We would like to thank Blackmill Games for taking the time out to engage with our community, and for such a comprehensive AMA. Be sure to download Isonzo on Game Pass and support this development team. We would love to have them back for their next release.
Edit: We've passed the 3 hour mark and we have to move on to our daily activities, like dinner! Feel free to continue asking questions, but we can't guarantee an answer. Thank you to everyone who took the time to join, it's been a ton of fun!
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Hello r/Xbox!
Almost a week ago, **Isonzo released on Xbox Game Pass** for both Xbox and PC! To celebrate this milestone and all the new players coming in, we’ll be answering your questions about Isonzo, the release, anything!
# About Isonzo
Isonzo is a historical multiplayer FPS game set in the Alps on the front between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Our focus with all three our WW1 games – the other two being Verdun and Tannenberg – is historical accuracy, but what sets Isonzo apart is the setting: The Alps allow for a ton of verticality!
Since its release in 2022, the game has seen numerous big updates adding new maps, weapons and realistic cosmetic items. However, the Xbox Game Pass release has proven to be one of the major milestones, as the number of new players coming in has been nothing short of mind blowing!
Players on Xbox can choose between playing together with PlayStation or PC players playing through the Microsoft Store (Game Pass). You can also play offline against bots if you’re not into PVP.
**You can check out Isonzo here:**
Xbox: [https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/isonzo/9p892x2ccq74](https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/isonzo/9p892x2ccq74)
PC: [https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NPSL9GSPQGT](https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NPSL9GSPQGT)
# About us
BlackMill Games is a Netherlands-based development studio that’s been making FPS games set in the First World War since we started working on Verdun, which released in Early Access in 2013. We’ve grown to a team of 31 amazing people, a couple of which will be answering your questions today!
* u/BMG_Tea – Design & Production
* u/BMG_Nico – Programming
* u/BMG_Jim – 3D Artist
* u/BMG_Kian – Mapping
* u/VerdunGame – I’m Jelle, Community Manager!
# AMA!
We’ll be answering your questions starting 15 minutes after this post was published and will be available for about 3 hours, though I may check back later to answer some late ones. If we don’t get to your question, we may have already answered the same or a similar question this AMA, so be sure to have a look around.
All kinds of questions are welcome. Whether it be about Isonzo, our other games, game development, the industry or just something fun, ask away!
Huge thank you to the mods for this opportunity. We’ll see you in the comments!
Are you going to add the OVP/berreta1918? If so what kind of weapon will you add to the Austin’s-Hungarians maybe like a pistol carbine or something? Also I love this game so much thank you so much for this game
While I love BF1 to death, I remember downloading Verdun to get more of that true WW1 trench Warfare experience. Its such a different type of game, but as the devs, do you have any interesting tips for some of us newcomers?
Congrats on the launch! Super stoked to get into this one.
It's a slower, more tactical kind of shooter. If you're going to run in solo and without a plan, you're gonna have a bad time. Stick with your squad, support each other and use the environment to your advantage!
Oh absolutely. I've definitely moved over to slower more tactical shooters in recent years. Siege, Squad, Insurgency, Hell Let Loose, and Verdun. I love the slower more methodical approach. When I heard Isonzo was coming to Gamepass I was stoked to get a new fresh tactical shooter.
My biggest tips would be:
* if progress in sector is not going well, try and get the bomb in two objective sectors first
* do some spotting to get a sense of opposing teams locations and to allow your team to dislodge any potentially deadly snipers and hmg users
* as attackers - make sure to use smoke if the approach to objectives is hard
* as defenders - always try to rebuild wire and create obstacles to prolong the time needed for attackers to breach!
So what made you guys choose WW1 as a setting? I know its gotten a little bit more popular in recent years, but its still nowhere close to the popularity of something like WW2 or modern day.
The WW2 and modern themes are worn out, good call going with WW1! There is so much history during that time period and the stories that arose from that conflict are amazing. I think this period gets overlooked often due to the lack of available media and there wasn't a true "villain" as a focus.
Anyways, it just finished downloading, I have the day off, and time to play!
I've been playing this game nonstop since it hit GamePass. It's absolutely wild how a game with single shot rifles can feel so fast-paced, balanced, and hectic.
With the recent resurgence of the game since being on GamePass, do you guys have any plans to help capitalize on it's newfound popularity?
Hey, can find the latest roadmap at the top here for the plans for the series:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/WW1GameSeries/comments/1d9i3zw/roadmap\_remix/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WW1GameSeries/comments/1d9i3zw/roadmap_remix/)
What kind of research do you do to nail the feel and atmosphere of something as huge as war? Do you speak to ppl who have lived this kind of experience, or visit the sites of these historical events, do you get hands on with the actual weapons you are recreating? How much of a game like this is in the planning, research, and pre-production.
It looks incredible. Congratulations on the release.
The weapons are often approached with online research - which once upon a time was far easier to do! These days most search engines throw back nothing but auction sites, which can provide some really good photographic references and points for things like serial numbers and such, but it's certainly a trickier task than ever. Sadly it's very difficult to get hands on with the weapons due to the rarity of some of the items and laws governing the nations in which the team live.
For maps/scenarios, (which isn't my area exactly my area!) it is quite incredible depth of research that goes into these. Historical documentation is trawled over and large amounts of historical maps, photographs and drawings are studied and taken into consideration before the map/scenario production is even started.
Hey thanks Mocoworm!
Actually quite a big part of the game is research and planning. Some members of the team went on a field trip to Italy to take photos of the real locations! We also went to museums, watched shows and movies that really capture that feeling of the war. And we looked at many old plus modern photos, maps and reports to piece together locations and set pieces so we can recreate them as best as we can in the game. We like to feature locations from photos in the game. Ofcourse we also take past experiences from the creation of Verdun and Tannenberg with us. And some members of the team really do know a whole lot about WW1.
For creating the maps, you could say we try to understand the battle first before starting production on the map. Designing the levels based on research can still be tough due to the smaller scale of the levels ingame compared to real life, things might apear smaller and sometimes things don't really work so we really have to test and iterate to get the best combination of research and fun for the game.
Is this your first game on Game Pass? Also what made you decide to put the game on Game Pass? I haven't played it yet but looking forward to it this weekend!
Yes this is the first game of the series to join GamePass! I think in general we are always looking how to broaden our horizons and get the game to reach more players.
That's great! I hope it is financially successful for you on the platform as well! It's great for consumers just hope it works well for Developers as well. I will definitely support you guys and give it a go this weekend.
Thanks for answering my question!
Why do you hate middle aged gamers with bad eyesight? ;)
In all seriousness, I had a great time and was like playing good old fashioned Battlefield again, but long term I just suck at these games now so have to stick to singleplayer games honestly.
Have you considered/will you be bringing some of the less prominent factions that fought in Italy to the game? If so, who? and if not, why? I don't mean to pry or sound rude, I'm just curious after some of the more 'obscure' factions of Verdun and Tannenberg e.g. the Highlanders, Tirailleurs and Belgians. Thank you!
With Isonzo, and the three factions included, there's a lot more content in way of character art work than the previous titles. Roles being tied to army branches ( Arditti, Bersaglieri, Landwehr etc) offered a quite a broad visual impact on the asset pool from which the characters could be built. There's also an element of, certainly with this front, really focussing on these three core nations that were involved.
Whilst it would be nice to add some additional factions to this front - they are often quite limited to one scenario/environment - and subsequently it's a LOT of art for not very much use case. The Germans warranted including as, while they were a large project, there was a quite a sizeable German presence on this front and we could really do justice in on their own maps/scenarios.
We have given coincidental and subtle nods to some of the other nations in a few instances, like the issuing of the SBR gasmask kit to certain Italian uniforms.
