Hi-Rez Studios hosted a nearly 40-minute showcase on Thursday, in which they revealed their 2021 roadmap for Rogue Company, among other things. Season One will bring a host of new content to Rogue Company, including eight new rogues, new maps, a new game mode, and the first four competitive seasons. Players won’t have to wait long before enjoying some of this new content either, since the first official competitive season will be dropping at the start of February, along with a new map and new rogue!
Rogue Company's first season launches in February and with is some major additions. (Photo courtesy of Hi-Rez Studios)
Rogue Company Season 1 starts in February
Rogue Company’s 2021 roadmap will kick off with the launch of the games first official competitive season at the start of February. The launch of Season One will bring a full rank reset for all players who are currently ranked, so everyone will be getting a fresh start heading into the new season.
Hi-Rez is also making some adjustments to the rank up system. Rather than starting every player at the bottom and having them climb through the ranks all the way up to Rogue, like the previous system, the new system will have players compete in ten placement matches. Those matches will be used to place the player into one of seven tiers. Once placed, players must battle their way through five divisions per tier as they advance to the next tier.
This new ranking system is much more streamlined, and should ensure that players of all skill levels get into more fair competitive matches. (Photo courtesy Hi-Rez Studios)
Rogue Company launches a seasonal battle pass
A battle pass with 50 unlockable tiers will launch in Season One of Rogue Company and continue through they year. The battle passes are expected to include gun wraps and rogue outfits, as well as Rogue bucks and XP boosts. There will be a free version battle pass, which allows players to unlock some of the battle pass content. There will also be a paid version of each battle pass, which will unlock access to all of the battle pass tiers.
The specific details of what all will be included in the first battle pass remain a mystery for now. The developers did announce that players will receive the One Shot One Kill Fixer skin upon initial purchase of this season’s battle pass, and they will also receive the legendary Scorch outfit called the Hellfire Protocol upon the completion of battle pass tier 50.
(Photo courtesy Hi-Rez Studios)
Wingman Mode coming to Rogue Company
Wingman is a brand new playlist coming to Rogue Company which allows players to team up with a buddy and face off against another duo in intense 2v2 tactical combat. There are currently two modes of Wingman, the standard Wingman elimination mode and Wingman Strikeout. Both modes are very fast paced.
The objective of the standard Wingman mode is to, simply, kill the other team. Like in 4v4 Demolition, there are no respawns after a player dies in a round of the standard Wingman. This mode features a shortened 45 second round timer, after which a neutral objective will spawn somewhere on the map which can be captured by either team to win the round. The first team to claim five rounds wins the match.
The other option in the Wingman playlist is Strikeout. This mode works just like the 4v4 Strikeout mode, with a neutral objective spawning in the middle of the map and players respawning after they die. Teams must kill each other or hold the objective to bleed tickets from the other team. Each team starts the round with six tickets, once they run out of tickets, players will no longer be able to respawn. The last team with a surviving member wins the round and the first team to win three rounds wins the match.
The 2v2 Wingman modes take place on their own special maps which are called Skirmish Maps. These maps are smaller and specially designed for 2v2 matches. The Wingman playlist will initially launch with two maps, the industrial inspired map Depot and the Favelas inspired map District. Wingman will be coming to the game as a permanent playlist next week.
New Rogue: Kestrel
Hi-Rez announced their next rogue, Kestrel, during Thursday’s showcase. She is set to launch along with Season 1. Kestrel is the first of the eight Rogues that we can expect to be released this year. The developers revealed very little information about the new operative, saying only her name, a basic biography, and offering just a smidgen of information about her kit.
“Kestrel is a mercenary that is the precursor to Rogue Company,” explained Scott Lussier, Lead Game Designer on Rogue Company. “Kestrel is an Indian born fashion icon who uses high tech mini drones to launch explosives and get the job done. In the coming weeks we will have even more to announce about Kestrel, just before the new season’s launch.”
Per usual, you will be able to unlock Kestrel for free through gameplay by using Reputation, or you will be able to purchase her using Rogue Bucks. For players who intend on buying all eight Rogues which will release in 2021, Hi-Rez added the brand new Rogue Company: Year One Pass. The pass will unlock all eight 2021 rogues, as well as the winter themed NorthStar Phantom outfit, three Ice Out weapon skins, 500 Rogue bucks, and more.
The Year One Pass can be purchased for the price of $24.99 USD, which is significantly cheaper than buying each rogue separately.
New Map: The Hollows
A new map will also drop alongside Season 1. The Hollows is set on an island base with a missile silo.
(Photo courtesy Hi-Rez Studios)
“Located in the South Pacific, this map is a hidden jackal base and rocket launch facility,” explained Rogue Company’s Art Director Diana Hankison. “It’s an important objective for the rogues. In addition to being available for standard game modes, this map will also be paired with a special limited time mode where the rogues must stop the rocket launch.”
Although The Hollows is set to release in only a few short weeks with Rogue Company Season One, Hi-Rez only had concept art of the map to showcase during their event on Thursday. So, as of now, not much is known about what the fully rendered design will look like.
