Synced
Scheduled Maintenance at 8:00 AM, Dec 12 (GTM)
Servers will be down later today (Dec 12) for scheduled maintenance from 8:00AM GMT to 11:00AM GMT (3 hours) as we address some of the feedback you have provided.
We'll update you if maintenance needs to be extended, and patch notes will be provided afterwards.
Twitch Drops Rewards Update
Thanks to your feedback we've identified a technical issue impacting Twitch Drops. We are working a fix right now, which will be rolled out as soon as possible.
Players can continue to participate in Twitch Drops as normal, and all rewards will be dispatched once the problem has been resolved. Those who fail to receive rewards as a result of this issue will be provided with additional in-game compensation.
Once the fix has been applied, players who did not receive drops within 24 hours after claiming on Twitch will receive the following:
- All the Twitch Drops you claimed (please note that the Golden Stripes weapon skin will be replaced by Neon Noire)
- 100 Haven Credits.
Please note that you must have already created your SYNCED character in order to receive these drops.
Thank you, and have fun in SYNCED!
SYNCED - The Open Beta Starts Now
Welcome to the Meridian
SYNCED is a match-based rogue-looter developed by NExT Studios, where players team up into groups of three to tackle PvE or PvP scenarios. In a techno-apocalyptic future, you are a Runner who joins the war against deadly techno-creatures called Nanos inside the sealed exclusion zone known as the Meridian.
Open Beta Content
The SYNCED Open Beta runs from December 10 to January 15 and has been designed to let PC players experience a large chunk of what the full release will have to offer. Whether you prefer to take down Nanos in high-octane PvE action, or like to pit your wits against like-minded Runners in tense PvP combat - SYNCED has you covered.
PvE - Dead Sectors
The Dead Sectors are crawling with seemingly endless hordes of Nanos. At the heart of each is a Tyrant, the big baddies at the very top of the Nano food chain. If we lose control of these dark corners of the Meridian, Haven and everyone in it will be facing certain extinction. It’s up to you and your fellow runners to move in and put an end to the Tyrants’ reign.
Team up in Runner squads of three to hunt down and defeat Tyrant Nanos. Together, you'll fight through surge-infested sectors to clear out corruption, gather resources, unlock special abilities, and upgrade your armband.
PvP - Nerva Run
Nerva Runs are a way of life for the bold Runner. Shinar’s automated Harvester drones are extracting Nerva from all across the Meridian, and we’ve found a way to intercept them and siphon off a helping for ourselves. But with the fat commission Haven offers to those who bring in the blue stuff, you’d better be ready to claw your way over your fellow Runners to earn your keep.
Charge into the Meridian with your team to capture the most Nerva. Use your nano companions and special abilities to intercept Harvesters, battle Goliath nanos, and eliminate rival Runners before they get a chance to eliminate you.
Runners
It takes a special kind of crazy to willingly set foot inside the Meridian - and Haven is home to several individuals that fit the bill. Each have come for different reasons, but all are bound by a dependancy on Nerva.
Deadcut: A card shark and a hustler, Deadcut made a career out of gambling and guns. The Collapse actually saved his life, sweeping away his debts and landing him on his feet. With his trusty companion nano, Ace, Deadcut set out for the Meridian to find his fortune and himself.
Glory Zhao: The days that followed the Collapse brought unspeakable hardship and grief, but they also stirred a noble vision in Glory Zhao. With her mother's blessing, she set out from her small village in China to find the source of this ceaseless suffering, to end it once and for all.
Dr. Stone: Once a rural doctor in an underfunded district in the North of England, Dr. Montgomery Stone didn't come to the Meridian for power, wealth, or for revenge. He's looking for a cure. If he can find it, he can save the future, and start rectifying his past.
As you progress through the SYNCED Open Beta, keep an eye out for more playable Runners. The journey is just beginning, and Nerva is in high demand!