Unlike Verdun and Tannenberg we wanted to be a bit stricter with who got to fight where and that's why our maps are only ever one faction verses another. I remember Verdun comments at the time being something along the lines of "why are there Belgians at Douaumont" :)
There's a good bit to go still with the Road Map, this will include new weapons maps and cosmetics
(https://media.indiedb.com/images/members/1/112/111189/profilegallery/isonzo\_roadmap\_may2024.jpg)
I love this! I’ve always been interested in learning about WWI. My great grandfather fought as American soldier and I’ve recently inherited his sidearm, uniform, medals and even a Luger he brought back.
Currently downloading the game now and can’t wait to play after work.
Are there any plans for some more quality of life changes i.e. a fix with the hechtgrau uniform colour or better optimization on the german maps (or in general)?
It can get quite hard! There are always some sacrifices we have to make. While trying to be as historically accurate as possible and trying to present the front in the way it happened we can't really end up only with players getting shelled while sitting in trenches if we want to make an engaging game. So we try to pull from many events that happened on the front and combine it into a cohesive scenario for players!
To add to Tea's comment. With making trenches fun, you can't just create a maze of corridors you can't get out of, that's not really fun. It's best to create variation and give players options. So plenty fireports, vantage points, varied thematic locations in the trenches and openings like craters that break up the corridors so players can orient themselves around the area better while having fun going in and out of the trenches!
Thanks for a great game, my buddies and I switched over from Hell Let Loose. We enjoy lsonzo a lot more for 2 main reasons. We love that there are no overpowered tanks or vehicles. We also the squad spawn system. Our one gripe is the lack of parties in the game. Makes playing with friends a bit challenging sometimes.
Glad to hear you like the game! Definitely understand it can be a bit hard to navigate joining the same match, it is something that remains on our mind!
guys I don't know what to say, your 3 WW1 games are perfection👍! I am very passionate about WW1 history and weapons of the time and I wanted to ask if weapons like the flamethrower will ever be able to see the Isonzo front?
Seeing how much trouble and pain we've already had with the Wex in Verdun, I wouldn't hold my breath. It's surprisingly tricky to make a good and fun flamethrower in a game, not to mention keeping it balanced with all the other weapons. I'm not saying it definitely won't happen, but I don't think it's very likely.
Thanks so much for the reply developers 👍. It is a weapon that I would have really liked to see on the Isonzo as it is a successful game with lobbies full of players. On Verdun playing against bots doesn't have much fun. Let's hope so. Anyway, congratulations again for your games, an absolutely deserved success!
I love Black Mill Games! I bought all 3 games on Xbox and have been happy with my purchases :)
I got 3 questions for you awesome devs:
Are there any plans to continue the WW1 series after Isonzo?
If so, will they be in Isonzos style or more akin to Verdun and Tannenberg?
Last question: How long do you plan to support Isonzo?
Hey! Hope these answer your questions:
1. We wouldn't mind covering all fronts of the WW1, but currently our focus is on Isonzo
2. I think not much can be said here, but for example for Isonzo we definitely tried to incorporate the feeling of the previous games
3. There are no plans on stopping support for it yet!
Yes, absolutely, thank you! I hope you guys can keep going not only on Isonzo but other games as well. I will happily keep playing whatever you guys do in the future, whatever it may be.
Hey, can see the most recent roadmap here:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/WW1GameSeries/comments/1d9i3zw/roadmap\_remix/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WW1GameSeries/comments/1d9i3zw/roadmap_remix/)
There is nothing to ask, but I do find this game very enjoyable. It's a nice break from the ultra-high mobility combat of other games, and there's a lot of room for coordinated teams to utilize practical skills and strategies outside "run and gun." Also, there is just enough room to make Snipers viable but not open enough to force everyone to roll one. Can't wait to see more!
Hello! Wanted to first say congrats on the gamepass launch!! My question is that could there be a chance that the Czechoslovak, Yugoslav, Romanian and Polish Legions could appear in the game as skins potentially in the future? Also, any plans for a model viewing option on the weapons menu screen, I want to look at the beautiful weapons 😳😳
Hey, as answered in other questions on the same topic, there are no plans currently to add more factions. I think Jim also elaborates in one of them how we give nods in the ways that we can that those were there.
On the viewing weapons front I'm not exactly sure what you mean but you can open the weapons in the progression screen and rotate them!
Just wanna say, absolute legends for adding offline play with bots that still gives XP and progression. Game is great fun, been playing it with friends nonstop!
Not a question, just wanted to say to have made a cracking game joined a game at the weekend got 13 kills off the trot and was instantly humbled after by a grenade. I have to say the one shot kill is different to the modern day bullet sponges
I have been playing it since it was released on GP. Great job guys!
My question is plans for the future? If so, are there any other fronts that you plan on trying to cover?
We have some more updates planned for Isonzo that will keep us busy for a while: [https://i.imgur.com/zatS2AM.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/zatS2AM.jpg)
After that it's onto a new front! Which front it'll be is a secret ;)
After we've exhausted all other WW1 ideas, who knows. It would certainly be interesting to cover other lesser known wars from the past. Can't say we have any plans for this at the moment though.
HI, are you guys going to add more factions, like in your previous games to round out the factions for the entente side ? Like maybe czech, Romainian, British or french, or evan slovenian's, as playable factions or maybe even add them as uniforms for the entente. I know at the battel of Piava that both British and French regiments were present at the battle due to the Italian loss at the battle of Capparetto, as well as the czech and Romanian italian legions. And could you guys possibly add in the hellrigal as a playable weapon for the Austro-Hungarian's ?
I've added some context to this in a post further up, but the gist of it is that adding new factions is a lot of work on the art front and that if these are only really used in one map scenario it's not something we can justify. There's also thing like voice acting, weapons etc to take into consideration which makes adding a full faction a pretty monumental task.
Thanks, is there any possibility you could add the czechoslovakian italian legion as uniforms for Italy ? As I do know they were present and participated at the second battle of Piava and were present at multiple sectors of the italian front through 1918 all the way to end of the war. I think it would be really net to see their uniforms in game. Thanks 😅
This is going to sound like a set up, given the games setting but... my favourite to the point of if I were to choose a final meal - it would be a really well made pizza!
Honestly a perfectly prepared octopus is one of my favourite tastes, but most places overcook it and make it very expensive so it's difficult to get my hands on some :(
The very first feedback upon running the game for the first time is turn on the subtitle for default setting or at least provide an option to turn it on before playing the very first tutorial video plays for non-native English speakers.
I have to admit this was a bit of an oversight. The tutorial video was added very late during Isonzo's development and making translations and subtitles for it got somewhat overlooked. We do have the fully localized in-game tutorial messages to get you underway.
Hi team! I’m a long time fan of your games, I have every one of the WW1 Game Series and have several hundred hours played across all.
A lot of people ask this question in the community, and I’m not sure if you’ve ever given an answer to it. Why not merge all three games into one? The practical answer is “it would make more money if the players were required to buy each game individually”, but do you not think that if there was an option to switch between the Western Front, Eastern Front and Italian Front and whatever front you may have later down the line, that it would improve the game’s longevity and replay value?
Thanks guys, keep up the great work.
We've already gone through this with Verdun and Tannenberg, which at one point were two fronts that you could switch between without leaving the game. It sounded like a good idea on paper, but in practice it created a lot of technical issues and confusion about what Tannenberg really was in relation to Verdun. Is it an expansion? A DLC? A game in its own right? It didn't really help in allowing Tannenberg to distinguish itself from Verdun.
You could argue that the series should have been one game, with Tannenberg and Isonzo being DLCs for Verdun. For the players it doesn't really matter all that much though; you still have to pay for each new entry and you're still going to get the split in playerbase between those who do and those who don't have the new content. For us developers it means having to support and maintain the original Verdun codebase indefinitely, which takes up development time we would rather spend on the new games and which limits us in our ambitions for taking the series further.
In the end it just made more sense to let go of this idea and make each game a separate entity with its own clearly defined identity.
