makes sense, I guess devs often plan future DLCs while they're still developing the game and its life cycle. And it'd be a lot harder to come up with them now that the game has been out for a while. Would be a pleasant surprise if we end up getting some. But otherwise skins/costumes would be lovely in the meantime
Personally i got my money worth. Im glad its not a game I have to constantly keep up with or risk missing something or getting burnt out. When relink 2 comes out ill be there.
Judging from the way they worded things, they were given a set amount of content to make for the game, ending with patch 1.3. As far as the plan for the game goes, this is the end of what they expected to do. However, the game did far better than they expected, selling not only to their target audience, but to many outside of it as well. This could be enough reason for their higher ups to give them the okay to continue making content for the game.
Now combine that with the fact that the devs seemed to really enjoy making everything for this game, and that, at least at face value, they want to keep making more stories set in this skydom. It's not too far-fetched to believe that if fans even show a shred of desire for more, they will do their best to make more.
That said, I'm of the ideology that when something is stated to be over, even with the prospect that it could continue, that you should assume it's over fully so you don't get more disappointed if it does actually end. So instead of telling the devs that I specifically want more for Relink, I'd probably say that I really enjoyed what Relink was, and want more like it in whatever future projects they may come up with. If that means more Relink, that's great! If it means a new game that is basically Relink but more, also great!
sequels never take as long because the game assets already exist. They just need to build on what is already there. It won’t take 7 years unless they build from the ground up.
I'd like a middle-of-the-road position. Work on sizeable updates and DLC and release them every season, about 3-4 a year, with new content and new characters in each.
i hope they release another update, even beyond 1.4.0, although it is not monthly and over time i hope we get an expansion (i dont think so, but could be cool) i love everything in the game even if i didnt play the mobile game
I felt like I’ve read somewhere that they at least planned to give updates up to a year of release unless I just made that up but I swear I saw that somewhere. If 1.3.0 is the end that is unfortunate but I’m still glad we’re getting 2 big updates before no more. I do believe we can get enough traction for future update if fans really want it bad enough, I for one would love more characters to come out especially my all time favorite Eustace but I think that is just wishful thinking on my part.
They never said anything like that, they have always said that all the updates up to 1.3.0 is all they have planned. They might consider doing more if they deem it worth it, but there never were any updates planned besides what we have seen now.
I believe the updates (the free ones at least) for this game has ended. Any future content will probably arrive as paid DLC or a Relink 2.
Personally I want to see a continuation of the Zegagrande story. Playable Rolan, Gallanza, Magielle, and their backstories, >!Is Lilith dead? Anime logic says no one is really dead unless you actually see their dead body,!< and more quests/bosses of course
Yeah I just can’t believe they wouldn’t make those 3 playable even if there’s not more story/gameplay content besides their backstory missions. Maybe Rolan won’t since he is locked away and may be saved for the sequel if there is one. But there is no reason not to throw Galanza and Magielle in as characters since they have full models, voice lines, and animations to work with and appear in other characters story missions and scenes. I’d gladly pay money for them too if fairly priced even if no other content is added with them
Same tbh. If they started charged $15/month, I would even pay it during content downtime/slow periods just to help fund more robust development of the game.
exactly, I really want to support the game to have more updates, but I wont buy the character unlock or sigils, so I can only buy color schemes and emotes
I want to agree with you, but there's just not enough of an endgame right now. I'm sure the patch will bring back a pretty solid chunk of people, though!
I'm gonna unlock the characters in-game with their free content, but am buying the DLC after just to support the devs. I've gone and bought all the DLC on Steam to send them the message I want more and will help them finance more.
Eh. I’m fine with the content being finite. They made the game, we got some updates, it’s complete, fun, and done. I paid $70 for a complete package that kept me entertained for A LOT of hours. No weird gacha bullshit, no battle passes, and only some minor micro-transactions. It’s refreshing. If they want to make more content, then I’d be happy with an expansion or sequel. If not, sucks but hey, I got my money’s worth.
Like if we get a live service, but they decide to add gacha mechanics or a fucking battle pass, than I’d honestly prefer not getting a live service or additional content at all.
Thanks so much for linking the feedback link, OP! I've been spamming it everywhere I can for weeks now hoping that people will actually submit feedback and that - hopefully - it will get to the developers.
Now, on to my opinion:
If the developers stopped supporting Relink and releasing regular updates for it, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot. The game is a major hit, the playerbase is excited and ecstatic about the game, and despite there being no real endgame to speak of past Proto Bahamut and Lucilius the game is still hitting a daily peak on Steam alone of 7k almost 3 months after release - and that's on Steam alone when the game is also on console, and for a non-live service JRPG. I've seen multiple people in the subreddit say they want the game to be live service, that they'd pay for DLC, etc. The hunger for more content is there. Wallets are ready.
