Hello folks, we come to you with a new patch that is aimed at increasing the level of security and stability in multiplayer games, as well as making the experience of new players smoother and more engaging.

Here are the full patch notes for 2.2.8 and 2.2.7, which went live a couple of weeks ago.

• Increased security and anticheating measures.
  
• Fixed a potential freeze/crash with villagers.
  
• Fixed a potential desync source.
  
• Adjusted Ranked algorithm to give away more points even in situations of very high certainty.
  
• Fixed a small issue with the area of effect of the Chinese minefield.
  
• Fixed an issue with units not appearing or being stuck in the Armory screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where a Chinese priest stopped with a Hold command wouldn’t heal nearby units.
  
• Fixed an issue where certain Mangonels wouldn’t have an Attack Location button.

2.2.7

• Added a splash screen for new players.
  
• Added a new special Skirmish with objectives as a form of tutorial for advanced players.
  
• Moved the Tutorial to a dedicated Training tab.
  
• Added a notification counter for how many Chests are available.
  
• In the profile screen, inverted the statistics order of Played and Won.
  
• Several improvements to the UI of the Custom Games screen.
  
• Added items collected counter in the Armory home screen.
  
• Fixed some erroneous stats for unranked matches.
  
• Fixed an issue with converting fragments into chests.
  
• Fixed a potential issue with Byzantines Disrupt ability.
  
• Added Framerate Cap slider in the Display Options menu.

Tons of new cosmetic items have been added to Empires Apart, and anyone can get them for free. Just play the game and be rewarded with the new Emperor's Chests, each containing a trove of new goodies!

Every hour you play in Empires Apart you are granted an Emperor's Chest, with a limit of two per day. Each contains 4 different random cosmetic items you can equip in your Armory. Over 100 new cosmetic items have been added, making Empires Apart more customizable than ever. But what's best is that you can use them to unlock new playable civilizations for free!

In every Emperor's Chest you can find Civilization Fragments. By collecting and compiling four Fragments of the same civilization you will unlock that civilization! In short, the game is now entirely free-to-play, and you can play all civilizations for free - but only if you'll find enough Fragments.

If you want, you have the option of acquiring Emperor's Chests directly from the in-game store, at the cost of $0.99 per chest. But Emperor's Chests can be found entirely for free, just by playing the game.


This update comes with much more, though!

Scout Units. Every faction starts with one of these, but be careful, they cannot be replaced when lost. These scouts are to provide a more interesting and balanced early game.

In addition, we have added a Militia unit to the Mongols. Mongol players can convert their villagers into Militia (permanently), which have a bonus against enemy cavalry. This should shake up the Mongol vs Mongol match-ups and give the Mongols more of a fighting chance against French Cavalry.

We have also included some features as requested by the competitive players, these include the option of setting unit as rally point and hotkeys for camera locations. All details can be found in the changelog in the forum.


https://store.steampowered.com/app/530630/Empires_Apart/

Hello everyone,

This is a little bit of a longer text than we usually do. But the team have been working very hard on this new update, and there is so much here that it takes a little bit of explaining :)


Today we are launching Empires Apart 2.2.0b in Open Beta. This version is a little bit different, as, not only does it come with new units and a host of balance changes. It will also feature the further rollout of our inventory and customization system, including Emperors' Chests

Gameplay
First let’s talk about the gameplay changes. As mentioned above, the beta above comes with a large amount of balance changes and new additions. Special mention here should go to the newly introduced Scout Units. Every faction starts with one of these and they have unique stats. They are to provide a more balanced early game.

In addition, we have added a Militia unit to the Mongols. Mongol players can convert their villagers into Militia (permanently), which have a bonus against enemy cavalry. This should shake up the Mongol vs Mongol match-ups and give the Mongols more of a fighting chance against French Cavalry.

We have also included some features as requested by the competitive players, these include the option of setting unit as rally point and hotkeys for camera locations. All details can be found in the changelog below.

Customization
For the customization options, the big change here is the addition of Emperors' Chests. These are chests that contain a random selection of 4 ingame (cosmetic) items. Note that the first (free) Emperors' Chest drops will start happening for all players, even those who are not subscribed to the Open Beta Branch (more on that in a bit). However, for those who are not subscribed to the beta, there is no way (yet) to interact with them. The Emperors' Chests will be kept safe in your Steam inventory though, so as soon as we roll out the next official update, you will be able to open them.

The Emperors' Chest are filled with all kinds of goodies, giving you more options to customize your profile, villagers, and units of your favourite faction. Note all of these are cosmetic only, none of these will give you a gameplay advantage. A full breakdown of the Emperors' Chests can be found in the changelog below.

In addition, through these drops of chests, you will be able to acquire additional factions for FREE. There is a change that your box contains a specific faction fragment. Such as a ‘French Fragment’ or a ‘Chinese Fragment’. If you collect four of these for the same faction, your will be able to trade them in to get permanent access to civilization in question.
All of this will be in beta still and we are very much asking you to try it out and share your thoughts on the forum and discord. The more data we get, the better!

Many thanks for your support and input.

You can find the full changelog here.