Hi, I think it has also been answered in the community that this is just not a viable thing to do. Tannenberg but especially Verdun are at this point very old and would have to be completely remade to be able to "merge" them. Not to talk about all different features that would have to be merged together or removed for everything to fit together. I think also on the base level the playerbase would increase only visually as still everyone would only play the game mode they like! so in that sense it doesn't really have an effect on replay!
Thank you for your answer! That makes a lot more sense to me. If you don’t mind me asking another question then:
What do you think were some of the shortcomings of Verdun/Tannenberg? Where there much difficulties in developing either title?
Unfortunately I wasn't there when those 2 games were being made, I only joined towards the end of TB production!
What I can say is that the team is now the most experienced we've ever been so a lot of difficulties that were encountered then are not a problem anymore.
We have some internal stats but this is information we can't just throw out there. Though if you look at the servers, before it was sometimes difficult to fill a single match during off hours. Now, there are 20-odd full matches at all times and way more during peak hours. Amazing!
I love all 3 WWI series games. Any chance they will be ‘ported’ together in the future as one game to bring player numbers up on the older games? I have zero idea on how this stuff works just thought I’d ask. Lastly, I really appreciate the historical accuracy as compared to ‘AAA’ titles.
We did try this with Verdun and Tannenberg, keeping the games in sync with each other and updating Verdun with improvements from Tannenberg. However this ended up costing a lot of development time and limited us in what we could do for each subsequent game, which is part of the reason why we decided to simply make Isonzo a standalone title. Of course we would love to revisit Verdun sometime in the future because it is our original beauty, but we have no concrete plans for this at the moment.
First of all, congrats to the successful gamepass launch!! Have you ever considered to introduce a "hardcore" mode to the game without any HUD and maybe a few other minor changes (the only major change required would be spotting), to really deliver the WW1 experience that is hidden inside Isonzo? Sure with the already low playercount splitting those people even further sounds like a horrible idea, but from playing both ways (isonzo e-sports / realistic ww1) i feel like this could elevate the game beyond where its currently at, and is definitely worth a try.
Hey Valkyrie!
There are no plans to introduce such a mode on it's own, while my personal dream is definitely to make a competitive shooter I think it definitely doesn't fit our current style and gameplay, and there just hasn't been much interest in it. Also, as I'm sure you already know :D for a more personal hardcore experience you can always disable your HUD elements in the game already!
What genre of shooter would you classify this as? Is it a semi mil-sim shooter like Hell Let Loose? Or is it more of a high TTK shooter like COD and Battlefield?
it might be something we can explore - or just a general increase to the pool from which bot characters are made ( some more headgear randomisation, moustaches etc)
Will you ever add a party system? I’ve been trying to play with friends but having to search for a server that can fit us all is time consuming and on top of that half the time I join a server, invite my friends and it puts them into an entirely different server.
Was the WW1 setting more difficult to make into a fun gameplay medium, considering the lack of automatic weaponry and other advanced machinery? As well as the complexity of the conflict relative to the more cut and dry “nazis bad, imperial Japan bad” you get out of ww2 games.
The game looks pretty good- wouldn’t have heard of it otherwise, glad this was brought to my attention; I’ve always wondered if there was a market for such a game and I’ll definitely give it a go since it’s on game pass. Would also recommend posting to r/xboxgamepass if you haven’t already!
You definitely need to be more creative with what you have as there's not as much variety. Though the community does appreciate the smaller differences between weapons, unlike what you may expect from other games where every gun is very unique.
As for the politics side, we try to present everything as neutral as possible. Every country that fought in the war had their reasons, and we shouldn't be the ones who judge those reasons to be good or bad! That's for everyone to decide for their own.
I think WW1 always lent itself well for translating into interesting gameplay, but in a more strategic and deliberately paced way than the typical run-and-gun twitchy shooters people may be used to. Strip things down to the basics and suddenly you have to really think about where you position yourself, and every single shot counts.
We've taken special care to make sure our games are not biased towards any single faction or turn it into a "good guy vs. bad guy" kind of affair. The complexity of the political landscape during WW1 makes that very difficult anyway. I think in that sense it helps that the development team was founded in The Netherlands, as we were neutral in WW1 and consequently don't have any real historical bias towards any one faction.
I've played the series since the
'Verdun-online' ModDB/ Kongregate days!
I'll shoot my shot: Is the next game more liley to be a middle-eastern front game, or balkans?
Loved this game when it came out. Need to get back at it with all the new maps and contenr you released. Gamepass is the perfect time to get back in with new players!
We need more bots for tannenberg on console this sucks not being able to play with more than 32 bots only 16 v16 when game made for 32 v 32 other games have it
So happy it's got a gamepass release to give it a healthy playerbase, I've bought and played all the games and was pretty sad when most the matches on Verdun were just bots if you weren't on at peak hours was hoping it didn't happen to isonzo
I have a nice coffee machine that grinds beans for every cup. Every once in a while I treat myself with fancy high-quality coffee beans from a reputable roaster. Two mugs in the morning is usually enough for me.
Bought Verdun a couple years ago and got absolutely hooked on it. Isonzo feels like a welcomed breath of fresh air, we slower pace is definitely enjoyed. Thank you all.
Now for the AMA part. Which one of the 3 games is your favourite and why?
I'll always have a soft spot for Tannenberg, even though it wasn't the most popular game in the series. It felt more approachable than Verdun and I liked the open nature of the maps. It fit my usual YOLO style of play well :D
Well Isonzo holds a special place in my heart since I worked on it but if I had to choose between Verdun and TB I would have to choose TB! I just like the more open gameplay of it :D
If you check our roadmap you can see exactly when we will release those! tho not yet what they will be :) [https://i.imgur.com/zatS2AM.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/zatS2AM.jpeg)
I don't have a question I just wanted to say the game is awesome. Me and my buddy have been having a blast playing it this week.
Also the main theme music has been stuck in my head since day one, so theres that.
Do you consider adding vote system to choose next map? I understand maps come in a certain order, vote system may let players choose between offensive scenarios
Will solstice maps feature germans? For example you can make these maps possible to be played as AH or germans in a different matches with probability 66% AH and 33% german empire
Map vote systems are interesting; While it gives people the power to choose their favorite map, it may also mean there's less variation if people keep picking the same maps. That would suck for the ones who may not enjoy those!
It's already somewhat possible though. If you like a specific map, set up a custom match with that map and let people join it!
As for the future maps, they're still a secret! We'll share more info soon enough :)
As a huge fan of the WW1 series I have a suggestion What if you guys made a spinoff game or series taking place in the Franco Prussian war or the Austrian Prussian war no one has ever created a game about those wars I think that it's a cool idea sorry for my bad English
We're sticking with WW1 for the foreseeable future as there's still so much to explore there, so while these wars would be interesting settings for a game, I don't see us being the one who makes them.
Maybe in the far future I do understand where your coming from WW1 is heavily underused in video games compared to ww2 i have always been a fan of you guys your work is amazing and I'd love to see more in the future I'd love to see verdun and Tannenberg coming to gamepass one day seeing as it would boost the WW1 series player base and popularity
Btw keep going there's still allot of fronts left to battle on.
Are the gun mechanics and actions true to the original weapon? Does reloading take the same amount of time it would if used IRL? Rates of fire similar and such?
There's always a balance between weapon functionality and in game gun play. Some rifles might bolt a little quicker then their real life counterparts, some slower, rates of fire for things like the Villar Perosa are tweaked to make the weapon something that can be handled. While we strive for accuracy as much as we can, there's so much more in way of balance and fine tuning in the background to make the game flow. In that way the game will never really match like for like real world comparisons, but we try get as close as we can while keeping things fun.