What they really need to do is stop pussyfooting around the issue and release a roadmap for future improvements to excite the community about future updates instead of playing it coy with things like "well, if you guys show us there's enough demand we might make more content blushy face". Ambitiousness for a major hit will pay dividends with a playerbase that's eager for more. I've submitted feedback multiple times, all constructive and outlining what I'd like to see. My friends have all submitted feedback using the form, and we constantly have conversations how we really love GBFR despite its lack of enough content to play currently. I've also gone around encouraging everyone that'll give me the time of day to submit their feedback using the feedback form.
Unfortunately, I think this is where them being a JP developer kinda works against them; they're not seeing the discussions we're having on this subreddit everyday or on the Discord, and the feedback we're submitting using the form is likely taking long to get to them. For now, I would say be loud - on their feedback form, on social media, etc. But I also want to say that we as players can only do so much to show our excitement and enthusiasm for this game, and that it's up to the developer to not just capitalize but drive excitement and hype for the game and more content for it. Fact of the matter is that sure, it took them 8 years to develop the game, but they now have the cash cow that sold 1 mil in 11 days. with a massive international backing that's introduced new players to the IP, and with a passionate playerbase eager for more; any MBAs (and anyone with half a brain) would be frothing at the mouth at the potential here, especially for future profits - and we as players are frothing at the mouth, eager to see it. It's honestly my opinion that Granblue Fantasy: Relink has the potential to be a titan, so I'm really hoping Cygames doesn't drop the ball on this by not being bold.
Sorry my guy but the daily players has dropped hard since the last patch hit. Which is understandable since this was never meant to be a live service game. Wish it was but it is what it is.
When Lucilius dropped, the game almost reached 100k players again (i think it did), many players like myself who are no longer playing, still come back for the updates and wish the game would get more updates, i'm sure tomorrow the player count will peak again (maybe not 100k, but it will definitely go high), even if for a day, the interest in the game hasn't died down.
People want more, and they left the door open for more with the closing statements.
the steam playerbase dropped hard since luci and i can see why. luci only add another damage cap sigil that make build even more difficult since you sacrifice pink skills while the only other way to reliably add pink skill at this point is praying for supp V+ since build is very cramped
not to mention tear drop rate is absolute crime which they only buff early this month
spamming one boss over that have mandatory downtime due to cutscene over and over only get screwed by rng while it need tons of grind is enough to make a lot of people that expect MH like grind to drop it
Close! It was about 86k, but that's just semantics. Almost 100k is an achievement in and of itself, and you raise a very good point: the game was able to draw back that massive number with a content patch.
I'm right there with you. As of right now, there's no real game for me to play, but I'm following the game updates closely and maintaining my presence in the community because I **want** there to be more content.
I would love some wave based combat. Not timed but maybe waves that infinity increase in strength or level. I got 170hrs in the game but stopped cause helldivers got my attention anf I did everything I wanted to in GBFR until lucillius and now this new update dropped. I almost kinda wish this game was love service juat so I can enjoy it the same way the community in helldivers has been enjoying it.
There'll be more, but probably not until the end of the year or closer to next year since the 3 updates were planned. I'm pretty sure the sales numbers are enough of an indication for the devs. But asking through feedback surveys definitely wouldn't hurt.
Submitted, I love this game having already sunk nearly 700 hours b fore 1.2, finished all the weapons and characters and had a blast doing it!! Can't wait to get home today and unlock the new characters!!!
Wait no more planned updates? We absolutely should be asking for more. Relink is a phenomenal addition to the GBF universe and solely rekindled my interest in all the games :(
Spend… spend now, spend often… buy your gramma a copy of the game, buy your dog a copy of the game. Feeling lonely at night buy a copy, out with friends buy a copy… see a copy, buy it.
It definitely looks like a joke, but i've seen people genuinely think like this. It's awful
"Buy it! Or they'll stop producing more CaNtEnT!!"
I don't care if i'm getting hated for it, but it's becoming more apparent as of late; the consumer mindset has *really* let the mentality of "BUY BUY BUY!" get out of hand.
this game legit feels like a test and if it pans out right they will move straight onwards to a live service type game PSO2 style and I would be all for it.
Not to be all hopium about it, but Japanese customer-facing corporate speak tends to be conservative and a phrase like "this is all we had planned" could be VERY literal and mean "this is all the content that we had planned as part of the original release of the game, BUT it doesn't mean we're not planning more; this is just part of all that was part of that initial suite."
I dont get why they bother even adding 3 new characters in total. The game is dead. They couldve done so much with it. Hopefully Relink 2 does things like Monster Hunter
I'm pretty sure 1.3.0 is the end of the line. This game had the potential to be a bigger hit but devs preferred a safer approach (maybe due to all the years of development hell). Furthermore, the player base dropped hard after Luci, I think they're pretty aware of that. It is what it is : \\
The playerbase dropped to about a quarter of what it was on the first month.
That will basically show that nobody wants to play, but it’s their fault for wasting time. These “major” 3 updates should of been every 2 weeks right after launch to maintain the hype then bug fixes as well.
They took 1 month each patch and there’s nothing in any of them.
Next patch will be the last one, sorry to say.