Nanos
Nanos are the reason you’re here. An experiment using this micro technology went horribly wrong and wiped out much of humanity, leaving behind only a small population. Now you and your fellow survivors must join forces to claim the Nerva left scattered on the battleground, and to do it, you need to claim a Nano as your own. If you want to survive, you must sync.
In SYNCED you will face different types of Nanos, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. When they’re low on health, instead of killing them, you get the chance to sync with and control them. These Nanos are then yours to utilise in battle, giving you the edge needed to beat other Runners to the Nerva. There are four classes of Nanos available.
The Crusher will pound your enemy into to submission.
Suppressors are a perfect sentry, and great for long range cover.
If you prefer to lay low, the Guardians offer perfect cover with their shield abilities.
Finally, the Seer compliments tactical play, scouting out the enemy, detecting opponents early and using their devious decoy ability.
Pre-download SYNCED from Dec 8
Step 1: Request access through Steam Playtest here: SYNCED on Steam
Step 2: Start downloading from Dec 8, 00:00 GMT.
Please note that you may be required to download an update when the Open Beta goes live on Dec 10. Check out our visual guide below for details on exactly when the Open Beta drops in your region:
Don't forget to check out our Open Beta FAQs for further details.
Get ready Runners, the Meridian awaits!
The SYNCED Open Beta kicks off on December 10 and runs until January 15!
The SYNCED Open Beta kicks off on December 10 and runs until January 15!
Running for a total of 5 weeks over the holiday period, and featuring both PvE and PvP content, the SYNCED Open Beta will give players their best look yet at our upcoming "Rogue-Looter" shooter. Eager Runners can sign up right now to be eligible for exclusive in-game rewards!
We'll be releasing exciting new content on a weekly basis throughout the Open Beta, and there'll be a host of awesome community events across our social channels and on our Discord server.
Check out our handy FAQ to answer all your burning questions.
Jump into our Discord to get hyped with like-minded Runners: https://discord.gg/synced
And follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to stay ahead of all SYNCED news:
- Twitter: @SYNCEDTheGame
- Facebook: @SYNCED.EN
- Instagram: @SYNCEDTheGame
It's almost time...The Meridian awaits!
The SYNCED Open Beta kicks off on December 10 and runs until January 15!
The SYNCED Open Beta kicks off on December 10 and runs until January 15!
Running for a total of 5 weeks over the holiday period, and featuring both PvE and PvP content, the SYNCED Open Beta will give players their best look yet at our upcoming "Rogue-Looter" shooter. Eager Runners can sign up right now to be eligible for exclusive in-game rewards!
We'll be releasing exciting new content on a weekly basis throughout the Open Beta, and there'll be a host of awesome community events across our social channels and on our Discord server.
Check out our handy FAQ to answer all your burning questions.
Jump into our Discord to get hyped with like-minded Runners: https://discord.gg/synced
And follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to stay ahead of all SYNCED news:
- Twitter: @SYNCEDTheGame
- Facebook: @SYNCED.EN
- Instagram: @SYNCEDTheGame
It's almost time...The Meridian awaits!
Dev Blog: PvP Updates
Here’s a quick update for everyone from the dev team at SYNCED. Recently, we tested a revamped PvP mode with some of you, and we want to share the improvements that we showcased.
Thanks to your feedback from July’s Runner Weekend, we identified a few areas that needed to be changed to improve the game’s pacing, intensity, and fun.
The first changes were to the map itself. We realized that if we scaled everything down, we could give you a more fast-paced, intense experience that we at SYNCED have always been striving towards. So we shrunk the map to just one fourth of its original size, reduced the player count from 18 to 12, and reduced the numbers of available Harvesters to capture. This means that when you play PvP, you’ll be playing quick, high-octane matches, because if you want that nerva, you’re gonna have to hustle.