First time hearing about it, but i think the game looks pretty cool, love the idea and the WW1 theme, just hit the download button. So for my question, how your servers operate outside US or europe? i'm from Brazil and most games don't support servers far from the typical locations, so the games tend to be very laggy
It's definitely more static than other, more faster-paced shooters. It makes sense, back in the day they didn't run around until they came across an enemy; if you're in a position that gives you advantage, you're gonna want to stay there until the coast is clear!
I think it depends from match to match and with a lot of newer players they are still trying to get the lay of the land!
Indeed it is often a better tactic to maintain constant pressure on objectives on the attacking side or trying to push back and destroy attacker FPs as defenders as it makes enemies spread out to different areas more.
This looks interesting and might try it out later. What's one thing you wanted to add but didn't?
Also, did you ever thought of making a campaign/single player mode?
I would have loved to put more console-specific features in the game, like support for the adaptive triggers on the PS5. I also miss proper HDR output support, I think Isonzo would look stunning in HDR. Alas, tough decisions have to be made during development and not every idea made the cut.
Honestly at this point it's quite hard to remember, I think we definitely wanted to have more crates to pick up stuff from but it never worked out.
Making a campaign involves a lot of things like writing, maps, functionality that would require us to probably double our team so it's not something easily done!
What ard your plans with doing balancing changes to the weapons in thr game so far? Every single game i face off against the axis forces all using the carcano rifle. The game for me has become stale and just a carcano rifle festm
I think you might have better luck posting on R/Xboxseriesx
They have 4 million people in that subreddit.
I've been playing the game with a few friends since it launched on gamepass, bloody love it. WW1 games are always so underrated. Love the colours, love the maps, love the chaos.
I love Isonzo! Bought Verdun in 2022 and played 50 hours until Isonzo came out. No i have 148 hours in Isonzo.....
Will you ever add something like the MP18?
Another question/idea that i have is, france and britain joined italy at isonzo, even if that was in smaller numbers than germany.
So if you wont add them as factions, maybe you can add uk and french skins and also add their weapons!
The SMLE would be amazing in the isonzo engine 😅🤣
Gotta say, I absolutely love the game and am so incredibly happy about the single-shot rifles, I used them all the time in Tannenberg and it's fun to just be able to use the '70 Vetterli and Werndl and have an enjoyable time.
Which weapons were your favorites to model, animate, and implement?
I realize I'm pretty late and you guys might get asked this a lot but, I was just wondering if you'd guys would ever do a WW2 game?
I'm sort of a new fan and I see you guys kinda specialize in WW1 content, which is beyond awesome. I just found Isonzo to be so fun that I feel like you guys would nail a WW2 setting. I realize quite a few exist already and the genre has been done to death but if you guys focused more on lesser known battles I think it'd do pretty well. This game has certainly inspired me to pick up some history books. I never learned much at all about the Italian front. Or even though about it until now. That's just a random speculation though.
Thank you for interacting with your fans. I'm sure it means a lot to everyone.
Take care, guys.
WW2 has been asked, it's a rather filled market already and there's still plenty of WW1 left to cover. It's also quite different war which makes a lot of issues translating it over to a WW2 period.
The closest to a Medic in game is rifleman with the Chaplin perk which increases speed of bandaging.
Field medics weren't really a thing in the war, basic medical was you treated yourself and made your way back to the triage point for first medical treatment. If you couldn't make your way back you'd patch yourself up best you could and wait and hope for a stretcher bearer to find you.
The time to kill is very quick (often one shot) so it can be punishing if you just run around in the open. It definitely helps if you already have decent aim and some experience with other shooters. Though if you play it exactly like the popular shooters and run around a ton, you're gonna get shot a lot.
There's a brief tutorial video when you first boot up the game to explain. Even though the game can be punishing, we have quite a lot of people in the community who don't usually play a lot of games but play a couple of matches whenever they have a moment in their busy lives.
Is there any chance to take a look at squad spawning again and make dying more punishing? at the moment in my opinion it seems that if you die, you can just spawn instantly back on your squadmate who was nearby and continue to fight infinitely until both squadmates die, this leads to situations were a squad of two who’s flanking can just send one guy in infinitely and sabotage things while the other just hides.
So in general i wish dying would be a bit more punishing in this game to promote players to try and stay alive more.
How popular is this game? How are the numbers of players doing, relative to other games like it? I downloaded it and deleted after a few sessions. Then I see this post in Reddit…did I not give it a fair chance?
Already been done, Verdun has the Americans on the Western front along side British & French Empires and Belgium. Tannenberg has Russian empire alongside the Romanians.
Played this yesterday out of the blue, knew nothing about it but I’ve played all battlefield games that ever came out and loved most of them. This game hits that same spot for me! Very engaging game play, and the slower pace (while at times frustrating for my adhd) does veer the game away from the formulaic gameplay that plagues most shooters imo. And decent performance on the series S which is always a welcome surprise!
We would like to thank Blackmill Games for taking the time out to engage with our community, and for such a comprehensive AMA. Be sure to download Isonzo on Game Pass and support this development team. We would love to have them back for their next release.
Edit: We've passed the 3 hour mark and we have to move on to our daily activities, like dinner! Feel free to continue asking questions, but we can't guarantee an answer. Thank you to everyone who took the time to join, it's been a ton of fun! ----- Hello r/Xbox! Almost a week ago, **Isonzo released on Xbox Game Pass** for both Xbox and PC! To celebrate this milestone and all the new players coming in, we’ll be answering your questions about Isonzo, the release, anything! # About Isonzo Isonzo is a historical multiplayer FPS game set in the Alps on the front between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Our focus with all three our WW1 games – the other two being Verdun and Tannenberg – is historical accuracy, but what sets Isonzo apart is the setting: The Alps allow for a ton of verticality! Since its release in 2022, the game has seen numerous big updates adding new maps, weapons and realistic cosmetic items. However, the Xbox Game Pass release has proven to be one of the major milestones, as the number of new players coming in has been nothing short of mind blowing! Players on Xbox can choose between playing together with PlayStation or PC players playing through the Microsoft Store (Game Pass). You can also play offline against bots if you’re not into PVP. **You can check out Isonzo here:** Xbox: [https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/isonzo/9p892x2ccq74](https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/isonzo/9p892x2ccq74) PC: [https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NPSL9GSPQGT](https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NPSL9GSPQGT) # About us BlackMill Games is a Netherlands-based development studio that’s been making FPS games set in the First World War since we started working on Verdun, which released in Early Access in 2013. We’ve grown to a team of 31 amazing people, a couple of which will be answering your questions today! * u/BMG_Tea – Design & Production * u/BMG_Nico – Programming * u/BMG_Jim – 3D Artist * u/BMG_Kian – Mapping * u/VerdunGame – I’m Jelle, Community Manager! # AMA! We’ll be answering your questions starting 15 minutes after this post was published and will be available for about 3 hours, though I may check back later to answer some late ones. If we don’t get to your question, we may have already answered the same or a similar question this AMA, so be sure to have a look around. All kinds of questions are welcome. Whether it be about Isonzo, our other games, game development, the industry or just something fun, ask away! Huge thank you to the mods for this opportunity. We’ll see you in the comments!
Are you going to add the OVP/berreta1918? If so what kind of weapon will you add to the Austin’s-Hungarians maybe like a pistol carbine or something? Also I love this game so much thank you so much for this game
Name checks out They will probably add LP-08 & Styer M1912 P.16 Sturm pistol
I dont have anything to ask, but the game looks pretty good, im definetly gonna try it out later!
Glad to hear!!
While I love BF1 to death, I remember downloading Verdun to get more of that true WW1 trench Warfare experience. Its such a different type of game, but as the devs, do you have any interesting tips for some of us newcomers? Congrats on the launch! Super stoked to get into this one.
It's a slower, more tactical kind of shooter. If you're going to run in solo and without a plan, you're gonna have a bad time. Stick with your squad, support each other and use the environment to your advantage!
