Friday Night Fights are about to get bigger - but first, need your help with some needed housekeeping changes as we set off together into the next phase of Arkheron’s development. 

Friday Night Fights: Scaling for the Next Phase

These last six weeks have been pivotal for Arkheron. We came out of Steam Next Fest with critical pieces of feedback that we wanted to work with players to address. Since then, we’ve been iterating faster, releasing patches and hotfixes on a rapid cadence. With each Friday Night Fight we get fresh feedback and data from our most dedicated players, which we’re able to learn from right away. 

As we move into this next phase of development, we’re getting ready to expand beyond Friday Night Fights, with more windows to play Arkheron, improved onboarding for new players, and an overall smoother gameplay experience. This is going to take time, and we’re grateful for everyone that’s coming along for the ride.

We’re Moving Clients! Experimental → Arkheron Playtest

There are some upcoming adjustments to this process that will make Friday Night Fights, and ultimately Arkheron as a whole, more accessible for everyone.

We’re starting by swapping clients from “Arkheron Experimental" (the behind closed doors client we’ve been playing on) to “Arkheron Playtest” (the visible client on steam). We know, we’ve seen the memes, it’s confusing to us too. 

Here’s what we need from you: 

• Step-by-step guide: Follow this link for a guide to download Arkheron’s Playtest client! You’ll need a steam key to Arkheron Playtest to start. 

• Existing Players: You should have an email from First Look (notifications@mail.firstlook.gg), with instructions on how to get a playtest key. 

• Haven’t received an email? Please reach out to us at support@bonfirestudios.com and we’ll get you sorted out.

• New Players: If you’ve never played in Friday Night Fights (hey, welcome!) you can still get an Arkheron Playtest key through a First Look friend invite from an existing player, or by signing up on FirstLook here. 

We’ll be looking to complete the transition and shut down Arkheron Experimental in a few weeks, but in the meantime you’ll be able to queue up for Friday Night Fights and play in customs on either client. We’d still recommend making the switch sooner than later though.

Regional Update: South American FNF Queues

We’ve been keeping a close eye on player experience region to region, and we’ve made the decision to temporarily pause our South American Friday Night Fights queues. The pause won't be too long - we're actively doing the ground work to bring FNF back to South America soon.

In South America, interest and excitement around Arkheron is high, but we’re not seeing many players queue during FNF. We’ve heard feedback and seen data that shows performance issues (our current top focus) have been disproportionately affecting folks from this region. Taking a short break gives us time to make this experience better. 

Additionally, we’re solidifying Arkheron’s localization for our Brazilian Portuguese-speaking players, and intend to have this done before we re-open South American queues.

In the meantime, players from SA are still more than welcome to join us during other regional queues (just expect higher ping), or fire up customs at any time. Thanks for playing with us, stay tuned for updates soon!

Regional Update: European Queue Times

A few weeks into our Friday Night Fights programming, Daylight Savings hit and we didn’t adjust move times with it - our bad! We’ve readjusted that timing accordingly, so moving forward EU servers will be turned on from 7PM UTC to 9PM UTC.

Coming Soon: Forums

While Discord is top tier spot for conversation, memes, and fish emojis, sometimes feedback and thoughtful conversation can get lost to the scroll. 

To better set us up in our next phase of development, we’re looking to get a little more organized. Soon, we’ll be introducing Forums — a dedicated space for all Arkheron News, General Discussions, Feedback, and a Dev Corner where you can speak directly to the source: the Arkheron dev team!

Huge thank you to everyone who has jumped in and played during Friday Night Fights so far - the time you spend with the game and the feedback you give us makes Arkheron so much better. 

We’re looking forward to seeing you all this Friday (and next Friday, and the Friday after that…), over on the Arkheron Playtest client :)