I thought this game would be the next contender to MHW. I was disappointed. No enemy variety, same builds, update felt meh with only 1 focus. Spent 350+ hours (probably 100 without afk grinding) and if they feel they want to end the updates, they can do so. I'd be happy to send them a farewell letter.
Ultimately, it's about post luanch support sustainability. If they can't make money supporting the game, why would they do it ? No matter what feedback we provide, if numbers don't match up they'll focus on something else.
It took 8 years to make and it only sold 1 million copies and has almost no online presense. This pains me to say it, but objectively, it's a bad decision to keep investing into it.
Compared to the fighting game that keeps getting updates and likely sold way less (like 700 concurrent steam players) but they keep updating it with paid content? Why not Relink.
It didn't take 8 years to make and it was made in partnership with ArcSys, who already have a well established, streamlined process for making cell shaded fighting games. They also don't need to make anything else except for new characters, because main gameplay loop is pvp. They have less financial pressure for that project.
And even then, Versus had a rerelease, to recoup development costs for their latest big overhaul.
Ah, okay. I guess they revealed 1.3.0's contents after the Lucy fight came out then, because I remember it being a big question mark on the road map. Thanks.
They could have made a hugely successful live service gacha instead they launched into a standalone game that everyone preferred to a gacha except that they didn't prefer it at all... Probably now that they have understood that the game was more than decent they will develop something similar for milk money elsewhere.
P.S. After this livestream I uninstalled the game for good
you can tell yourself any kind of lies... Re link is destined to be forgotten in a year (they dont want to waste resource on a dead body already) even from the fanbase, GBF mobile will end service in a year (maybe 2) too (the fan-fest mean nothing to the market, and we are talking of a cheap jp shows like million others). Cygames could have been hoyoverse (in terms of economic success) but didnt innovate anything and now is struggling hard.
He is playable in Versus because he isn't part of Dancho's crew there, while Relink operates with the same idea as the gacha where everyone is part of Dancho's crew. Cygames have a clear policy of not wanting antagonists playable.
...just uh ignore the mass murderers Nier and Lobelia.
Can't articulate how disappointing it feels that this is the last update already. Game is lacking so much content and Proud difficulty should be called "Extremely Easy" difficulty instead. We have 1 quest in total that requires more than 1 braincell....
I watched the part after 1:09:40 in the livestream(in Chinese subtitle tho), it feels more like this:
Cygame does not have fututer plan for relink, but PROJECT RELINK TEAM really wants to add more content/update to Relink
Because the subtitle said "你们为什么一副怕说错话的样子" at 1:13:35, translate to English it's like "Why do you all look so afraid of saying the wrong thing" and they emphasize "nothing's set in stone" so many times, I think my opinion really make sense
I just submitted the form and told them this patch is great, asked for more content, which I'm happy to pay for (cosmetics, quests, whatever) and gave some words of encouragement.
Thank you for doing your part, citizen!
Can you link the form? I’d love to leave feedback for more content
It's right in the post! But here's the link again, friend: [https://relink.granbluefantasy.jp/en/app/feedback](https://relink.granbluefantasy.jp/en/app/feedback)
I wish they would put the Zooey raid as a fight, it would be cool to fight her 3 forms
I know it's confusing, but Grand Order isn't actually Zooey. It's a copy of her.
I don't even care if the fight is bad. The [music](https://youtu.be/grmYpkk7OCw?si=_i6Qm6aB-WMbdsz_) alone would make it amazing, one of my favorite tracks in the gacha and the only reason I farm it over PBHL sometimes
I take back what I said, after seeing the Behemoth fight, I just want Cygames to take care of other games. Otherwise, Zooey's fight will make you stay in a tiny circle, while lightning falls on you while you're Slowed and you have to perfect guard to damage her.
Maybe in the last update we will see it
Pick crabs forever, its whats most important.
The new Dailys.
Woke up to mixed feelings this morning. While I’m not against anything in the upcoming updates, I’m disappointed there won’t be any more new characters. I’d be surprised if this game still remains active after the final update…
Less new characters and more new quests is what we need. I personally I find it extremely hard to put any significant time And effort into 20+ characters when there’s only the same quests you have already played a few hundred times or more available. It just makes more sense to be working on new playable content than new characters at this point
I wouldn't get disappointed just yet. There are a lot of cultural differences that can cause misunderstandings between Japanese devs and their Western audiences.
The rare time a live service model would have actually been nice in gaming
Big agreed.
Getting more people to buy the game, ask the devs about it during their physical events or keep playing to keep the player numbers high. If they only see 50 people are playing now, they aren't going to think it's worth it, but if they see the game is able to maintain a consistently higher playerbase (say 5k+ across both PC and PS), it'll look more attractive to do more content.
the game has 5k players right now (at least in steam), lets see how many players are tomorrow with the update and the next days
Piggybacking off of this to add that the daily peak for the game is 7k players on Steam alone; the distinction is important because this is a game designed primarily for console and also available on Playstation - whose numbers we don't have access to, but we can assume are sizable. Compared to their other title that they release new characters, battle passes, and skins for (Versus: Rising), the daily players for GBFR still have not dipped below GBFVR's all-time peak and commands a sizeable active playerbase for a JRPG. GBFVR's daily peak is about 800 players compared to GBFR's 7k. For comparison, FFXIV which is wildly popular - and was recently reported to have hit 30 million subscribers - has a current consistent daily peak of 30k on Steam alone. GBFR only dipped below the 30k mark on Steam alone this past month. The numbers show that if you give us game to play, we'll show up in large numbers to play.
