Paws and Crafts with Bristol Animal Rescue Centre
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Several members of our senior management team used their volunteering day to help out at the Bristol Animal Rescue Centre!
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Establish a pantheon of heroes in Wildermyth: Console Edition
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Learn more about the pantheon of heroes in Wildermyth: Console Edition.
Read MoreA tale for all platforms – we’re bringing the critically acclaimed Wildermyth to console!
/Happy July everyone!
Today, we have some very exciting news to share!
We are delighted to announce that Auroch Digital has teamed up with Worldwalker Games to bring the critically acclaimed Wildermyth to new audiences on Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox on 22nd October 2024.
You can pre-order Wildermyth: Console Edition on Nintendo Switch now, pre-orders for Xbox and PlayStation coming soon!
About Wildermyth: Console Edition
Embark on epic journeys in Wildermyth: Console Edition, a character-driven tactical RPG where your choices shape the destiny of your heroes. Lead a band of unique heroes as they evolve from humble beginnings to legendary warriors in a rich 2D fantasy world. With procedural storytelling, dynamic character development, and strategic combat, Wildermyth offers endless replayability and the opportunity to create your own legendary tales.
Choices that matter are at the heart of Wildermyth, and as you explore, your heroes will face many circumstances where choices must be made - some of which can have everlasting, character-defining effects.
What’s new in Wildermyth: Console Edition?
We’ve been meticulous in ensuring that much loved experience from Wildermyth’s original release isn’t lost when optimising it for consoles. With that in mind, we’ve redesigned the UI and controls with gamepad in mind, ensuring that in-game elements are easily readable and the controls feel intuitive for the best gaming experience.
Two new features:
Monster Compendium - This in-game tactical tome provides an insight into the creatures you’ll face on your journeys through the Yondering Lands, as well as enchanting excerpts of lore and background information about the game’s various factions.
Local Cooperative Multiplayer - We’re also introducing local cooperative multiplayer, allowing up to four players to take command of multiple characters and share in an unfolding story together.
If all of that wasn’t enough to get you excited, we have even more news to share!
Pick up the physical edition of Wildermyth: Console Edition on PlayStation or Nintendo Switch and you’ll receive your very own Monster Compendium, the trusty tome made physical!
Wildermyth: Console Edition launches on the 22nd of October on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
How to Increase Social Capital in a Remote-First Team
/Game development is a long road which be full of twists and turns, and usually requires teams of developers to work in harmony, coordinate and to trust one another. Whether you’re working on beautiful brewing sims, transforming thrilling tabletops or popular porting projects – the need for your team to communicate and perform is essential. The answer? Social Capital.
John Kennedy, Auroch Digital Producer
Defined as the value gained from the web of relationships you grow, Social Capital can be increased through social interactions and engagements within a team, and has the potential to elevate the productivity and trust of your team to new heights.
Recently, Producer John Kennedy set out on a mission to increase Social Capital within his team and documented his findings… and how a Brew at 2 became relationships that grew.
So pop the kettle on, and read the below article by John to discover how even the smallest interaction can impact the wellbeing and trust in a game development team…
What is Social Capital in Game Development
The concept of Social Capital is the accumulation of every day social habits which can sustain and improve a team’s performance and productivity. Think of it as if every team member is acting as a brick in the wall, and social capital is the mortar in-between those bricks. In Game Development, the success of a project is closely linked to the performance of the team as a whole and not of individually high-performing members, and Social Capital is a great way to bring a team together, unite them on a journey towards a common goal and improve performance in times of crisis or high pressure (like Milestone Deliverables).
But Social Capital is not a tick-box exercise, it’s something that needs to be maintained and tended to throughout the lifespan of that team through events and interactions. All social interactions add to the Social Capital pot – whether that’s small interactions like chatting to a colleague in the office kitchen or catching up on the commute to-and-from the office, or bigger events like a team lunch or after-work event. Every single interaction between team members can help to form and strengthen relationships, and boost the bonds between the team.
Seems simple enough, right?
Some of the auroch digital herd saying a remote “good morning!”
How do you increase your social capital in a team?
All social interactions add to the social capital pot. From after work events or chatting to a colleague in the office kitchen whilst the kettle boils. From having lunch together at work or catching up on the commute to and from the office. All these social interactions help to form relationships and improves bonds between team members.
So how can we increase social capital when we work remotely?
