By Harrison “Gobsmack” King

^{*AI use disclaimer: This blogpost was written by me, but I used ChatGPT to proofread it. It did not write any of the content of this blog, only helped clean it up for publication.}

The biggest update to Stormgate’s Versus mode ever. Brought to you in partnership with the community.

It is our pleasure to finally reveal the massive collaboration that has been cooking in secret for four months: The Stormgate Community Update.

This giant new update for Stormgate brings major changes to Versus, including new units, new maps, and the long-awaited Ranked 2v2, as well as improvements to the map editor.

Available now to try in our Community Patch PTR:

• 4 new units to round out our Infernal and Celestial factions
• 2v2 ladder
• Over 30 new and updated maps, designed by the community
• An alpha release of our Data and Trigger Editors
• Changes to every unit, including several massively reworked units
• Tech tree changes, economy changes, and reworked upgrades
• Bug fixes, new quality-of-life improvements, and new art and audio

Get all the nitty-gritty in our Patch Notes.

These changes were developed alongside the community. Unit design changes and balance ideas were implemented by an incredible team of JSON wizards using the map editor for playtesting. A crack team of map makers designed dozens of new maps for inclusion in the ladder, and over 100 playtesters tried the changes and provided feedback over four months.

Meanwhile, a small group of us from Frost Giant volunteered our time to bring these ideas into the game, adding polish, new quality-of-life improvements, and new features such as the 2v2 ladder.

Together, these efforts make Stormgate’s multiplayer Versus mode feel far more exciting, strategic, and complete than it ever has before. However, we’re not finished yet. While playtesters are already calling this the best Stormgate has ever felt, there is still work to be done.

Today, we’re revealing the work we’ve been doing and welcoming you to join us in our Public Testing Realm (PTR). We ask that you try these changes and provide feedback on our Discord or subreddit. It’s only thanks to player feedback that we’ve been able to improve the game as much as we have, and your input is what puts the “community” in Community Update.

Join the Public Test Realm

It’s easy to join the PTR and try out the new changes. Just follow these steps:

Install and Play the PTR

1. Navigate to Stormgate in Steam.
2. Either right-click the game in your library or click the Manage button on the landing page.
3. Click Properties.
4. Select Betas.
5. Open the dropdown under Beta Participation.
6. Select community_patch_ptr – community patch public test server.

Once selected, Stormgate should begin updating. When finished, you should see the selected version listed as community_patch_ptr.

You can now play in the PTR!

Because this patch is still under construction, there are a few things you should be aware of.

PTR Limitations and Known Issues

• New content has not yet been localized and will appear in English regardless of language settings.
• We’ll be updating more frequently than usual, often multiple times per week.
• Features, visuals, icons, names, descriptions, balance, and even entire units are still works in progress and subject to change.
• AI opponents may not behave correctly. Please report any irregularities you encounter.
• New features are only available in Versus mode. Co-op and Campaign have not received updates.
• It’s possible that changes may have inadvertently affected other modes—please report any issues you find.
• In-app purchases do not carry over between PTR and Live versions; only Steam purchases do.
• Co-op and Campaign progress will not carry over.
• MMR and Ranked points will not carry over.

That’s all there is to it. If you’d like, you can hop into the PTR and start playing right now!

A patch by the fans, for the fans

I know there are many questions about the state of Frost Giant, why we’re releasing a patch this way, and how this collaboration came together. If you’d like to learn more, keep reading—I’ll share a few details. I’ve also listed the many amazing collaborators who made this possible. If you see them around, please give them a shout-out. They worked incredibly hard.

A little help from our friends

We released Stormgate out of Early Access back in August. Unfortunately, that release wasn’t a commercial success. The reasons have already been discussed by our CEO, Tim Morten, and others. The bottom line is that we failed to deliver a product that excited the broader RTS community.

Tim Morten has documented his efforts to find a path forward for Frost Giant, and those efforts continue. It remains to be seen where they’ll lead, but we love Stormgate. We believe in its potential, as well as the potential of Snowplay. What’s been built over five years is beautiful, and we believe it has a future.

The greatest source of hope during this difficult chapter has been our community. After working alongside them for four months, I can say this with confidence: we have an astonishing group of creative, dedicated people who believe in Stormgate and want to see it reach its potential.

Even outside of this update, the work the community has done—maps, wikis, tournaments, guides, and more—has been humbling.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Your passion floors us, and your enthusiasm sustains us. You are what truly makes Stormgate special, and this patch proves it.

A village

The story of the Stormgate Community Patch begins shortly after our launch. A group of us planned a small update: community maps in the ladder pool, minor balance tweaks, and opening up the data editor so projects like the MOBA Senti and his team were building could flourish.

While our engineers worked on other changes, I gathered balance feedback from the community, and Chris Culp and I drafted a small balance patch. When I shared it with community members working on complex maps, they proposed implementing the changes in a custom map for testing with high-level players.

That process proved incredibly efficient. We iterated quickly and reached a relatively balanced state within a week. As engineering challenges delayed the release of our patch, we realized we had time—and capacity—to do more than simply balance what was there. We could vastly improve what Versus had to offer.

So we expanded our scope, inviting more and more community members to join in our efforts over the next few months, and I believe the result of this combined effort is something truly special.

What’s next?

We’re still not done—but we’re ready to share.

We’ll continue balancing and improving units.

We’re working toward offline play support.

We’re exploring what it would take to bring Co-op and Team Mayhem up to par.

And we’re continually optimizing and improving the user experience.

While the future of Frost Giant and Stormgate remains uncertain, we still see its potential. We hope to enjoy RTS with you for a long time to come.

This patch has proven to me that Stormgate’s future lies in its community. I hope you’ll participate. Grab a friend, try the new 2v2 mode, and jump in. Playing the game is the single best way you can help.

Thank you to the Community Patch Volunteers!

We’d like to thank all our contributors who have put tens of thousands of hours into this labor of love over the past four months. An effort like this takes a village—and our village stepped up.

Community Balance and Design Implementation Team

• Dutchy
• Gamefriend
• Matterino
• Rikkmaery
• Thanks
• Toiredelbach
• Senti
• Synapse

Community Map Designers

• AureilStormgate
• Dutchy
• Guillotine GG
• JaleJay
• Jtamm1988
• Matterino
• Mirage
• NoveaStar
• Rikkmaery
• StraightBrutality
• Thanks

Community Playtest Managers

• NoveaStar
• Senna
• Thanks

Patch Promotion Coordinators

• Algorithm0r
• AureilStormgate
• BeoMulf
• FrankSrirachaJr
• Grimmy
• Jayzn
• Marksman1107
• NoveaStar
• Rikkmaery
• Rushi

Frost Giant Contributors

• Austin Hudelson - Engineer
• Chris Culp - Implementation Architect/Designer
• Eleazar Fernando - Engineer
• Eric Tse - Engineer
• Harrison King - Project Lead/Designer
• Huijie Bao - System Designer
• James Farris - Engineer
• Ryan Schutter - UI Engineer
• Tim Campbell - Project Support and Consultation

And over 100 playtesters!