Next, we took a look at the Exchanges. These are meant to be a hub for nano mods that can radically alter your playing experience, making each round unique. But, with your feedback, we found that the experience was often undermined by factors outside of player control. So, we made the Exchanges smarter. Now they will learn your Companion Nano’s type and offer only mods that you’ll be able to use. It won’t guarantee you a win, but it should even the playing field just enough to keep things fun.
To complement this, we’ve made some changes to the shops. Shops on the map now offer an expanded inventory, from SYNC hosts to armor and weapon upgrades that will make you more powerful, but only if you’ve got the radia to spend.
And the last big update came for the Companion Nanos themselves. In the past, if your nano died, you’d have to re-SYNC a Prime Nano. But now, after a short cooldown, you’ll be able to call them out again, emphasizing the important bond between a Runner and their nano.
Alright, Runners, those are the main updates for now. If we make any more big changes, you’ll hear it here first. And, as always, thanks so much for your feedback and support. It really matters to us. If you'd like to talk to us, please consider joining our Discord. We are planning more playtests for PVP in the near future, and may even be offering glimpses of our shiny new PVE.
Stay tuned, and see you in The Meridian!
Dev Blog: Dead Sectors - A Fresh New PVE
It’s been a busy time on SYNCED. Our team has been working hard getting everything ready for our upcoming Open Beta Test, and we just want to take the time now to offer you a little sneak preview of the latest news coming out of the Dead Sectors. This is the PvE mode we have planned, where you’ll explore the Meridian, take down the Tyrants, and stop the Surge. Here’s a quick glance at some gameplay footage captured just this week:
Surge Storms wrack the Meridian. These deadly clouds of nanomaterial rove the wastelands of the Dead Sectors, ravaging everything in their path. If one of them entered Haven, it would be a disaster, so we’ve got to stop it. You will need to team up with 2 other Runners, enter the Dead Sectors, find the Locus Nanos that feed the storms, and put an end to their threat.
These five sectors will challenge even the most skilled Runner. Horrifying nanos, overwhelming Tyrants, and the ever-present threat of the Surge Storms will put your skills to the test. You’ll need the strongest allies and the best gear to even have a chance at survival. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered.
Unlock New Gun Tech
In Haven, you’ll be able to radically alter your weapons with Gun Tech upgrades. From knocking back your enemies to changing your weapon’s spread, you’ll be able to pick upgrades that fit your playstyle. Some of these upgrades will be unlocked early on, but as you play you will quickly discover new, more powerful upgrades.
Equip Gear Chips
Gear Chips are upgrades for your Runner that offer buffs and bonuses to augment your game. Some Gear Chips will help you deal more damage to nanos, or increase your critical hit rate, and more.
With Gun Tech and Gear Chips, you will be able to explore different combinations to unlock your Runner’s full potential, and explore all the possibilities that SYNCED has to offer.
Hit Up the Exchanges
For even the most well-prepared Runner, the Dead Sectors are dangerous. Runners who want to come back alive, rely on a nano by-product called Radia. This volatile resource acts as currency for you inside the Meridian. You can spend Radia at the many Exchanges you’ll come across. Exchanges are old Shinar tech that’s been corrupted by the Surge. They deliver powerful perks and mods to help you maximize every one of your runs.
Don’t forget to SYNC
Once you tame and synchronize a Prime Nano, you will have your Companion Nano working by your side. These four classes: Crusher, Guardian, Seer, and Suppressor will be key to your victory in the Meridian. Pick the right one for the right fight and you’ll come out on top.
And the Dead Sectors don’t end there. Once you beat all five sectors, more maps, more challenges, and more upgrades will be unlocked, forever changing your world of SYNCED.
We are always listening to our community, and your feedback is important to us. You can talk to us on Discord or on Twitter, and get all the latest updates through our Steam page as well. We’ve got big news coming just around the corner that we’re so excited to share with you.
Stay tuned, Runner. The Meridian awaits.
SYNCED Dev Team
Dev Blog: Importance of Community Feedback and Discussion
We are extremely appreciative of your participation in our July Runner Weekend playtest... and there's a lot more in store!