This is the question that I’ve been asking myself. I work with a team that work in various locations in around the UK and outside too. Therefore, this high frequency daily face to face social interactions that I’ve mentioned aren’t possible. There’s no bumping into someone in the kitchen when you’re making a brew, no passing conversation within earshot that you can join, no commute to have a chat with a colleague on the train about the weekend. So, what can we do to allow these kinds of interactions to happen and help cultivate this important Social Capital? Furthermore, how do we know and assess what we do is actually having an impact?
I had an idea… ☕
What was immediately apparent was that we needed to create the space and the opportunity for people to have those more personal, non-work related conversations. So the first thing I did was to introduce an optional weekly “Brew at 2” 30min meeting on Friday afternoons where the team could chat about anything, preferably non-work related.
We have lots of meetings throughout the week, but all these meetings revolve around work and therefore the conversations are often non-personal as they are limited to work related challenges, solutions and project planning. Therefore people don’t get much opportunity to talk about other interests / events going on in their lives. I wanted to create a space where people could chat about anything mimicking the conversations we’d have whilst making a tea or coffee in the office kitchen for example. The key thing was to highlight that work chat can happen outside this space and maintain a relaxed environment so that people felt comfortable to chat about what was going on in their lives.
I monitored the attendance of these social gatherings. At the same time, I introduced an optional team survey and requested they completed each month to see if there was any correlation between the survey results and the attendance of the weekly social get together. The survey was focused on confidence, support, isolation and general wellbeing whilst on the project. Each question gave the team the ability to score on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 = negative, 5 = positive). At the end there was also an opportunity for them to add any notes on how they were feeling in themselves and the project.
putting the tea in team ☕
Analysis
By monitoring the Brew at 2 attendance and cross referencing the team survey results I was wanting to see if any patterns immerged that I could draw conclusions from. I picked 3 team members that were the most consistent in both attending the Brew at 2 and completing the survey. I then compared the data on these 3 individuals against the overall team average data. These were my key noticeable trends:
As time went on the individuals who attended more brew at 2s felt less isolated than the team average
Their happiness with the project over time was on a more positive trajectory compared to the overall team.
On average they ended up feeling more confident in supporting others
The individuals were more likely to ask for help compared to the team average.
The last 2 points are the most relatable to the Social Capital theory. However, there are some other points that should be considered when drawing any form of conclusions. The average attendance for Brew at 2 was 31.3% each week. The average participation of the survey was 54.4%. These numbers do reduce the validity of the data as we are not seeing the complete picture. However, if I had forced these contributions, there was a risk that the data given would be impacted by the mandatory nature of these requests, therefore reducing the validity of any data that was given.
It’s worth noting that over time within the studio we have an increasing number of other social interaction opportunities. We have many online communication channels for non-work related chats; Pets, Food, Boardgames etc. We have virtual get togethers after work such as Creative Club where people can chat whilst doing anything… creative! This has been highly successful to the point where people would join just to hang around for a chat. There are also the less infrequent face to face get togethers; dog walking, boardgame nights, developer conferences. These extra social interactions / events are announced each week within our company wide meeting, ensuring everyone is aware and given the opportunity to join in / contribute. Many of these have risen out of other organised catch-ups and have organically grown by the team members themselves.
So by not being in a closed environment, having so many outside factors that ultimately affect team survey results, it is difficult to attribute one piece of data to another. But the data gathered are promising indicators that this social Brew at 2 interaction did have a positive impact and added to the Social Capital.
My final thought is this; we are by nature social creatures, therefore the more social interactions and communication opportunities within the work place the better. Forums, Playtesting, lunchtime and evening gaming catch ups all contribute to the bonds that a team creates, strengthening the bricks in the wall. Which in turn should improve their wellbeing, reducing their stress levels and combat the feeling of isolation. There are limitless social opportunities for us to help our teams, we’ve just got to give it our time and attention and then to action them.
One last note:
The very nature of asking the team to complete a wellbeing survey and to allow them to write notes on how they were feeling had an unforeseen effect. I had comments from different team members saying, “Thank you for asking”, “…it’s a good idea to ask” and “…it nice to know you care”. So, whilst the brew at 2 was the interaction platform I was focusing on, it totally bypassed me that the very act of asking them to complete the survey was a social interaction itself and it was also adding to the accumulating Social Capital pot.
It’s all these habits and practices that we do at work that generate and sustain Social Capital, every single interaction no matter how small, they all count.
John and the team at a rare in person meet up at our annual company conference Moocon
Forges of Corruption, the new Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun DLC, is out now!
/Hello, Space Marines!
We’re very excited to share that the DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is available now on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch! It brings with it:
✨ 5 new levels to explore
👿 Brand new enemies
💥 New weapons
🗻 New environments!