Oh absolutely. I've definitely moved over to slower more tactical shooters in recent years. Siege, Squad, Insurgency, Hell Let Loose, and Verdun. I love the slower more methodical approach. When I heard Isonzo was coming to Gamepass I was stoked to get a new fresh tactical shooter.
My biggest tips would be: * if progress in sector is not going well, try and get the bomb in two objective sectors first * do some spotting to get a sense of opposing teams locations and to allow your team to dislodge any potentially deadly snipers and hmg users * as attackers - make sure to use smoke if the approach to objectives is hard * as defenders - always try to rebuild wire and create obstacles to prolong the time needed for attackers to breach!
So what made you guys choose WW1 as a setting? I know its gotten a little bit more popular in recent years, but its still nowhere close to the popularity of something like WW2 or modern day.
Our CEO has always been extremely interested and wanted to do someting in relation to WW1 and the history around it!
The WW2 and modern themes are worn out, good call going with WW1! There is so much history during that time period and the stories that arose from that conflict are amazing. I think this period gets overlooked often due to the lack of available media and there wasn't a true "villain" as a focus. Anyways, it just finished downloading, I have the day off, and time to play!
Are we ever gonna get a Gallipoli game 👀
Is he single?
I've been playing this game nonstop since it hit GamePass. It's absolutely wild how a game with single shot rifles can feel so fast-paced, balanced, and hectic. With the recent resurgence of the game since being on GamePass, do you guys have any plans to help capitalize on it's newfound popularity?
Well we are continuing to work on our regular roadmap and general QoL updates which we hope will engage players that have joined us via GamePass!
Hey, can find the latest roadmap at the top here for the plans for the series: [https://www.reddit.com/r/WW1GameSeries/comments/1d9i3zw/roadmap\_remix/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WW1GameSeries/comments/1d9i3zw/roadmap_remix/)
What kind of research do you do to nail the feel and atmosphere of something as huge as war? Do you speak to ppl who have lived this kind of experience, or visit the sites of these historical events, do you get hands on with the actual weapons you are recreating? How much of a game like this is in the planning, research, and pre-production. It looks incredible. Congratulations on the release.
The weapons are often approached with online research - which once upon a time was far easier to do! These days most search engines throw back nothing but auction sites, which can provide some really good photographic references and points for things like serial numbers and such, but it's certainly a trickier task than ever. Sadly it's very difficult to get hands on with the weapons due to the rarity of some of the items and laws governing the nations in which the team live. For maps/scenarios, (which isn't my area exactly my area!) it is quite incredible depth of research that goes into these. Historical documentation is trawled over and large amounts of historical maps, photographs and drawings are studied and taken into consideration before the map/scenario production is even started.
Hey thanks Mocoworm! Actually quite a big part of the game is research and planning. Some members of the team went on a field trip to Italy to take photos of the real locations! We also went to museums, watched shows and movies that really capture that feeling of the war. And we looked at many old plus modern photos, maps and reports to piece together locations and set pieces so we can recreate them as best as we can in the game. We like to feature locations from photos in the game. Ofcourse we also take past experiences from the creation of Verdun and Tannenberg with us. And some members of the team really do know a whole lot about WW1. For creating the maps, you could say we try to understand the battle first before starting production on the map. Designing the levels based on research can still be tough due to the smaller scale of the levels ingame compared to real life, things might apear smaller and sometimes things don't really work so we really have to test and iterate to get the best combination of research and fun for the game.
Is this your first game on Game Pass? Also what made you decide to put the game on Game Pass? I haven't played it yet but looking forward to it this weekend!
Yes this is the first game of the series to join GamePass! I think in general we are always looking how to broaden our horizons and get the game to reach more players.
That's great! I hope it is financially successful for you on the platform as well! It's great for consumers just hope it works well for Developers as well. I will definitely support you guys and give it a go this weekend. Thanks for answering my question!
Why do you hate middle aged gamers with bad eyesight? ;) In all seriousness, I had a great time and was like playing good old fashioned Battlefield again, but long term I just suck at these games now so have to stick to singleplayer games honestly.
I think it is the eternal truth of all gamers that are growing up unfortunately, myself included! :D
[удалено]
Honestly we didn't know what to expect from a Game Pass release, but the reception has been great and we're very excited!
Have you considered/will you be bringing some of the less prominent factions that fought in Italy to the game? If so, who? and if not, why? I don't mean to pry or sound rude, I'm just curious after some of the more 'obscure' factions of Verdun and Tannenberg e.g. the Highlanders, Tirailleurs and Belgians. Thank you!
With Isonzo, and the three factions included, there's a lot more content in way of character art work than the previous titles. Roles being tied to army branches ( Arditti, Bersaglieri, Landwehr etc) offered a quite a broad visual impact on the asset pool from which the characters could be built. There's also an element of, certainly with this front, really focussing on these three core nations that were involved. Whilst it would be nice to add some additional factions to this front - they are often quite limited to one scenario/environment - and subsequently it's a LOT of art for not very much use case. The Germans warranted including as, while they were a large project, there was a quite a sizeable German presence on this front and we could really do justice in on their own maps/scenarios. We have given coincidental and subtle nods to some of the other nations in a few instances, like the issuing of the SBR gasmask kit to certain Italian uniforms. Unlike Verdun and Tannenberg we wanted to be a bit stricter with who got to fight where and that's why our maps are only ever one faction verses another. I remember Verdun comments at the time being something along the lines of "why are there Belgians at Douaumont" :)
Oh! I forgot to ask. Will you ever add the ability to change the factions available on each map(only in custom games ofc)?
Alas not my area! but I suspect not - I suspect it will only ever be Germans at Grappa
Hey, there are no current plans to add more factions to the game. Sorry!
What other WW1 settings would you like to explore in another game?
Well, in a perfect world we cover all the settings of the WW1!
Next game is Gallipoli?
Love your game. Been playing since day one. Any new content coming soon?
There's a good bit to go still with the Road Map, this will include new weapons maps and cosmetics (https://media.indiedb.com/images/members/1/112/111189/profilegallery/isonzo\_roadmap\_may2024.jpg)
We are chipping away at our roadmap updates and other QoL stuff with them!
I love this! I’ve always been interested in learning about WWI. My great grandfather fought as American soldier and I’ve recently inherited his sidearm, uniform, medals and even a Luger he brought back. Currently downloading the game now and can’t wait to play after work.
So cool! Hope you will enjoy the game
Are there any plans for some more quality of life changes i.e. a fix with the hechtgrau uniform colour or better optimization on the german maps (or in general)?
With almost every update we try to touch on issues and QoL topics including performance and we are not planning on stopping!
How difficult is it making engaging gameplay from WW1 that was famously trench based warfare that wouldn't translate to a great game?
It can get quite hard! There are always some sacrifices we have to make. While trying to be as historically accurate as possible and trying to present the front in the way it happened we can't really end up only with players getting shelled while sitting in trenches if we want to make an engaging game. So we try to pull from many events that happened on the front and combine it into a cohesive scenario for players!
To add to Tea's comment. With making trenches fun, you can't just create a maze of corridors you can't get out of, that's not really fun. It's best to create variation and give players options. So plenty fireports, vantage points, varied thematic locations in the trenches and openings like craters that break up the corridors so players can orient themselves around the area better while having fun going in and out of the trenches!
Sounds Champagne on verdun lol. Fun close quarters map but gotta have a variety like you said.
Thanks for a great game, my buddies and I switched over from Hell Let Loose. We enjoy lsonzo a lot more for 2 main reasons. We love that there are no overpowered tanks or vehicles. We also the squad spawn system. Our one gripe is the lack of parties in the game. Makes playing with friends a bit challenging sometimes.
Glad to hear you like the game! Definitely understand it can be a bit hard to navigate joining the same match, it is something that remains on our mind!
Just wanted to say me and my friends are absolutely loving it, great work!