Recently, our development team sat down with some of the players from our Discord community and exchanged feedback and ideas for the build they experienced during the event. Here are a few of the major topics discussed and our thoughts on improving them down the line!
1. New Game Mode on the Horizon
In our latest playtest, we found some key issues pertaining to the pacing of Nerva Run. It's clear that players end up spending too much time running around, looting and upgrading at the beginning, leaving the bulk of most exhilirating PvP interactions to the tail-end of the match.
As part of our development roadmap, we are currently working on a mini-PvP mode where only two rounds of Harvesters will be available to intercept. The first round will come with two Harvesters and the second round with only one. Players will likely still have one or two minutes to loot and sync Nanos at the beginning, but will also encounter other players much sooner in the match. We hope that this mini-PvP mode will establish an option for players who want to immediately get into the action of battling other players, without placing as much emphasis on setup and map exploration.
This new mode is currently being run internally and we hope to have more details to share as soon as we are confident in the internal testing results. So far, we have witnessed the tension between rivals pumped up to the max, and we believe it will create exciting player interactions when it becomes available in a later playtest session!
2. PvE & Narrative Approach
Some of you may have already realized that you can actually teleport in Haven, so why would we even bother to build this detail-filled world for the players to walk around?
It's worth mentioning that, while this may be the case in the playtest build, it likely will not be relevant in the final version because the ability to teleport in Haven will be removed. Haven will serve as an important place for storytelling and progression in the future — especially when PvE modes return — players can look forward to witnessing a newly-invigorated Haven.
Haven will become a place where you can dive deeper into the world lore. Haven has many hidden corners that provide glimpses of the mysteries of this world.
The story of SYNCED is embedded in the world around you. When you venture into PvP or PvE matches, when you roam through Haven, keep your eyes peeled for hidden snippets of story waiting to be discovered.
3. Mini-Map Insights
We have received feedback from players regarding how the mini-map works differently from what many experience in other games. Usually the mini-map marks the enemy's location with indicators like red dots, footprints, or bullets. While there is a compass circle on your screen to indicate a direction when you get attacked, some players think the mini-map should also include some form of indicator similar to in other games.
We found that your feedback indeed makes sense, and we will look at it further in the future build, but it is important to note that the current mini-map is our intended design. Many traditional games have included a deathmatch mode featuring a small map and intense combat, in which knowing the enemy's location can give the player a decisive advantage over others.
The PvP mode in SYNCED, however, has a slower flow to it, where players are afforded time to explore the field and get geared up before running into combat. Don't forget that our Nanos have a powerful ability which can detect enemies. Our aim is to build upon SYNCED's core features to enhance this creativity and player decision-making, to provide a unique gameplay experience. One way in which we think this is accomplished is by including information like enemy location in the form of tactical abilities, rather than as a given to all players on the battlefield.
We encourage everyone to share any feedback and suggestions for SYNCED, and if you wish to be a part of a growing vibrant community, please join our official Discord server and keep in touch with our team and other runners.
We are truly happy to hear from you more and are working to continually improve our game, so make sure to let us know your preferences and insights, and perhaps we will have you onboard at our NExT community table soon!
- SYNCED Dev Team
From the SYNCED Dev Team
Last week, you joined the community across the globe to participate in the first ever, Runner Weekend. During this event, we welcomed 14550 players, and a total number of 3986 matches were played. As the development team, we want to say thank you for playing and for all of your valuable feedback. It has been well received, and we are taking that feedback seriously and applying it make the game the very best it can be.
But before talking about actions, we’d like to shine some lights on how we designed Nerva Run mode, and all the important decisions that have gone into developing it.