How to activate the open beta?
Anyone who wants to help us test the new version before we roll it out in the official branch can activate it in the following way:
- Go to your Steam Library
- Right click on Empires Apart
- Hit Properties
- Click the Betas Tab
- Select Open Beta from the drop-down menu
- Confirm and wait for the download

We are releasing a new patch for Empires Apart, introducing a brand new game mode: King of the Hill!

In the new King of the Hill mode you will have to fight fiercely to control a spot in the center of the map. Every player will want to control it, but only one can be the King of the Hill!

It's a fast-paced mode which brings a new way to play and enjoy Empires Apart!


We are looking forward to hearing what you think of the new game mode, so don't forget to give us your feedback and let us know on our forum or on our Empires Apart discord channel.

Today we are also releasing a new crate of cosmetic items, this time for the Aztecs and .

It features alternative looks for several units, the Town center and the banner!

So what are you waiting for? Empires Apart is a completely free-to-play game available on Steam. Download and play now!

Empires Apart releases two new bundles of customized items after the Byzantines, and this time it’s the turn of the French and the Chinese to be featured.

The Crates are bundles of cosmetic items used to customize your favourite faction. These tailored items will change the look of some of your units, buildings and banners allowing you to really personalize your army.

You can get them by visiting the store page and check the Items for the game under the Downloadable content.

Once the Crate is purchased it will be part of your Steam Inventory and when you launch the game you’ll see the items in your Armoury. There you choose which items to “equip” with that selected skin.

Stay tuned for further updates!

Empires Apart has reached a new milestone. As part – apologize for the pun – of the new Free-to-Play model, a new wide array of content will be made available to keep the game fresh and interesting.

The first of these items are Crates. These are bundles of cosmetic items used to customize your favourite. These tailored items will change the look of some of your units, buildings and banners allowing you to really personalize your army. And what’s better, all Founders get this crate for free!

The first set of items to be made available is the Byzantine Roman Crate. This crate lets you customize your Byzantine faction with Roman Legionary shield, as well as custom new town center and avatars and banners.

As a Founder you don’t need to buy these items, just go to the game to unlock them. Anyone else can get them by visiting the store page and check the Items for the game under the Downloadable content.

Once the Crate is purchased it will be part of your Steam Inventory and when you launch the game you’ll see the items in your Armoury. There you choose which items to “equip” with that selected skin.

The Bundle also comes with an update fixing several bugs (check the changelog here)

We have much more content coming in the next few weeks so stay tuned for further updates! We’re eager to know your favorite customization!

Here are some screenshots of the new content

[www.matrixgames.com][www.matrixgames.com]

Hello folks!
After a brief period in public beta Empires Apart 2.1.4 is now live for everybody!
Her's a list of the changes:

• Banners are now available! Show your might by building a Banner on the Battlefield!
  
• Fixed an issue with Market Buy/Selling which could result in “ghost” resources being showed.
  
• Seasonal Decorations are now available. Until October 31st all the Berries in the game are Pumpkins!
  
• Fixed hotkey for Byzantine Elite Archer being missing.
  
• Fixed an issue with some French technologies not being researchable.

v.2.1.3 changelog

• Fixed a potential desync when units where kicked out a construction yard.
  
• Fixed an issue with Koreans Agatha AI not attacking.
  
• Fixed an issue with Agatha AI sometimes slowing down or getting stuck when waiting for a building to be completed.
  
• Fixed a small issue with Koreans Cavalry Upgrades.

There are some big news for all Empires Apart players: today Empires Apart goes Free-to-Play!

We are changing the format to make the game accessible for free to everyone. Anyone can go to Steam, download the game and play it at absolutely no cost. You will have access to all game modes and you'll be able to play with the Byzantines civilization.

What does it mean for all those who had bought the game? You are not going to lose anything, and you're getting more than the value of your money back. You will be considered a Founder and you'll get immediate access to all the original civilizations plus access to exclusive content in the future.

The other civilizations are being repackaged as DLCs. You will be able to play against them with the F2P version and even to try them briefly with the new test scenarios, but you will need to buy the DLCs if you intend to play as the Mongols, the Chinese, the Arabs, the French, the Aztecs and the Koreans!

If you would like to have more information on how the Free-to-Play system works please read the FAQ we've published.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWlfyDYyq3w


What, wait a seconds, did you say Koreans? Yes, there is a new playable civilization!

Now you will be able to buy the Korean Civilization Pack and lead the brand new faction in battle.

The Koreans are a ranged-focused civilization which can make use of the powerful Hwacha for devastating firepower. Their Nobles provide a unique mechanic, boosting the area around them and improving your economic development.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/912834/Empires_Apart__Korean_Civilization_Pack/


We have completely revamped the in-game menus, and brought in a massive number of improvements: new AI, a new map, and countless gameplay and UI improvements! We are also resetting the Ranking, so everyone gets a fair chance to start this new Ranked season on equal terms.

Last but not least, don’t forget to tune in for today’s developer stream live on Twitch[www.twitch.tv] at 8.30 pm BST!

This is the start of a new exciting path for Empires Apart. We can’t wait to see you all in game!

Hello folks,
we just put out a patch that should further improve the stability of the game. This should mean less FATAL ERRORs. We ran games lasting several hours without crashes. Please let us know if you're still experiencing issues.

We're aware of a potential crash on Islands when playing vs the AI which we will fix with another patch very soon. In the meantime we hope to have improved the overall stability for everybody.