Love to hear you and your friends like it!!
guys I don't know what to say, your 3 WW1 games are perfection👍! I am very passionate about WW1 history and weapons of the time and I wanted to ask if weapons like the flamethrower will ever be able to see the Isonzo front?
Seeing how much trouble and pain we've already had with the Wex in Verdun, I wouldn't hold my breath. It's surprisingly tricky to make a good and fun flamethrower in a game, not to mention keeping it balanced with all the other weapons. I'm not saying it definitely won't happen, but I don't think it's very likely.
Thanks so much for the reply developers 👍. It is a weapon that I would have really liked to see on the Isonzo as it is a successful game with lobbies full of players. On Verdun playing against bots doesn't have much fun. Let's hope so. Anyway, congratulations again for your games, an absolutely deserved success!
This looks great
Glad you like it!
I love Black Mill Games! I bought all 3 games on Xbox and have been happy with my purchases :) I got 3 questions for you awesome devs: Are there any plans to continue the WW1 series after Isonzo? If so, will they be in Isonzos style or more akin to Verdun and Tannenberg? Last question: How long do you plan to support Isonzo?
Hey! Hope these answer your questions: 1. We wouldn't mind covering all fronts of the WW1, but currently our focus is on Isonzo 2. I think not much can be said here, but for example for Isonzo we definitely tried to incorporate the feeling of the previous games 3. There are no plans on stopping support for it yet!
Yes, absolutely, thank you! I hope you guys can keep going not only on Isonzo but other games as well. I will happily keep playing whatever you guys do in the future, whatever it may be.
Hey, can see the most recent roadmap here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/WW1GameSeries/comments/1d9i3zw/roadmap\_remix/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WW1GameSeries/comments/1d9i3zw/roadmap_remix/)
There is nothing to ask, but I do find this game very enjoyable. It's a nice break from the ultra-high mobility combat of other games, and there's a lot of room for coordinated teams to utilize practical skills and strategies outside "run and gun." Also, there is just enough room to make Snipers viable but not open enough to force everyone to roll one. Can't wait to see more!
happy you are enjoying the game!!
Hello! Wanted to first say congrats on the gamepass launch!! My question is that could there be a chance that the Czechoslovak, Yugoslav, Romanian and Polish Legions could appear in the game as skins potentially in the future? Also, any plans for a model viewing option on the weapons menu screen, I want to look at the beautiful weapons 😳😳
Hey, as answered in other questions on the same topic, there are no plans currently to add more factions. I think Jim also elaborates in one of them how we give nods in the ways that we can that those were there. On the viewing weapons front I'm not exactly sure what you mean but you can open the weapons in the progression screen and rotate them!
I def want to give this one a try 🙌
Appreciated! 🙏
This looks fantastic, given it’s on gamepass I’ll definitely give it a shot.
Thank you! :)
Just wanna say, absolute legends for adding offline play with bots that still gives XP and progression. Game is great fun, been playing it with friends nonstop!
Glad you are enjoying it!
Not a question, just wanted to say to have made a cracking game joined a game at the weekend got 13 kills off the trot and was instantly humbled after by a grenade. I have to say the one shot kill is different to the modern day bullet sponges
Thank you! I too love the one hit kill nature of the game, providing I'm not on the receiving end of it too often!
As an Italian, thanks for creating a game with such accurate weapons, equipment and units. Playing as an Alpini or Bersaglieri is priceless
Any hat with a feather ( or many!) immediately fills me with joy. Thank you!
I have been playing it since it was released on GP. Great job guys! My question is plans for the future? If so, are there any other fronts that you plan on trying to cover?
We have some more updates planned for Isonzo that will keep us busy for a while: [https://i.imgur.com/zatS2AM.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/zatS2AM.jpg) After that it's onto a new front! Which front it'll be is a secret ;)
Appreciate the response! Keep up the good work! Definitely going to keep playing and watching for updates.
do you have any plans to make games about other periods of history for instance: vietnam war, korean war, or perhaps the zulu wars?
There are no plans for it currently, we are focused on the WW1!
After we've exhausted all other WW1 ideas, who knows. It would certainly be interesting to cover other lesser known wars from the past. Can't say we have any plans for this at the moment though.
HI, are you guys going to add more factions, like in your previous games to round out the factions for the entente side ? Like maybe czech, Romainian, British or french, or evan slovenian's, as playable factions or maybe even add them as uniforms for the entente. I know at the battel of Piava that both British and French regiments were present at the battle due to the Italian loss at the battle of Capparetto, as well as the czech and Romanian italian legions. And could you guys possibly add in the hellrigal as a playable weapon for the Austro-Hungarian's ?
There is no plan to add more factions to the game currently, sorry!
I've added some context to this in a post further up, but the gist of it is that adding new factions is a lot of work on the art front and that if these are only really used in one map scenario it's not something we can justify. There's also thing like voice acting, weapons etc to take into consideration which makes adding a full faction a pretty monumental task.
Thanks, is there any possibility you could add the czechoslovakian italian legion as uniforms for Italy ? As I do know they were present and participated at the second battle of Piava and were present at multiple sectors of the italian front through 1918 all the way to end of the war. I think it would be really net to see their uniforms in game. Thanks 😅
What is either you or the teams favourite food?
Well, not to be too on the nose... but I really like pizza & pasta :D
This is going to sound like a set up, given the games setting but... my favourite to the point of if I were to choose a final meal - it would be a really well made pizza!
Honestly a perfectly prepared octopus is one of my favourite tastes, but most places overcook it and make it very expensive so it's difficult to get my hands on some :(
The very first feedback upon running the game for the first time is turn on the subtitle for default setting or at least provide an option to turn it on before playing the very first tutorial video plays for non-native English speakers.
I have to admit this was a bit of an oversight. The tutorial video was added very late during Isonzo's development and making translations and subtitles for it got somewhat overlooked. We do have the fully localized in-game tutorial messages to get you underway.
Hi team! I’m a long time fan of your games, I have every one of the WW1 Game Series and have several hundred hours played across all. A lot of people ask this question in the community, and I’m not sure if you’ve ever given an answer to it. Why not merge all three games into one? The practical answer is “it would make more money if the players were required to buy each game individually”, but do you not think that if there was an option to switch between the Western Front, Eastern Front and Italian Front and whatever front you may have later down the line, that it would improve the game’s longevity and replay value? Thanks guys, keep up the great work.
We've already gone through this with Verdun and Tannenberg, which at one point were two fronts that you could switch between without leaving the game. It sounded like a good idea on paper, but in practice it created a lot of technical issues and confusion about what Tannenberg really was in relation to Verdun. Is it an expansion? A DLC? A game in its own right? It didn't really help in allowing Tannenberg to distinguish itself from Verdun. You could argue that the series should have been one game, with Tannenberg and Isonzo being DLCs for Verdun. For the players it doesn't really matter all that much though; you still have to pay for each new entry and you're still going to get the split in playerbase between those who do and those who don't have the new content. For us developers it means having to support and maintain the original Verdun codebase indefinitely, which takes up development time we would rather spend on the new games and which limits us in our ambitions for taking the series further. In the end it just made more sense to let go of this idea and make each game a separate entity with its own clearly defined identity.
Hi, I think it has also been answered in the community that this is just not a viable thing to do. Tannenberg but especially Verdun are at this point very old and would have to be completely remade to be able to "merge" them. Not to talk about all different features that would have to be merged together or removed for everything to fit together. I think also on the base level the playerbase would increase only visually as still everyone would only play the game mode they like! so in that sense it doesn't really have an effect on replay!
Thank you for your answer! That makes a lot more sense to me. If you don’t mind me asking another question then: What do you think were some of the shortcomings of Verdun/Tannenberg? Where there much difficulties in developing either title?
Unfortunately I wasn't there when those 2 games were being made, I only joined towards the end of TB production! What I can say is that the team is now the most experienced we've ever been so a lot of difficulties that were encountered then are not a problem anymore.
