Hey Taernians,
October is still on the calendar, and that means it’s time for the October edition of our Dev Blog.
So, what’s on the menu today? We’d like to talk about something that’s been sitting on our roadmap for a while but so far has only been mentioned briefly. We’ll also share a few updates about the mobile version and give you a look at where we currently stand.
As you all know, the Dev Blog isn’t a changelog. There are no tables or final numbers here. It’s a space where we can talk about why we do certain things, what we’re trying to achieve, and what we’re currently working through - not just what’s changing.
Alright, let’s jump in.
The concept of the Challenge Arena has been brewing for quite some time. It’s a project that’s been quietly growing in the background of other updates, and now it’s finally time to tell you what it actually is and why we see so much potential in it. We also hope you’ll like what we’re preparing for you.
As always - let us know what you think on Discord!
Challenge Arena - What exactly is it?
The Challenge Arena is a new type of activity and an attempt to create a fresh experience within Broken Ranks. It’s a mode for players who find satisfaction not just in combat itself but in the decisions they make along the way.
The Arena works a bit like a game within a game - every attempt plays out differently.
The layout, enemies, effects, and rewards change each time, so you never quite know what’s waiting beyond the next corner.
That unpredictability gives it a roguelike feel - a type of gameplay where adaptation, risk-taking, and smart decision-making in changing conditions are key.
How does it work?
The structure is simple: you’ll have access to special Arenas starting from level 35, divided into level brackets. We're planning two versions - solo and party.
The goal sounds simple - survive all the stages and reach the final battle.
In practice? Not so easy.
Once you enter an Arena, you’ll find yourself in a sequence where you choose your own path.
One thing’s for sure: nothing is fully predictable - and that’s exactly the point.
Each run is a new experience: a different layout, different effects, and a different set of emotions every time.
We don’t want the Challenge Arena to be a one-and-done adventure. We want you to experiment, try new approaches, and come back regularly. Arena entries reset every week (separately for solo and party), so our hope is that it becomes part of your weekly routine – a place you return to for new emotions, rewards, and satisfaction from every new attempt.
Progress that stays with you
We wanted the Challenge Arena to feel meaningful not only when you enter but also after you leave.
That’s why we’re working on a permanent progression system - even if you fall, you still gain something.
By participating in the Arena, you’ll earn a special currency that can be invested in developing your character within the Arena’s progression tree – progression that works only inside this mode.
This will allow you to grow stronger over time and get closer to the ultimate goal: completing the entire Arena.
We’ll share more details about stats, synergies, and upgrades in a dedicated changelog post closer to release.
The Challenge Arena has been one of the most time-consuming projects of recent months.
Not only because it required building a brand-new mode from scratch - with its own UI, balance, and assets - but also because we wanted it to feel like a fresh experience within the world of Broken Ranks. Something that shakes up the gameplay and opens the door for new possibilities in the future.
It’s not a closed project.
It’s a foundation we can use to experiment with different types of challenges and rewards.
And since we’re already talking about time-consuming topics, it’s a good moment to move on to changes in the roadmap.
Roadmap updates
The Challenge Arena is set to release in December 2025.
We wanted to deliver it in a complete, polished form, and we’re confident it’ll be worth the wait.
Another important milestone was wrapping up the Community & Balance Update, which is now live. Thanks to that, the team can fully focus on the next steps.
That said, we want you to know that balance is still on our radar.
We want balance updates to be smaller but more frequent, allowing us to respond faster to your feedback.
(We’ll share more about this soon in an upcoming interview with one of our content creators.)
Work on the new region and boss is also moving forward and is already in an advanced stage.
Right now, the plan is to release it in the first quarter of 2026.
It’s a major project that we’re developing alongside the Arena.
You’ll learn more about its current state in the November Dev Blog.
The updates planned for this year are quite large and require a lot of fine-tuning, which is why we’ve decided to move some of them to later dates.
We know that roadmap shifts are never the kind of news anyone loves to hear, but we want every update to meet the level of quality you expect from us.
The pet rework is still in the plans - but for now, the team’s main focus remains on the Challenge Arena and the new region.
Once those two are closer to the finish line, we’ll return to pets.
What about mobile?
The last few months of work on the mobile version have focused mainly on three areas.
Optimization
On high-end phones, Broken Ranks has been running smoothly for quite some time. However, during testing in the Philippines, we discovered stability issues on older or low-end devices, especially during long sessions (our record-holder played the tower for 12 hours straight on a phone!).
We couldn’t release the app in that state - for two main reasons.
First: your comfort. We know you’ll be spending long hours in the mobile version, and we want that experience to be as smooth as possible. Second: player acquisition.
Technical problems like crashes or frame drops can negatively affect the app’s visibility and ranking on Google Play, so we had to do everything we could to minimize those situations.
That turned out to be a complex task. We had to dig deep into the engine, exploring areas we never really wanted to touch (like shader compilation or particle memory management).
But it paid off - the mobile version now runs like a dream, even on weaker devices. Switching between combat and the map on instances is now almost instantaneous. We’re still gathering final data, but it looks like this stage is finally behind us.
UI Improvements
We’ve been working on replacing the placeholder UI with its final version and adding features that were introduced after Broken Ranks’ PC launch, such as the Rage Mechanic, instance difficulty paths, and Artifact-related systems (Drifs and Orbs). From the larger features still missing, the Marketplace and Guild Headquarters are the main ones left to complete.
Tutorials
During testing, we noticed that many new players were bouncing off our tutorials. That first contact with the game is crucial. If we want Broken Ranks to welcome and retain new players (and give you new people to play with), we need to make sure the introduction is intuitive and easy to follow.
We resisted it for a while, but in the end, we decided to rebuild the entire starting experience.
The new tutorial is shorter, simpler, and still keeps the original atmosphere. We’re almost done with implementation, and it’ll soon enter testing.
And speaking of testing - in the coming days, we’ll be expanding the pool of mobile testers.
Around 100 new players will join the current testing group to help us check stability, interface, and gameplay comfort across different devices.
Recruitment will open soon, so keep an eye on Discord and our social channels for details.
That’s everything we’ve prepared for you today.
We hope you’ll enjoy what we’re working on - even with the delays, which are always tough and never pleasant decisions for us.
We simply don’t want to release anything unfinished or below our standards.
As you know, developing a game is a process, not a sprint.
Let us know what you think about the Challenge Arena on Discord.
Thank you for being with us and for helping us create a world that grows and evolves together with you.
As always - see you in the game.
Broken Ranks Team