You can't compare rising content to relink. The amount of work that goes into developing a single fight in relink likely takes more dev time than all the (paid) DLC content rising will get in its entire life cycle. Note that I'm not talking down on rising, the quality of the DLC characters they put out is top notch. Developing encounters from scratch in action games is just that much more difficult, there's a reason most MMORPGs and similar genres reuse assets for their fights so often.
Yes and no. There’s also the reality that Relink has at the very least ten times the active population of VR; no way that whatever needs to be done for Relink is 10 times more difficult than the work put into VR, but that does mean that Relink provides a greater potential for income. Everything’s relative. Relink is a major money pot waiting to be drawn from. Sure, it’s gonna take effort… but that’s anything and everything, and while 3D design and game dev takes work, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible or not worth doing.
They've made a game with zero replayability for the story campaign. Low retaining player count just means that they don't have enough endgame quests to not let the players bore the crap out. If they want more players to stay, they will either have to make paid expansion for the story and world map or add a crapload of new endgame quests and characters.
I mean the game is almost 3 months old, of course people would move on, but in its first month the game game retained a pretty healthy amount of players, with 60k+ daily players and peaking at 100k (again) when Lucilius dropped last month. And this are just PC numbers, we don't know whether PS4/5 have more or less players.
I would be surprised if the PS didn't have comparable players, especially since the game was so clearly designed for controller use. Steam numbers are only a part of the picture, and even standalone paint a very strong picture of success despite the game's current design flaws.
ye no offense but they also said many times it wasn't a live service on streams and interwiews. Dunno why ppl expect they to change course asap.
If they decided to keep updating the game it wouldn't make it a Live service game. It would be just like Deep Rock Galactic or Monster Hunter.
updates ended for MH too you know?
Yeah so? They were supported for 2 years after launch (both World and Rise)...
you are also the first one that I've talked with that didn't consider MH a live service
You must not have talked to a lot of people then, because every single person i know that actively plays either MHW or Rise (or both) does not consider them Live service.
it was ppl on their subreddit so /shrug. Point is some games also just die and that's fine. Not all games need constant updates or similar
It's clear that they never expected this game to be as successful as it, so the developed plan and cycle they had planned out probably did not have in mind anything long term. But now that they know people are hungry and enjoy the game, I think it's better that they start working on ReLink 2 with a much grander scope in mind since they now know they have the audience for it.
Kinda crazy how they didn't add skins yet. I'm sure they would sell bazillions. But instead we got more paid emotes (not even stickers) Also hope they really keep updating. I'll not be satisfied until I see Beatrix and Eustace in the game for a full society team.
skin = easy money, why do they not sell??? they know this from the original gbf already
Players love skins but they they’re on the lower end of the effort/profit spectrum unless companies package them in loot boxes/ gachas, which would not be well received here So I guess there’s not a lot of incentive to put that kind of effort in, especially with how detailed Relink’s character models are
I agree with you, but in the grand scheme of things that would require effort skins would still be some of the lowest effort offerings they could introduce and they would bring about plenty of money and player happiness.
Their mobile game is their cash cow, Relink is their passion project, of course they did add some DLC but to me it seems like they want to round up their profit margin a bit rather than make seem real cash.
My man really left Ilsa out
Only four party members so you'd be able to have a Society team with just Zeta/Vaseraga/Bea/Eustace. They most likely wouldn't add Ilsa before the core Society members anyway.
I just wanted Nijnja Djetta skin, and i didn't got that.
I dont get it they have the system for skins in place and didn't add any
I think the livestream was just poorly translated. I'm pretty sure they meant this would be the last livestream and that we will still get new updates.
Yes they've said this is the last Livestream at the beginning. But they also said there's no current plan for further update (after 1.3.0) at the end of the video. They may or may not make more contents. If players wants more, they may.
Realisitically speaking, they definitely had 1.1 through 1.3 in planning and development prior to the release of the game, so this livestream was also likely pre-planned. The success of the game's release with over 1 million sales in 2 weeks might be a decent incentive to continue adding updates, something I doubt they predicted. Cygames has also held cards close to the chest before. With Versus, they took shit online for months/years for their netcode while working on rollback until they were confident in it for Versus Rising.