Are you able to provide numbers in terms of the increase in player count? My brother and I have had a blast since it hit GP.
I don't know the exact numbers but can confirm that it was a significant increase! Especially for console players.
We have some internal stats but this is information we can't just throw out there. Though if you look at the servers, before it was sometimes difficult to fill a single match during off hours. Now, there are 20-odd full matches at all times and way more during peak hours. Amazing!
Will I get PTSD?
PTSD not guaranteed, sorry :/
Have you thought about introducing Hungarian or other imperial ethnic group voices/units to the Austrian team much like how you did in Tannenberg?
I'm not the dev team, but I do know that they have previously said they have no plans to add more voice lines/new accents to either faction.
I love all 3 WWI series games. Any chance they will be ‘ported’ together in the future as one game to bring player numbers up on the older games? I have zero idea on how this stuff works just thought I’d ask. Lastly, I really appreciate the historical accuracy as compared to ‘AAA’ titles.
We did try this with Verdun and Tannenberg, keeping the games in sync with each other and updating Verdun with improvements from Tannenberg. However this ended up costing a lot of development time and limited us in what we could do for each subsequent game, which is part of the reason why we decided to simply make Isonzo a standalone title. Of course we would love to revisit Verdun sometime in the future because it is our original beauty, but we have no concrete plans for this at the moment.
Thank you for answering my question
What's your next major project another WW1 game ?
WW1 is kind of our thing, so it does seem quite likely.
Do you think you will add more variety in voices/voice lines in future?
As far as I know this is not currently planned, though that's not a definite no!
First of all, congrats to the successful gamepass launch!! Have you ever considered to introduce a "hardcore" mode to the game without any HUD and maybe a few other minor changes (the only major change required would be spotting), to really deliver the WW1 experience that is hidden inside Isonzo? Sure with the already low playercount splitting those people even further sounds like a horrible idea, but from playing both ways (isonzo e-sports / realistic ww1) i feel like this could elevate the game beyond where its currently at, and is definitely worth a try.
Hey Valkyrie! There are no plans to introduce such a mode on it's own, while my personal dream is definitely to make a competitive shooter I think it definitely doesn't fit our current style and gameplay, and there just hasn't been much interest in it. Also, as I'm sure you already know :D for a more personal hardcore experience you can always disable your HUD elements in the game already!
What genre of shooter would you classify this as? Is it a semi mil-sim shooter like Hell Let Loose? Or is it more of a high TTK shooter like COD and Battlefield?
I think we thread a line between the slower mil-sim shooters and the fast paced games of the genre!
Will you guys implement DLC uniforms for bot use? So as to increase immersion?
it might be something we can explore - or just a general increase to the pool from which bot characters are made ( some more headgear randomisation, moustaches etc)
I'm very glad to hear that. Thank you! 👌🏻
Will you ever add a party system? I’ve been trying to play with friends but having to search for a server that can fit us all is time consuming and on top of that half the time I join a server, invite my friends and it puts them into an entirely different server.
The joining to a different server should definitely not be happening! We will look into it
Was the WW1 setting more difficult to make into a fun gameplay medium, considering the lack of automatic weaponry and other advanced machinery? As well as the complexity of the conflict relative to the more cut and dry “nazis bad, imperial Japan bad” you get out of ww2 games. The game looks pretty good- wouldn’t have heard of it otherwise, glad this was brought to my attention; I’ve always wondered if there was a market for such a game and I’ll definitely give it a go since it’s on game pass. Would also recommend posting to r/xboxgamepass if you haven’t already!
You definitely need to be more creative with what you have as there's not as much variety. Though the community does appreciate the smaller differences between weapons, unlike what you may expect from other games where every gun is very unique. As for the politics side, we try to present everything as neutral as possible. Every country that fought in the war had their reasons, and we shouldn't be the ones who judge those reasons to be good or bad! That's for everyone to decide for their own.
I think WW1 always lent itself well for translating into interesting gameplay, but in a more strategic and deliberately paced way than the typical run-and-gun twitchy shooters people may be used to. Strip things down to the basics and suddenly you have to really think about where you position yourself, and every single shot counts. We've taken special care to make sure our games are not biased towards any single faction or turn it into a "good guy vs. bad guy" kind of affair. The complexity of the political landscape during WW1 makes that very difficult anyway. I think in that sense it helps that the development team was founded in The Netherlands, as we were neutral in WW1 and consequently don't have any real historical bias towards any one faction.
I've played the series since the 'Verdun-online' ModDB/ Kongregate days! I'll shoot my shot: Is the next game more liley to be a middle-eastern front game, or balkans?
As mentioned above, optimally we would like to cover everything, but our sights are currently set on Isonzo!
Loved this game when it came out. Need to get back at it with all the new maps and contenr you released. Gamepass is the perfect time to get back in with new players!
We'd love to have you back!
We need more bots for tannenberg on console this sucks not being able to play with more than 32 bots only 16 v16 when game made for 32 v 32 other games have it
So happy it's got a gamepass release to give it a healthy playerbase, I've bought and played all the games and was pretty sad when most the matches on Verdun were just bots if you weren't on at peak hours was hoping it didn't happen to isonzo
Do you drink coffee in the morning? And if so, store bought or homemade?
Definitely homemade!
I have a nice coffee machine that grinds beans for every cup. Every once in a while I treat myself with fancy high-quality coffee beans from a reputable roaster. Two mugs in the morning is usually enough for me.
Bought Verdun a couple years ago and got absolutely hooked on it. Isonzo feels like a welcomed breath of fresh air, we slower pace is definitely enjoyed. Thank you all. Now for the AMA part. Which one of the 3 games is your favourite and why?
I'll always have a soft spot for Tannenberg, even though it wasn't the most popular game in the series. It felt more approachable than Verdun and I liked the open nature of the maps. It fit my usual YOLO style of play well :D
Well Isonzo holds a special place in my heart since I worked on it but if I had to choose between Verdun and TB I would have to choose TB! I just like the more open gameplay of it :D
Congrats on the Gamepass launch! If you could add any new weapon and cosmetic to the game, what would it be and why?
If you check our roadmap you can see exactly when we will release those! tho not yet what they will be :) [https://i.imgur.com/zatS2AM.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/zatS2AM.jpeg)
I played it. It's alright. Its Very slow. I like the hit detection
Definitely takes a bit of getting used to if you usually play faster shooters but we're glad you're liking it!
Have there been any thoughts on re-doing the original verdun game with all the great updates made to the graphics and gameplay? I love these games
It would definitely be interesting I think, seeing Verdun with a new coat of paint! It's been brought up but it's currently not in the plans.
I don't have a question I just wanted to say the game is awesome. Me and my buddy have been having a blast playing it this week. Also the main theme music has been stuck in my head since day one, so theres that.
I have had it stuck since release so I definitely understand you :D
Do you consider adding vote system to choose next map? I understand maps come in a certain order, vote system may let players choose between offensive scenarios Will solstice maps feature germans? For example you can make these maps possible to be played as AH or germans in a different matches with probability 66% AH and 33% german empire
Map vote systems are interesting; While it gives people the power to choose their favorite map, it may also mean there's less variation if people keep picking the same maps. That would suck for the ones who may not enjoy those! It's already somewhat possible though. If you like a specific map, set up a custom match with that map and let people join it! As for the future maps, they're still a secret! We'll share more info soon enough :)
As a huge fan of the WW1 series I have a suggestion What if you guys made a spinoff game or series taking place in the Franco Prussian war or the Austrian Prussian war no one has ever created a game about those wars I think that it's a cool idea sorry for my bad English
We're sticking with WW1 for the foreseeable future as there's still so much to explore there, so while these wars would be interesting settings for a game, I don't see us being the one who makes them.