From the beginning, we wanted to create a PvP mode that not only welcomed PvP players, but also appealed to PvE players and more casual PvP players as well. To help create this appeal, we added a couple of systems which would provide more PvE combat experiences, and a luck-based system, as the Exchange Loop where players can roll the dice for random Perks and Mods. Honestly, we weren’t sure how well this would translate to PvP environments, since this has never been seen in PvP-centric games or game modes. After all, it provides a situation where luck could greatly influence who wins at the end, but for more casual players, this also means they have a better shot when facing high-skill PvP players.
While we still believe in this premise, an important issue appears immediately. This system creates some significant down time during matches, causing some parts of the match to be slower and less engaging than we, or the community, would like. So, as we are addressing some further iterations on gunplay, the SYNC system, and other mechanics, we think that it’s important to create a mode which is more focused on the PVP aspects of the gameplay. It needs to be faster, tighter, and more engaging, yet highly tactical. Thus, we are bringing back the “mini” version of the Nerva Run. It has only 2 phases of Harvester Drones, a much smaller map (only a quarter the size of the big map), and only 4 teams in total (which allows for much quicker matchmaking as a result). But don't let the term "mini" fool you. It IS smaller, sure, but that doesn’t mean less action! In fact, the internal playtests we are having already suggest a much more heated battleground, with much higher combat rate between players.
Another thing we are tackling in this version, is reducing the RNG factors of your in-game progression. You're still going to need to collect Radia as you go from loot and Nanos, but you could find more stable ways to improve your weapons and gear. Another big part of reducing the RNG is to entirely remove all the PvE-oriented Runner Mods from Exchange. It’s a big decision, but we think this will let players focus more on their individual skills and less on the game functions that are more random in nature. Simpler is better, especially in this scenario.
Along with the iteration of game mode itself, the team here is also busy tweaking other aspects of the gameplay. Here are a few examples:
First, we are adding an ADS Reloading System. We heard feedback from you guys that, while in ADS view, reloading exits the ADS view automatically, resulting in the removal of the weapon's reticule from the target. In the next version, reloading will NOT automatically exit ADS view. You will still be able to focus on the target while reloading you weapon. However, you still have the choice to manually exit ADS view at anytime. So, if you want to take the time to relocate while reloading, you still have that capability.
Next, we are removing the 2nd revivable stage in PvP. In the CBT and Runner Weekend build, once you were downed, you could still fight back with your pistol as "stage 1". After that, you would enter "stage 2" where you cannot move and shoot anymore, but teammates could still revive you. This sounds great for your own team, but it creates problems for the attacking side, since the 2nd revivable stage has no hit register. This only serves to slow down the pacing of fire fights, since there is an extra step to fully eliminate your target. As of right now, you shoot, you kill, you eliminate, and loot will drop directly from the target. It’s much simpler and tighter.
Finally, regarding SYNC system, some quality of life changes are being made as well. Before, once your Nano was dead, you would need to find a new Prime Nano (or go to the shop) to SYNC a new one. This is not optimal especially for the ending phase of a match where time is everything. Now, you still need to initially tame a Prime Nano to acquire your Companion Nano, but once it’s downed, it will automatically retreat to your arm and start the recovery process. Furthermore, during redeployment of your Runner, your Companion Nano will also be with you, so taming a new one will no longer be necessary. Another big change to the SYNC system also worth noting, is that if you have 2 Core Chips in your possession, you'll be able to just hold a button to switch Companion Nano types on the fly -- it’s easy and simple. So now, when to use which Companion Nano will be key to your team tactics and strategy.
Okay, this letter is getting too long, and still not long enough to address all the changes we are working on, since every piece of feedback from you guys matters to us. The truth is, it’s not only us who is building this game, it’s you guys as well. We believe working with you all -- the community -- is key. Especially for something new and unique, like SYNCED. Runner Weekend taught us a lot, but there's more we can learn from you all. To that end, we are aiming to have similar events in the future -- bringing in new features and changes each time, so you can let us know if we're on the right track.
Again, thanks, Runners. Thank you for believing in us and thank you for believing in SYNCED.
#SYNCED