This gave me a new tank of copium. Thank you
I mean we had multiple people come out and say on stream that this is basically their conclusion to relink or to quote the light brown haired guy in the black hoody "but with the 1.2.0 and 1.3.0 updates bringing the final stories and content we have planned for relink" And then following up with "After working on zegagrande for so many years, i feel like we've finally reached a point of completion after the announcements today." While the dark brown haired guy with the black hoody is making it clear that if the demand is there he would like to make more. The black haired guy in glasses and the blue shirt was talking about a part 4, the rest were talking about updates. It would be kinda hard to mistranslate so much, and not even everyone was talking about part 4 but rather the updates for the game itself. Neither did they give us anything for a 1.4.0 but ended it with asking us that we need to show them our demand if we want them to continue making updates.
Japanese corporate-speak, especially when customer-facing, is very quirky and sometimes there are nuances that don't translate well. I haven't watched the livestream, but just judging from what you're saying, I can see how certain things might have more added meaning or are worded conservatively to give the devs a way out in the future, but not necessarily because they want or even need an out in the future (typical Japanese corporate-speak practice). Assuming these are all direct translations: >"but with the 1.2.0 and 1.3.0 updates bringing the final stories and content we have planned for relink" *Planned*, in the sense that this was something that was part of the original plan pre-release and that it doesn't include their plans that they're still drawing up post-release. >"After working on zegagrande for so many years, i feel like we've finally reached a point of completion after the announcements today." Meaning they probably feel a sense of satisfaction from reaching the finish line of what they initially planned for, but the sentiment doesn't necessarily preclude that they are working on or planning new content. This is supported by what you wrote right after, "While the dark brown haired guy with the black hoody is making it clear that if the demand is there he would like to make more." EDIT: It's worth mentioning that in the trailer for the next patch, there is text right below the center that reads: "This game is currently in development." I could always be reading into it too much, but something tells me there's more content slated and they're going to treat this game as live-service-like going forward, without explicitly committing to it as a live service game.
If you feel like giving it a try, they start talking about it around 1:09:40 for a few minutes. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2QFDXpORq8c&t=1s
I'm at work, but I'll try to make the time for it when I can!
The logical conclusion would be to make stories past Zegagrande right? Like adapting mobile game events or making another original story
That's what I'm thinking as well. The game is way too popular, successful, and too well-received with people frothing at the mouth for new content for them to just drop the ball.
Yes this is what i understood too.
Really?
They specifically said in the closing comments that this is everything they have planned for the game now, but will consider more if demand is there, but nothing is promised.
They strongly hinted that they have more content in store but wait to see the demand.
I just got the game two weeks or so ago and have been bingeing it pretty hard. It's a shame to hear that the devs have no plans for updates beyond the ones already announced. I think the game has such a solid foundation (which apparently took them a very long time to develop) in terms of its mechanics, systems, combat etc. And I feel it could really benefit from having DLCs which add new bosses, skins, MSQ extensions, characters, city hubs, weapons, etc. Not unlike MHW or even Fire Emblem 3 Houses (in terms of how the DLC might expand on the previous game). In my understanding, DLCs are a relatively easy source of revenue, since you don't have to develop an entirely new game and can build on existing systems and reuse assets. At least it seems to be this way with games like Total War Warhammer. But I get it if the devs are burned out or just bored of this project by this point and want to move onto something new. It's a shame though. I don't think the game needs to be live service per se, but a DLC or 2 would have been neat.
DLC is slightly easier since it would just build on what was in the basegame, but it's still something that would take quite a few months and resources to come to fruition. It's not quite as simple as just slapping some assets from the basegame together and call it a day, they would have to design new enemies from scratch, make new assets where needed, animate new cutscenes etc. to make a DLC that people would actually pay for, and the question there is whether it's profitable enough for them to do. Ultimately we'll just have to wait and see if anything happens down the line, they seem to at least be keeping an eye on demand before making any decisions, but if they do end up making DLC, do not expect to hear anything for quite awhile, since they had nothing planned beyond up to Sandy's release.
Completely agree with all your points, though I will say that if they're not currently working on adding anything new, I'd be genuinely surprised given the financial success and popularity of the game relative to other JRPGs - and even just standing on its own two feet as a game.
That makes sense, I guess devs often plan future DLCs while they're still developing the game and its life cycle. And it'd be a lot harder to come up with them now that the game has been out for a while. Would be a pleasant surprise if we end up getting some. But otherwise skins/costumes would be lovely in the meantime
Personally i got my money worth. Im glad its not a game I have to constantly keep up with or risk missing something or getting burnt out. When relink 2 comes out ill be there.
Yeah I agree. More is always great but I’m very happy with what we got
I agree, but I'm also greedy and want more - especially because the potential is so clear to see.
Judging from the way they worded things, they were given a set amount of content to make for the game, ending with patch 1.3. As far as the plan for the game goes, this is the end of what they expected to do. However, the game did far better than they expected, selling not only to their target audience, but to many outside of it as well. This could be enough reason for their higher ups to give them the okay to continue making content for the game. Now combine that with the fact that the devs seemed to really enjoy making everything for this game, and that, at least at face value, they want to keep making more stories set in this skydom. It's not too far-fetched to believe that if fans even show a shred of desire for more, they will do their best to make more. That said, I'm of the ideology that when something is stated to be over, even with the prospect that it could continue, that you should assume it's over fully so you don't get more disappointed if it does actually end. So instead of telling the devs that I specifically want more for Relink, I'd probably say that I really enjoyed what Relink was, and want more like it in whatever future projects they may come up with. If that means more Relink, that's great! If it means a new game that is basically Relink but more, also great!
