Local indie developer Drop Bear Bytes has taken to Twitter to detail its roadmap of major content updates to the recently launched Broken Roads. Following an extensive development cycle and global attention on the Fallout-inspired Aussie RPG, Broken Roads launched last week to middling reviews with several outlets noting the consistent poor performance and bugs present in both PC and console builds of the game. Evidently not the launch the studio had envisioned for the project, Drop Bear Bytes has reacted with humility and openness, expressing to fans on Twitter that it is aware that it has “fallen short of player expectations” before going on to detail major patch work planned for the PC version of the game.
While the exact dates of these updates are understandably subject to change, the goal is to launch the first patch on April 19, followed by a second more extensive update sometime in May. The full list of intended fixes and changes is a bit of a whopper, seemingly aimed at addressing both baseline technical performance and broader design issues raised in many reviews from both media and consumers. These changes include new combat scenarios, a reworked random encounter system, fixes to quest logic, additional voice work throughout the story, more types of beer, and even letting you pet more animals. It is an ambitious list all in all, and the developers seem willing to engage in open dialogue with fans on social media, addressing questions and concerns directly.
We’ve loved watching the streams, engaging with you all and hearing about your positive experience with @BrokenRoadsGame. But we know that, overall, we’ve fallen short of player expectations in some key areas.
Our work on Broken Roads is far from over.https://t.co/Sd3YE9zGw7 pic.twitter.com/JQxCRw9YWi
— Drop Bear Bytes (@DropBearBytes) April 13, 2024
Here at WellPlayed we struggled with Broken Roads at launch despite the game’s considered moral compass mechanics and sick as hell Australian setting. Our review copy unfortunately bugged several times and our overall impressions of the game landed somewhere in the middle of the critical spectrum. In our review we concluded “…Broken Roads’ ambitious ideas and theoretically sound systems bear equal signs of consideration but are so critically underdeveloped. A clear visual identity can’t mask the game’s incurious roleplaying and slightly clumsy combat loop”.
It’s always a shame to see a local team going through it, and while only time will tell if Drop Bear Bytes can make good on this deeply ambitious title and patch list, we’re hopeful they can pull it off.
Did you play Broken Roads yet? What’s your take on this patch list? Be sure to let us know in the comments below or on social media.
One part pretentious academic and one part goofy dickhead, James is often found defending strange games and frowning at the popular ones, but he's happy to play just about everything in between. An unbridled love for FromSoftware's pantheon, a keen eye for vibes first experiences, and an insistence on the Oxford comma have marked his time in the industry.
