Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will hit store shelves on May 10. And while we’ve talked a lot about the single-player campaign, many multiplayer details have remained under wraps. That ends today, as we fill you in on what to expect as well as the philosophy behind some of the new directions we took with multiplayer.
Right off the bat, we want to highlight that all future maps and modes will be included with Uncharted 4 at no additional cost, and all vanity and gameplay in-game store items will be unlockable through gameplay!
This means that the Uncharted 4 Multiplayer community won’t be fragmented by different types of DLC, and that those who are loyal in participating in the community will be rewarded. Our DLC release approach will represent an entirely new direction for Naughty Dog, and we are confident it will have a hugely positive impact and keep the Uncharted 4 Multiplayer community thriving.
It was a long process to determine how all this should work. We went back and forth with how we wanted players to experience this, and we created a few core philosophies.
Fairness First: We strongly believe that players must be on an even playing field. To do this, we made Relics, a currency that can only be earned through gameplay and will be able to unlock all DLC, present and future. We will be putting future gameplay items ranging from Mysticals to Boosters into DLC Gameplay Chests. Each Chest will contain new gameplay items.
An Evolving Experience: We intend to keep the Uncharted 4 Multiplayer experience as fresh as possible for as long as possible. Over time, Naughty Dog will release a variety of new maps, modes and gameplay items at no additional cost (including Co-op), that will introduce new rules and play styles.
DLC Accessible to Everyone: It was our goal from the start to give players the ability to earn DLC items through gameplay. No DLC item is available exclusively using Uncharted Points.
Unified Community: The idea of delivering our DLC this way was greatly influenced by the goal of having a unified community. Maps and modes will be available to everyone on the same day. This will ensure that all players are kept together and experience new content at the same time.
We also feel that a unified community happens through engagement. Beyond our engagement with players through social media and our forums, we’ll soon introduce Cinema so that players can review matches and use a tool that will allow them to create custom Uncharted multiplayer footage. This has been a popular tool in previous Uncharted multiplayer games, and we are excited to make it available in the near future.
How It All Works
We considered a number of systems for our multiplayer DLC economy and have refined them to keep things as simple as possible. The core component revolves around acquiring Relics.
You acquire Relics by either completing daily Challenges or winning matches, and you can spend them on DLC Chests. You will be able to pick between a DLC Vanity Chest or a DLC Gameplay Chest; when you open it, you’ll earn new items. Neither chest type will ever give you a duplicate item.
Triple Pack
For those of you who purchased the Triple Pack (also included in the Digital Deluxe Edition), you’ll gain future access to:
- The first-ever single-player story add-on for the Uncharted series
- Two multiplayer packs to enhance your multiplayer experience:
MP Pack #1
– Long Gun
– Booster
– Skin
– Hat
– Taunt
MP Pack #2
– Pistol
– Booster
– Mystical
– Hat
– Taunt
Roadmap
You will see in our roadmap graphic below that we have full intention of supporting Uncharted 4 Multiplayer for some time, and want to be clear with those intentions. We are going to release quite a bit of content this year, including gameplay items, modes and maps.
More about Uncharted 4's MP at http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/05/02/uncharted-4-multiplayer-guide-2/
