Hello Contestants!

It’s been over three weeks since the SOS Closed Alpha came to an end, and it’s time to give you all an update. We had an incredible time playing alongside everyone during the event, and we wanted to start by saying thank you to all of our viewers and players. We couldn’t have done it without you! And congratulations once again to Ohmwrecker for his sweep of the survival and fame leaderboards!

Before we jump into the future of SOS, let’s talk about the past. We started this project because we have a particular fascination with deep, meaningful social interaction in games. We believe that if you create a suitable stage and give players a reason to connect socially, they’ll have a great time putting on a show. And we wanted to create something that’s fun to play, fun to watch, and that generates endless stories that are retold around the water cooler and over beers.

The concept of a socially oriented competitive video game is a unique one. Lot of people told us it would never work. We didn’t let that deter us, however. There were a few key things we did, though, that we think makes it all work:

The introductory sequence gives every player a moment in the spotlight to introduce their character in their own creative way.

An integrated open mic allows frictionless communication and social interactions that feel natural and intuitive.

Open-ended alliances let players build and evolve their social strategies in real time.

More than one player can survive each game, which enables meaningful cooperation.

Players are rewarded for being entertaining in addition to winning, via the fame leaderboard.

As it turns out, these crazy ideas worked. The SOS Closed Alpha generated a massive amount of interest, far surpassing our expectations. We were glued to our screen during the entire alpha test, closely following the leaderboards and rivalries that developed. As soon as it ended, we gathered our notes to begin discussing improvements for the next version of the game. Excited? We certainly are!

Some of the issues we’ll address before Closed Beta:

Server operations need to be scaled to allow more players. During the Closed Alpha we had to restrict access based on ping. We want everyone to be able to enjoy the SOS experience regardless of their geographic location, and that means more servers across the board.

Moderation is going to be a challenge. We want to foster a positive environment for everyone, which we believe is vital to creating entertaining content. Social interaction is a huge part of the SOS experience. We’re exploring ways to protect our game and our players from any form of harassment.

New things we’re working on:

Doubling down on the performance aspect of the game. We’re laser-focused on making the intro and ending even more entertaining.

Creating more meaningful consequences for player actions that create emergent gameplay, and are amusing to watch.

More playtests are scheduled before the official launch. Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter feeds for all the latest updates, and as always tell us what you think about the game at feedback.sosgame.com.

Thanks for your support, and here’s to the future!

- The Outpost Games Team