Hi, hunters!
Nik here - solo developer and creator of CONVRGENCE.
Today, I'm ready to share my plans for the future of CONVRGENCE.
Before getting into the details, here's a quick overview of some of the things I'd like to add and improve in CONVRGENCE in the future.
Just to be clear, this isn't a roadmap - there are no specific deadlines here, and the items aren't necessarily listed in chronological order. After several years of fairly intense Early Access development, I no longer want to lock myself into strict deadlines, and I'd prefer to continue developing the game at a more relaxed pace.
But let's go through everything one by one.
The final months of Early Access were pretty exhausting. While the game still had that Early Access label, I constantly felt like I needed to move as quickly as possible and release major updates on a regular basis.
Now that promise has been fulfilled - CONVRGENCE has made it to full release, so I can finally slow down a little. I want to keep developing the game, but without constantly racing against myself - spending more time with my family, getting some rest, and finally making a dent in my huge gaming backlog :)
So for the rest of this year, I'll most likely focus on just two smaller updates.
The first one is planned for later this month and will be dedicated to Halloween. It will bring back the event that returning players may already be familiar with, but of course, there will be some new rewards as well.
The second update is planned for December. It will be dedicated to the holiday season and will also bring back the corresponding seasonal event.
Of course, these updates won't be limited to just the events. I'd also like to add some new things and improve some existing ones, but I don't want to get too specific just yet. I'd rather tell you more once I know exactly what I'll be able to fit into each update.
Next year, I'd like to work on several larger updates.
Right now, I have two of them planned - roughly for winter and spring. But again, please don't take those timeframes as promises just yet.
The first major update will primarily expand the content of the main game.
Its biggest addition will be a completely new procedurally generated raid location set in a new biome. Alongside it, I'm planning to add two new types of demons, two new weapons, and, of course, some other new content as well.
The second major update will focus on the endgame - what you can do after completing the main story.
Players who have already reached the center of the Zone will get new long-term goals. A new hideout expansion will become available, opening up new possibilities, and along with it, an entirely new faction of dangerous enemies will appear in the Zone.
There will also be something among the endgame rewards that many of you have been asking for. But I think I'll stop there - I don't want to spoil the surprise this far in advance :)
I've also seen your feedback that the locations can currently feel a little empty, so I'm considering adding random events, clashes between factions, and more encounters with friendly NPCs.
Besides new content, I still have a pretty long list of existing systems and mechanics that I'd like to improve.
I'd still like to add advanced graphics settings, allowing you to adjust texture quality, shadows, and other settings individually, so you can fine-tune the game for your system instead of relying only on the existing presets.
I'd also still like to completely rework the tutorial. The tutorial is the first thing a new player encounters, so it definitely deserves more attention, and I'd like to make it both more interesting and easier to understand.
Improving gun handling is also pretty high on my list. In particular, I want to finally address the long-standing issue where a weapon can shift its position after releasing the grip, which is especially noticeable with the Mosin.
And, of course, I'd like to continue improving the AI of enemies and your dog companion. I don't want to set expectations for a complete AI overhaul, but I do have several ideas for making their behavior a little smarter and more interesting - particularly when it comes to stealth.
And naturally, bug fixes and QoL improvements will continue alongside all of this.
One question that comes up pretty often is whether CONVRGENCE will ever get co-op.
The short answer is - probably not.
CONVRGENCE was built from the very beginning as a completely single-player game, and adding full co-op this late in development would be a very difficult task.
I like to compare it to building a house. Can you add a basement underneath a house that's already completely built? Theoretically, yes - nothing is impossible. But it would be one hell of a job, and ideally, the basement is something you should have started with when building the house :)
I won't rule out the possibility that at some point I might get curious enough to experiment with it and see how feasible it actually is. But for now, I definitely wouldn't get your hopes up for co-op, and I certainly don't want to promise it.
Another question I get pretty often is whether CONVRGENCE will come to other platforms.
I'd definitely like the game to become available on more platforms eventually. But most likely, I'll only seriously start working on that once I'm finished with the main development of the game.
The reason is pretty simple - I just can't work on porting the game while also developing major updates with new content at the same time.
When the time comes, I'll most likely look for partners who could help me and take on the porting work. But even then, I don't want to end up in a situation where different versions of the game start falling behind each other and eventually have different content. That would make the whole process much more complicated.
So while I still have plans for new locations, enemies, weapons, and other major updates, it's still too early to talk about any specific plans or release dates for CONVRGENCE on other platforms.
But the desire is definitely still there - I'd love for CONVRGENCE to eventually be playable on both PSVR2 and Quest.
If you'd like to help support the continued development of CONVRGENCE, one of the best things you can do is tell a friend about the game and leave a review on Steam.
And I'm definitely not asking you to write only positive reviews. Quite the opposite - a detailed and honest review where you talk about both what you enjoyed and what you think could be improved is much more useful. Reviews like these help other players decide whether CONVRGENCE is right for them, while also helping me understand what I should pay attention to in future updates.
And for those who would like to support the continued development financially, Supporter Packs are also available. They contain a few small cosmetic bonuses and exist primarily as an additional way to support my work on the game.
Thank you, hunters, and I'll see you in future updates!