Ronimo Games announced that Awesomenauts, the 2D side-scrolling MOBA, is going free-to-play on Steam on May 24th. In addition, the team released a new major update, dubbed ‘Awesomenauts 4.0: Going free to play May 24th’, today with a completely overhauled progression system, a wide array of new customization options, and much more.
According to the company, the transition to a free-to-play model has been in the works for several years, and the latest update builds on many of the changes that it has already brought to Awesomenauts in the last year; from the introduction of a new AAA-level matchmaking system, the release of the live spectator mode, to the release of Steam Workshop integration and a level editor.
Over the next month, Ronimo Games will be tweaking the systems and making further improvements to the many new features based on feedback from its existing playerbase. Then, on Wednesday May 24th, it will be ready to welcome new communities when the game officially transitions to ‘free-to-play’ on Steam.
The highlights of the new update are as follows:
- A completely overhauled tutorial and beginner experience to help make the game more accessible. Though the game has always been fairly easy to pick up and play, the MOBA genre is inherently challenging to get into because of the highly competitive matches.
- A new progression system allows players to level up both their profile as well as each of their characters. Both will unlock their own unique rewards such as currency bonuses, portraits, character items, and portraits. This way you’re never far removed from the next reward.
- A new currency called Awesomepoints, which can be earned by playing matchmade games. These games can be either against other players or through the new ‘co-op vs bots’ mode. Awesomepoints can be used to unlock playable characters, profile portraits, and the new drop pods.
- This update also introduces medals to the game. These are unlocked by reaching various milestones in the game and can be used to show off the achievements a player is most proud of. All of the new customization options can be unlocked either by completing milestones in-game, or purchasing them with in-game currency.
- Real money will still be the only way to buy character skins, but can now also be used to buy individual playable characters and drop pods. Players will also be able to buy all current and future characters through the ‘Awesomenauts All Nauts Pack’. On top of all the characters, owners of the Pack will be granted the ‘Collector’ status, giving them an exclusive medal and skin.
Existing players will automatically have all the content they previously owned unlocked. And as an additional thank-you, all players who registered a copy of Awesomenauts on Steam before this announcement will be granted ‘Founder’ status, with a unique medal. Players who own Awesomenauts and both the Starstorm and Overdrive expansions by May 24th will automatically be upgraded to the new ‘Awesomenauts All Nauts Pack’, which will grant them all playable characters for free, forever.
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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