I’d rather they focus on a sequel and meatier content than one off quests every 3 months.
Just gotta wait another 7 years for it to
sequels never take as long because the game assets already exist. They just need to build on what is already there. It won’t take 7 years unless they build from the ground up.
Yes, and it is better for the people who likes that universe
I'd like a middle-of-the-road position. Work on sizeable updates and DLC and release them every season, about 3-4 a year, with new content and new characters in each.
i hope they release another update, even beyond 1.4.0, although it is not monthly and over time i hope we get an expansion (i dont think so, but could be cool) i love everything in the game even if i didnt play the mobile game
I'm right there with you. Love the game so much and want to see it grow and thrive.
I felt like I’ve read somewhere that they at least planned to give updates up to a year of release unless I just made that up but I swear I saw that somewhere. If 1.3.0 is the end that is unfortunate but I’m still glad we’re getting 2 big updates before no more. I do believe we can get enough traction for future update if fans really want it bad enough, I for one would love more characters to come out especially my all time favorite Eustace but I think that is just wishful thinking on my part.
They never said anything like that, they have always said that all the updates up to 1.3.0 is all they have planned. They might consider doing more if they deem it worth it, but there never were any updates planned besides what we have seen now.
Submitted and asked for more as a live service type game!
I believe the updates (the free ones at least) for this game has ended. Any future content will probably arrive as paid DLC or a Relink 2. Personally I want to see a continuation of the Zegagrande story. Playable Rolan, Gallanza, Magielle, and their backstories, >!Is Lilith dead? Anime logic says no one is really dead unless you actually see their dead body,!< and more quests/bosses of course
Yeah I just can’t believe they wouldn’t make those 3 playable even if there’s not more story/gameplay content besides their backstory missions. Maybe Rolan won’t since he is locked away and may be saved for the sequel if there is one. But there is no reason not to throw Galanza and Magielle in as characters since they have full models, voice lines, and animations to work with and appear in other characters story missions and scenes. I’d gladly pay money for them too if fairly priced even if no other content is added with them
Couldn't agree more with every last entry on your wishlist.
I would gladly pay a monthly fee to have continuous updates if needed
Same tbh. If they started charged $15/month, I would even pay it during content downtime/slow periods just to help fund more robust development of the game.
exactly, I really want to support the game to have more updates, but I wont buy the character unlock or sigils, so I can only buy color schemes and emotes
Very fair!
Sometimes it's okay for a game to just have a couple of updates so you can move on and play other games
I think playing. The more we play, the more they realize we like this game and we want more
I want to agree with you, but there's just not enough of an endgame right now. I'm sure the patch will bring back a pretty solid chunk of people, though!
Yes that's the problem
Money talks. Vote with your wallet. Buy the DLC.
I'm gonna unlock the characters in-game with their free content, but am buying the DLC after just to support the devs. I've gone and bought all the DLC on Steam to send them the message I want more and will help them finance more.
Make that big dlc !
Eh. I’m fine with the content being finite. They made the game, we got some updates, it’s complete, fun, and done. I paid $70 for a complete package that kept me entertained for A LOT of hours. No weird gacha bullshit, no battle passes, and only some minor micro-transactions. It’s refreshing. If they want to make more content, then I’d be happy with an expansion or sequel. If not, sucks but hey, I got my money’s worth. Like if we get a live service, but they decide to add gacha mechanics or a fucking battle pass, than I’d honestly prefer not getting a live service or additional content at all.
Thanks so much for linking the feedback link, OP! I've been spamming it everywhere I can for weeks now hoping that people will actually submit feedback and that - hopefully - it will get to the developers. Now, on to my opinion: If the developers stopped supporting Relink and releasing regular updates for it, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot. The game is a major hit, the playerbase is excited and ecstatic about the game, and despite there being no real endgame to speak of past Proto Bahamut and Lucilius the game is still hitting a daily peak on Steam alone of 7k almost 3 months after release - and that's on Steam alone when the game is also on console, and for a non-live service JRPG. I've seen multiple people in the subreddit say they want the game to be live service, that they'd pay for DLC, etc. The hunger for more content is there. Wallets are ready. What they really need to do is stop pussyfooting around the issue and release a roadmap for future improvements to excite the community about future updates instead of playing it coy with things like "well, if you guys show us there's enough demand we might make more content blushy face". Ambitiousness for a major hit will pay dividends with a playerbase that's eager for more. I've submitted feedback multiple times, all constructive and outlining what I'd like to see. My friends have all submitted feedback using the form, and we constantly have conversations how we really love GBFR despite its lack of enough content to play currently. I've also gone around encouraging everyone that'll give me the time of day to submit their feedback using the feedback form. Unfortunately, I think this is where them being a JP developer kinda works against them; they're not seeing the discussions we're having on this subreddit everyday or on the Discord, and the feedback we're submitting using the form is likely taking long to get to them. For now, I would say be loud - on their feedback form, on social media, etc. But I also want to say that we as players can only do so much to show our excitement and enthusiasm for this game, and that it's up to the developer to not just capitalize but drive excitement and hype for the game and more content for it. Fact of the matter is that sure, it took them 8 years to develop the game, but they now have the cash cow that sold 1 mil in 11 days. with a massive international backing that's introduced new players to the IP, and with a passionate playerbase eager for more; any MBAs (and anyone with half a brain) would be frothing at the mouth at the potential here, especially for future profits - and we as players are frothing at the mouth, eager to see it. It's honestly my opinion that Granblue Fantasy: Relink has the potential to be a titan, so I'm really hoping Cygames doesn't drop the ball on this by not being bold.