Play as your favorite ultramarine and go on a rampage through brand new content, inspired by the lore of Warhammer 40,000! Load your Missile Launcher and plunge headfirst onto the Graia Battlefields 💥
Check out our explosive new trailer to see a glimpse of the action 👇
There is also be a free update for everyone who owns Boltgun, including the long-awaited Horde Mode, which comes with 4 difficulty levels and its own achievements!
This free update will also add a guide to help players navigate through the levels, as well as numerous bug fixes and other improvements 🔥
Where can you find out more about Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - Forges of Corruption?
💻 Watch the Let’s Play on YouTube: Following an exclusive premiere in Discord, we released a Let’s Play of our devs going head-to-head playing through the first level of the DLC to see who is the Emperor’s mightiest weapon!
💬 Look Through the Reddit AMA: On Friday 7th of June, we hosted a Reddit AMA on the r/Games subreddit to give the community time to ask any questions they had about the launch of Boltgun DLC. Find it here.
🤫 Discord Saw it First: Where possible, we announced everything first in our Discord as a thank you to our wonderful and supportive community. This included showcasing the exclusive gameplay there before it was released publicly and hosting our own private Q&A with the developers. Our Discord is the best place to stay up to date with all the latest news about our titles: https://discord.gg/AurochDigital
🖋 Read our Xbox Wire article – One of our devs has written a great Xbox Wire article looking into the art of Boltgun and the pipeline for creating some of the enemies in the game 👿 You can read it here.
📰 Check out the Coverage:
“Forges of Corruption” DLC for ‘Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun’ Is Out Today - Bloody Disgusting
Get another look at Warhammer 40K: Boltgun’s “Forges of Corruption” DLC - Go Nintendo
Warhammer 40k Boltgun’s new DLC adds the mode you asked for - PCGamesN
Forget Darktide, I’m hyped for Warhammer 40k Boltgun DLC - Wargamer
Warhammer 40K: Boltgun - Forges of Corruption guide: what’s new in the DLC - Epic Games Store
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun gets ‘Forges of Corruption’ expansion: adding new enemies, weapons, levels, navigation guide, and horde mode! - Gaming Trend
Boltgun: Forges of Corruption is a must-have for fans of the retro shooter - Gaming Spew
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun: Forges of Corruption DLC Review - Now with bigger guns - Cog Connected
Reviewing Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - Forges of Corruption DLC
As a small game developer and publisher, any reviews we get for our games make the world of difference. No matter if you are playing Forges of Corruption on PlayStation or Xbox, a review of the game would be greatly appreciated.
Click here to learn more about why reviews are important and to get more information on how to leave a review for either platform.
How and where to report bugs
If you encounter any bugs while playing Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - Forges of Corruption DLC, it helps us out a lot if you report them in a proper way!
We have a whole section in our official Discord, where our community members can discuss Boltgun and its DLC. You can also submit any bugs you find via email to Marketing@aurochdigital.com, with a detailed description including the platform and current update you’re playing on. It helps a lot of you can include what the issue was, when in the game you encountered it, and what actions you took before experiencing it. Screenshots and clips can also help here.
👋🏻 Get involved with the community on our Discord or Twitter channels!
Democracy 4: Console Edition is out now!
/The long-running political simulator makes its console debut today on Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox. 🗳️
The votes are in, and we are pleased to announce that Democracy 4: Console Edition is out today for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox.
It’s time to take the reins and lead one of several countries to prosperity in this political simulation game. Choose policies, enact laws, and take other actions which will impact your country, both positively and negatively. The goal? Impress the will of the people and win your next election!
Buy now!
Content Creators
If you’re interested in a key for review, please get in touch with Simon at Auroch Digital – marketing@aurochdigital.com
Reviewing Democracy 4: Console Edition
As a small game developer and publisher, any reviews we get for our games make the world of difference. No matter if you are playing Democracy 4: Console Edition on PlayStation or Xbox, a review of the game would be greatly appreciated.
Click here to learn more about why reviews are important and to get more information on how to leave a review for either platform.
How and where to report bugs
If you encounter any bugs while playing Democracy 4: Console Edition on Nintendo Switch, Xbox, or PlayStation, it helps us out a lot if you report them in a proper way!
We have a whole section in our official Discord where community members can discuss ways in which they’ve governed their chosen country and any issues they’ve faced along the way, whether that be by design or not.
You can also submit any bugs you find via email to Marketing@aurochdigital.com, with a detailed description including the platform and current update you’re playing on. It helps a lot of you can include what the issue was, when in the game you encountered it, and what actions you took before experiencing it. Screenshots and clips can also help here.