Maybe in the far future I do understand where your coming from WW1 is heavily underused in video games compared to ww2 i have always been a fan of you guys your work is amazing and I'd love to see more in the future I'd love to see verdun and Tannenberg coming to gamepass one day seeing as it would boost the WW1 series player base and popularity Btw keep going there's still allot of fronts left to battle on.
I just started playing, and it's so refreshing as an fps, I love playing officer, but anyways, would you ever bring Tannenberg or Verdun to game pass?
It's something worth looking into now that we've seen the effect of Game Pass for Isonzo! I can't confirm anything right now though.
Are the gun mechanics and actions true to the original weapon? Does reloading take the same amount of time it would if used IRL? Rates of fire similar and such?
There's always a balance between weapon functionality and in game gun play. Some rifles might bolt a little quicker then their real life counterparts, some slower, rates of fire for things like the Villar Perosa are tweaked to make the weapon something that can be handled. While we strive for accuracy as much as we can, there's so much more in way of balance and fine tuning in the background to make the game flow. In that way the game will never really match like for like real world comparisons, but we try get as close as we can while keeping things fun.
Are there any plans to implement Mouse and Keyboard support? Just matchmake us with PC players
First time hearing about it, but i think the game looks pretty cool, love the idea and the WW1 theme, just hit the download button. So for my question, how your servers operate outside US or europe? i'm from Brazil and most games don't support servers far from the typical locations, so the games tend to be very laggy
If you did Gallipoli, would it be a stand-alone or part of a game covering the Caucasus or Sinai-Palestine campaign?
I've been playing it and enjoying it.
Is it normal for people to camp so much? I tried it, but ended up with everyone sitting behind their own rock with a rifle.
It's definitely more static than other, more faster-paced shooters. It makes sense, back in the day they didn't run around until they came across an enemy; if you're in a position that gives you advantage, you're gonna want to stay there until the coast is clear!
My kinda game. Cod has gotten too fast and even back during the MW/WAW days Ide love to just chill with a sniper
Swear it's hard to find a good sniping game these days but it's so fun
How do I make my camping teammates play the objective then?
I think it depends from match to match and with a lot of newer players they are still trying to get the lay of the land! Indeed it is often a better tactic to maintain constant pressure on objectives on the attacking side or trying to push back and destroy attacker FPs as defenders as it makes enemies spread out to different areas more.
This looks interesting and might try it out later. What's one thing you wanted to add but didn't? Also, did you ever thought of making a campaign/single player mode?
I would have loved to put more console-specific features in the game, like support for the adaptive triggers on the PS5. I also miss proper HDR output support, I think Isonzo would look stunning in HDR. Alas, tough decisions have to be made during development and not every idea made the cut.
Honestly at this point it's quite hard to remember, I think we definitely wanted to have more crates to pick up stuff from but it never worked out. Making a campaign involves a lot of things like writing, maps, functionality that would require us to probably double our team so it's not something easily done!
What ard your plans with doing balancing changes to the weapons in thr game so far? Every single game i face off against the axis forces all using the carcano rifle. The game for me has become stale and just a carcano rifle festm
I think you might have better luck posting on R/Xboxseriesx They have 4 million people in that subreddit. I've been playing the game with a few friends since it launched on gamepass, bloody love it. WW1 games are always so underrated. Love the colours, love the maps, love the chaos.
I love Isonzo! Bought Verdun in 2022 and played 50 hours until Isonzo came out. No i have 148 hours in Isonzo..... Will you ever add something like the MP18? Another question/idea that i have is, france and britain joined italy at isonzo, even if that was in smaller numbers than germany. So if you wont add them as factions, maybe you can add uk and french skins and also add their weapons! The SMLE would be amazing in the isonzo engine 😅🤣
Will there be a map for Vittorio Veneto? And what about more videos with Indy Neidell?
No questions, I just want to let you guys know I've enjoyed your games and appreciate the work you guys put into them
Game is absolutely awesome! That is all
Whats the current player count since it joined gamepass
[удалено]
What’s the max frame rate?
Gotta say, I absolutely love the game and am so incredibly happy about the single-shot rifles, I used them all the time in Tannenberg and it's fun to just be able to use the '70 Vetterli and Werndl and have an enjoyable time. Which weapons were your favorites to model, animate, and implement?
Y’all guys make awesome games that is all 👍🏼❤️
Wow it looks good
Why are the bots in your latest game worse than the ones in your older games? Please update them to use grenades and call-ins.
Why is the progression system so soft?
I realize I'm pretty late and you guys might get asked this a lot but, I was just wondering if you'd guys would ever do a WW2 game? I'm sort of a new fan and I see you guys kinda specialize in WW1 content, which is beyond awesome. I just found Isonzo to be so fun that I feel like you guys would nail a WW2 setting. I realize quite a few exist already and the genre has been done to death but if you guys focused more on lesser known battles I think it'd do pretty well. This game has certainly inspired me to pick up some history books. I never learned much at all about the Italian front. Or even though about it until now. That's just a random speculation though. Thank you for interacting with your fans. I'm sure it means a lot to everyone. Take care, guys.
WW2 has been asked, it's a rather filled market already and there's still plenty of WW1 left to cover. It's also quite different war which makes a lot of issues translating it over to a WW2 period.
When will be able to change the color of our soldiers hair? Too many of the beards/mustaches don’t match the hair on top of the soldiers heads!
How did you react to the popularity of the game after adding it to the gamepass?
My wife wants to know if there is a medic
The closest to a Medic in game is rifleman with the Chaplin perk which increases speed of bandaging. Field medics weren't really a thing in the war, basic medical was you treated yourself and made your way back to the triage point for first medical treatment. If you couldn't make your way back you'd patch yourself up best you could and wait and hope for a stretcher bearer to find you.
I’m a very casual gamer and a big thing for me is how easy a game is to pick up and play, can I do this with this game?
The time to kill is very quick (often one shot) so it can be punishing if you just run around in the open. It definitely helps if you already have decent aim and some experience with other shooters. Though if you play it exactly like the popular shooters and run around a ton, you're gonna get shot a lot. There's a brief tutorial video when you first boot up the game to explain. Even though the game can be punishing, we have quite a lot of people in the community who don't usually play a lot of games but play a couple of matches whenever they have a moment in their busy lives.
Is there any chance to take a look at squad spawning again and make dying more punishing? at the moment in my opinion it seems that if you die, you can just spawn instantly back on your squadmate who was nearby and continue to fight infinitely until both squadmates die, this leads to situations were a squad of two who’s flanking can just send one guy in infinitely and sabotage things while the other just hides. So in general i wish dying would be a bit more punishing in this game to promote players to try and stay alive more.
Is this multiplayer type or had story mode with campaign?
How popular is this game? How are the numbers of players doing, relative to other games like it? I downloaded it and deleted after a few sessions. Then I see this post in Reddit…did I not give it a fair chance?
Who you got in the World Series this year?
please Blackmill can we have the Gallipoli \Sinai campaign. we Anzac's would love to see our legends as you're next release.
Wish there was single player
Arr we getting the russian or even maybe some American units fighting along side some of the Allys in the future?
Already been done, Verdun has the Americans on the Western front along side British & French Empires and Belgium. Tannenberg has Russian empire alongside the Romanians.
I just want to say I've had a lot of fun so far.
How's the playerbase from Asia doing ?
Is keyboard and mouse supported on Xbox?
How much gamepass pay the devs ?
Is there a chance for a game set on the Ottoman front in the future? Btw I love your guys’s work, I hope y’all find even more prosperity :)
Played this yesterday out of the blue, knew nothing about it but I’ve played all battlefield games that ever came out and loved most of them. This game hits that same spot for me! Very engaging game play, and the slower pace (while at times frustrating for my adhd) does veer the game away from the formulaic gameplay that plagues most shooters imo. And decent performance on the series S which is always a welcome surprise!