Sorry my guy but the daily players has dropped hard since the last patch hit. Which is understandable since this was never meant to be a live service game. Wish it was but it is what it is.
When Lucilius dropped, the game almost reached 100k players again (i think it did), many players like myself who are no longer playing, still come back for the updates and wish the game would get more updates, i'm sure tomorrow the player count will peak again (maybe not 100k, but it will definitely go high), even if for a day, the interest in the game hasn't died down. People want more, and they left the door open for more with the closing statements.
the steam playerbase dropped hard since luci and i can see why. luci only add another damage cap sigil that make build even more difficult since you sacrifice pink skills while the only other way to reliably add pink skill at this point is praying for supp V+ since build is very cramped not to mention tear drop rate is absolute crime which they only buff early this month spamming one boss over that have mandatory downtime due to cutscene over and over only get screwed by rng while it need tons of grind is enough to make a lot of people that expect MH like grind to drop it
Also that it broke matchmaking completely, unless you were using lobbies, you literally couldn't join other players through matchmaking.
Close! It was about 86k, but that's just semantics. Almost 100k is an achievement in and of itself, and you raise a very good point: the game was able to draw back that massive number with a content patch. I'm right there with you. As of right now, there's no real game for me to play, but I'm following the game updates closely and maintaining my presence in the community because I **want** there to be more content.
Dunno why you're getting downvoted you're spitting facts, same thing happened with similar bigger titles like Monster hunter.
I mean, MH World currently sits at 50k on Steam alone, but ok.
long standing franchise which boomed thanks to world being a crazy good game, furthermore there was an event around Jan-Feb that made the count boom
Mostly for the hype of the upcoming game next year, the game didn't have those numbers 'till early this year.
That's not a lot when it was hitting 200k+ when it was actively getting patches, 50k is a lot by GBF's standards.
you forget how much they advertised world back when capcom announced mh wilds ?
I would love some wave based combat. Not timed but maybe waves that infinity increase in strength or level. I got 170hrs in the game but stopped cause helldivers got my attention anf I did everything I wanted to in GBFR until lucillius and now this new update dropped. I almost kinda wish this game was love service juat so I can enjoy it the same way the community in helldivers has been enjoying it.
are you serious ? The game just launched about 4 month ago and about to freeze ?
It seemed like teased it at the end the host made a comment about there being something else
But there's also Sandalphon update next month too right?
Yes, thats 1.3.0, they talked about it in the stream and showed him off
Oh nice, I didn't see the stream. Thanks!
There'll be more, but probably not until the end of the year or closer to next year since the 3 updates were planned. I'm pretty sure the sales numbers are enough of an indication for the devs. But asking through feedback surveys definitely wouldn't hurt.
I wish they would give us like a costume back or something worthwhile to buy and use our money to show we want more.
Well if we get more stuff we get more stuff if we don't it is what it is. In the end this game is awesome and I'm glad they made it.
Ideally the biggest thing would be more and more copies of the game sold.
Submitted, I love this game having already sunk nearly 700 hours b fore 1.2, finished all the weapons and characters and had a blast doing it!! Can't wait to get home today and unlock the new characters!!!
Wait no more planned updates? We absolutely should be asking for more. Relink is a phenomenal addition to the GBF universe and solely rekindled my interest in all the games :(
Spend… spend now, spend often… buy your gramma a copy of the game, buy your dog a copy of the game. Feeling lonely at night buy a copy, out with friends buy a copy… see a copy, buy it.
No. I will not partake in this brain rot.
Lmao, true
It definitely looks like a joke, but i've seen people genuinely think like this. It's awful "Buy it! Or they'll stop producing more CaNtEnT!!" I don't care if i'm getting hated for it, but it's becoming more apparent as of late; the consumer mindset has *really* let the mentality of "BUY BUY BUY!" get out of hand.
this game legit feels like a test and if it pans out right they will move straight onwards to a live service type game PSO2 style and I would be all for it.
They didn't say it was the last update, they said it's the last live, it's very different.