👋🏻 Get involved with the community on our Discord or Twitter channels!
Grab your holy chainsword Space Marine, a Boltgun DLC is coming! 💥
/Purge heretics in Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun: Forges of Corruption on June 18th! 💥
It’s been very hard to keep this one under wraps, but we’re excited to share that Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun will be getting a new DLC on June 18th for PlayStation, Xbox and PC! A Nintendo Switch version will also be released at a later date.
Prepare for a brand-new chapter of adrenaline-pumping shootout in the new Forges of Corruption DLC!
Explore new environments and stop Chaos' corruption before it engulfs the entire world of Graia! Exterminate new enemies like the monstrous Hellbrute, the heavy weapon-wielding Havoc, and the vicious lightning claws of the Terminator. Burn hordes of heretics with your brand new Multi-Melta or blow them away with the Missile Launcher.
Watch the full glorious announcement trailer below, for the emperor!
The launch of the Forges of Corruption DLC will also coincide with two highly requested free updates to the base game:
💥 Dive into a new Horde mode! How long can you survive?
🌍 A navigation Guide to help direct the Emperor’s Chosen through levels
There’ll also be a number of bug fixes and quality of life improvements implemented as well.
Press Coverage
We’ve had lots of great coverage of our DLC announcement, you can check some of it out below:
Eurogamer - Warhammer 40,000 retro shooter Boltgun is getting an expansion in June
PC Gamer - Retro Warhammer 40,000 first-person bullet-hose Boltgun is getting DLC
Wargamer - Forget Darktide, I’m hyped for Warhammer 40k Boltgun DLC
Xbox Achievements - Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 'Forges of Corruption' DLC Announced For June Launch
VG247 - Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is finally getting a horde mode, and a fresh new DLC next month
Destructoid - Warhammer 40K Boltgun: Forges of Corruption DLC gives new reason to reload in June
Nintendo Everything - Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun getting Forges of Corruption DLC
PlayStation Universe - Warhammer 40K: Boltgun New DLC And Free Horde Mode Arrives Next Month
Dev Q&A Event
UPDATE: The Boltgun Q+A is now over, thanks so much to everyone who dropped by, including the real Malum Caedo - Rahul! We had a blast talking all things Warhammer and Boltgun. If you have any other questions feels free to drop into our Discord, in the #Boltgun section to chat to us! Join the Discord here!
To celebrate the announcement, we’re also going to be hosting an exclusive Q&A event in our Discord, where players can chat to the devs about all things Warhammer 40,000, Boltgun, and the upcoming DLC!
Make sure to join before 5pm BST on 24th May to take part > discord.gg/2yWagXw
Only in death does duty end!
Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun: Forges of Corruption will be available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on June 18th. A Nintendo Switch version will also be released at a later date.
The votes are in - Democracy 4: Console Edition will launch on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation & Xbox
/Democracy 4: Console Edition will be ready to run for office on 5th June 2024. 👩⚖️
We are delighted to announce that Democracy 4: Console Edition will be set to govern Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles on 5th June 2024! We have been working hard to adapt the original PC version, by Positech Games, for consoles and can’t wait for it to launch next month.
Democracy 4: Console Edition lets you take the role of President/Prime Minister to govern one of several countries for a term. You will be able to choose policies, laws, and take other actions which will positively impact some areas of your country, while having a negative effect on others.
Practice your speech in the mirror, think about how possible it will be to meet your manifesto, and lead your country of choice on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox from 5th June 2024!
Pre-orders are now live on all three platforms, and you can also wishlist the game via these store pages:
If you’re new to Democracy, check out our announcement trailer below:
About Democracy 4: Console Edition
Democracy 4: Console Edition lets you take the role of President/Prime Minister to govern one of several countries for a term and, potentially, beyond. You will be able to choose policies, laws, and take other actions which will positively impact some areas of your country, while having a negative effect on others.
Built on a custom-built neural network designed to model the opinions, beliefs, thoughts and biases of thousands of virtual citizens, Democracy 4: Console Edition is the state-of-the-art in political simulation games.
Democracy 4: Console Edition is the fourth game in the Democracy series, which started in 2005. The latest version builds on the past while adding a host of new features such as:
📰 Media reports
🤝🏻 Coalition governments
🚨 Emergency powers
👩🏻⚖️ Three-party systems
Democracy 4: Console Edition will be available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles from 5th June 2024.
Press coverage for Democracy 4: Console Edition
Check out the press coverage for the Democracy 4: Console Edition announcement below
Democracy 4: Console Edition will be available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles from 5th June 2024.