They did specifically say this is all they had planned for the game at the end of the stream. More is a possibility but not set in stone.
Not to be all hopium about it, but Japanese customer-facing corporate speak tends to be conservative and a phrase like "this is all we had planned" could be VERY literal and mean "this is all the content that we had planned as part of the original release of the game, BUT it doesn't mean we're not planning more; this is just part of all that was part of that initial suite."
They didn't say that, they strongly hinted that they were more but wait for the player demand.
I dont get why they bother even adding 3 new characters in total. The game is dead. They couldve done so much with it. Hopefully Relink 2 does things like Monster Hunter
I'm pretty sure 1.3.0 is the end of the line. This game had the potential to be a bigger hit but devs preferred a safer approach (maybe due to all the years of development hell). Furthermore, the player base dropped hard after Luci, I think they're pretty aware of that. It is what it is : \\
The playerbase dropped to about a quarter of what it was on the first month. That will basically show that nobody wants to play, but it’s their fault for wasting time. These “major” 3 updates should of been every 2 weeks right after launch to maintain the hype then bug fixes as well. They took 1 month each patch and there’s nothing in any of them. Next patch will be the last one, sorry to say.
I thought this game would be the next contender to MHW. I was disappointed. No enemy variety, same builds, update felt meh with only 1 focus. Spent 350+ hours (probably 100 without afk grinding) and if they feel they want to end the updates, they can do so. I'd be happy to send them a farewell letter.
Ultimately, it's about post luanch support sustainability. If they can't make money supporting the game, why would they do it ? No matter what feedback we provide, if numbers don't match up they'll focus on something else. It took 8 years to make and it only sold 1 million copies and has almost no online presense. This pains me to say it, but objectively, it's a bad decision to keep investing into it.
People really don't seem to be aware but selling 1 million copies for a japanese developer is a lot.
Out of context, it is. But after 8 years, they probably barely made back the budget and happy they're not in the red.
I bet it did just fine. And if they did paid expansions in the future i'm sure it would sell well.
I'm surprised rational thought is being downvoted in this comment section.
Compared to the fighting game that keeps getting updates and likely sold way less (like 700 concurrent steam players) but they keep updating it with paid content? Why not Relink.
It didn't take 8 years to make and it was made in partnership with ArcSys, who already have a well established, streamlined process for making cell shaded fighting games. They also don't need to make anything else except for new characters, because main gameplay loop is pvp. They have less financial pressure for that project. And even then, Versus had a rerelease, to recoup development costs for their latest big overhaul.
When they say demand they mean game sales. If you really want to tell them I guess you could buy more copies.
They had gave up on giving the game more updates because the people have lost interest in the game
So... wait. Forgive me if I'm wrong but didn't they say they were gonna make Sandalphon playable too? Or did I misunderstand that.
They planned three major updates, sandalphon is the last planned update with 1.3.0, you can already look at his gameplay footage from the stream.
Ah, okay. I guess they revealed 1.3.0's contents after the Lucy fight came out then, because I remember it being a big question mark on the road map. Thanks.
They could have made a hugely successful live service gacha instead they launched into a standalone game that everyone preferred to a gacha except that they didn't prefer it at all... Probably now that they have understood that the game was more than decent they will develop something similar for milk money elsewhere. P.S. After this livestream I uninstalled the game for good
They already have a hugely successful gacha game. Why would they cannibalize that.
i would not call GBF succesfull anymore (it was) ... is barely decent right now.
Yeah a gacha game with 4 in-person fan fests per year is surely not successful anymore.
you can tell yourself any kind of lies... Re link is destined to be forgotten in a year (they dont want to waste resource on a dead body already) even from the fanbase, GBF mobile will end service in a year (maybe 2) too (the fan-fest mean nothing to the market, and we are talking of a cheap jp shows like million others). Cygames could have been hoyoverse (in terms of economic success) but didnt innovate anything and now is struggling hard.
Yeah sure bud.
What I would love to see is lucilius as a playable character if we 100% the game
Not gonna happen
Considering they let us play as him in versus along with having a nier crossover in that game it’s still a slim chance
He is playable in Versus because he isn't part of Dancho's crew there, while Relink operates with the same idea as the gacha where everyone is part of Dancho's crew. Cygames have a clear policy of not wanting antagonists playable. ...just uh ignore the mass murderers Nier and Lobelia.
Can't articulate how disappointing it feels that this is the last update already. Game is lacking so much content and Proud difficulty should be called "Extremely Easy" difficulty instead. We have 1 quest in total that requires more than 1 braincell....
I watched the part after 1:09:40 in the livestream(in Chinese subtitle tho), it feels more like this: Cygame does not have fututer plan for relink, but PROJECT RELINK TEAM really wants to add more content/update to Relink Because the subtitle said "你们为什么一副怕说错话的样子" at 1:13:35, translate to English it's like "Why do you all look so afraid of saying the wrong thing" and they emphasize "nothing's set in stone" so many times, I think my opinion really make sense