Steam Festival Digital Tabletop Fest 4: Roll of the Dice arrives March 7th-11th 🎲
/We are thrilled to announce that Digital Tabletop Fest is back on Steam! From March 7th 6pm GMT through March 11th at 6pm GMT, we'll be celebrating a variety of tabletop-inspired games and the people who play them. The theme for this year's event is Roll of the Dice, which will have a focus on games with a central theme of chance.
Visitors can experience a variety of discounts, view festival-exclusive streams featuring incredible titles and guests, as well as gain insight into what’s next for the genre.
What can you expect from Roll of the Dice?
🎉 Over 100 games participating including hits such as Baldur’s Gate 3, V Rising, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, and Disco Elysium.
🚀 Our team are joined by the European Space Agency, discussing how real-life rocket science plays a part in Mars Horizon 2: The Search for Life.
🗣 Panels with developer guests from Disco Elysium, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, Vampire: The Masquerade® - Bloodlines™ 2, and more!
💸 Wide array of discounts on tabletop-inspired titles
🎮 Exclusive playthroughs and original content from Wingspan, Breachway, Sulfur, and Mori Carta.
Schedule for Digital Tabletop Fest 4: Roll of the Dice 📅
Check out the schedule below and mark your calendars so you don’t miss out on exclusive panels and playthroughs – we can’t wait to see you there!
Digital Tabletop Fest 4: Roll of the Dice takes place on Steam from March 7th – 11th, live from 6pm GMT. The promotion will end at 6pm GMT on March 11th. For more information, follow @SteamFestivals and @AurochDigital.
How game developers can predict the future with correct forecasting techniques
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Our Production Director, Peter Willington, recently published a piece with Games Developer around forecasting and predictions when making video games. Good forecasting is hugely important to what we do, and our values, as good forecasting allows us to make great games without video game crunch.
Below we have an intro about predictions and forecasting from Peter as well as a link to where you can read the full article from him on Games Developer. If you’re interested in joining the games industry, how Auroch Digital works as a studio, or understanding how games are made, give it a read!
Stories about prediction ☔
Once, I bought a ticket for The National Lottery. You picked six numbers from a list that went up to 59. Then, on the night of the draw, after a quick prediction on who would win by Mystic Meg, a button was pushed beginning “the drawing process” from a giant machine filled with numbered balls, which would then randomly pick six regular balls and a “Bonus Ball”. If three or more of your numbers were drawn, you won a prize; the more numbers you got right, the higher the pay out. That day, I predicted the numbers of three balls, and I won a tenner.
This was, for all intents and purposes, a game of chance. Sure, it might theoretically be possible to predict which numbers would be drawn - either you believe it’s possible to have perfect knowledge of the physics at work and the state of all the atoms in the universe at the time of the draw, or you believe a TV astrologist from Accrington really was gifted the ability to read the future - but let’s just assume for now that neither of these things is possible. Winners of the lottery are able to predict which numbers will win, but their “method” is sheer luck.
Another time in my life, I went to Bristol city centre, where Auroch is based. I took a raincoat, because the weather forecast app I used claimed there was an 80% chance of rain. The app I use is generally right, so I predicted I would need a raincoat. It rained that day, so I got that prediction right too.
Prediction is not one thing 🤞
See, we often think of prediction as being a series of definitives: your prediction was either right or wrong; an event can either be predicted or it can’t; the value of types of predictions are worthwhile or worthless; you use one method of predicting or you use another; prediction methods work or they don’t. But as the examples above demonstrate, prediction actually sits on a series of scales.
For the lottery, there was almost 0% certainty I could predict which numbers would be chosen by Guinevere, but I still won, and my prediction model (guessing randomly) was the same used by millions of others who didn’t win. Not only that, but there are degrees of success; my “method” won me £10, but it could have won me £10 million.
My weather app defined an amount of certainty for rain. It didn’t say “it will rain” or “it won’t rain”, instead it effectively said “80% of the times we have this data, it rains”. And even then I added to this prediction an appropriate weighting to the app itself’s ability to predict weather accurately.
Prediction then, is complex and messy.
Predictions and video games 🎮
Making video games, or any commercial art, is also complex and messy. During development things go wrong, a turn of events up-ends everything, assumptions are challenged, consumer tastes change. This isn’t a complicated environment we’re working in, it’s a complex one.
But this doesn’t mean that we’re playing a game of chance when it comes to predicting many of the things that we care about when making video games. In fact, I would argue that we can get reasonably good at prediction within the medium, and I think forecasting is one of them.