Bohemia Recap – March 2023
Welcome to the latest edition of the Bohemia Recap!
March was a busy month here at Bohemia. We released a few updates and held a couple of live streams, added some cool new merch to the Bohemia Store and showcased some of our community’s brightest content creators. The biggest news of all, however, was our release of Someday You’ll Return: Directors Cut.
There’s plenty to get into this time around, so grab a beverage and a comfy chair, and let’s dive in!
Vigor
We began the month by releasing a minor update 14.1, which mainly focused on fixes. A few days later, Outlanders were able to enjoy a welcomed influx of double XP between March 6th and March 9th.
Anyone out there having a bit of trouble jumping into Vigor? Well, you don’t have to worry if that’s the case. All you need to do is check out our new and handy Vigor Explained video that focuses on onboarding and things will become a whole lot clearer.
In other news, we interviewed our QA Lead Archie, had a blast on St. Patrick’s Day by celebrating with some cool and exclusive cosmetics, and held another Booster Apocalypse from March 22nd to the 24th where players were able to enjoy 33% off Boosters for Encounters.
Any music lovers in the house? We’ve got some amazing orchestral music from Vigor for those who are. As a matter of fact, you can listen to many different kinds of music from all of Bohemia Interactive’s games on Spotify.
Finally, we asked people to tell us what their favorite cosmetic was from the Chronicles: Reckoning Battle Pass, and continued releasing new Dev Streams and Community Corners.
Ylands
Ahoy there, mateys! The seas were bursting with activity in March and the entire crew was hard at work on a number of interesting fronts.
Highlights of the month included us celebrating Women's Day on TikTok, releasing funky new glow in the dark t-shirts in the Bohemia Store, and introducing the Classy Adventurers Guild in a recent Dev Diary.
Another cool thing that happened was the introduction of the Ylands Crew! Who are they, you ask? The Ylands Crew is a group of highly talented content creators who love Ylands as much as we do and want to spread the word of the sea to as many people as possible.
We also held a live stream on Steam for the very first time, introduced our awesome new team member to the community, showed off our fancy new pirate t-shirts, and checked out the most memorable moments from our wonderful community of streamers and content makers.
There’s one more reason why we’ve all been working so hard these days. That’s because there is a HUGE update on the way that is truly a game changer. Stay tuned for more info which will be coming your way soon!
DayZ
We held a 3-part series on TikTok in March called #WomenInGaming, which showcased the badass women who grace DayZ (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). The final touches to update 1.20 arrived with not one but two supported patches. We also conducted a poll regarding a controversial topic within the DayZ community – CROCS (the shoe, not the animal). As fun as this poll was, rest assured that there are no plans on adding the legendary footwear to the game any time soon.
Moving on - there’s a cool new addition to the merch store, this time in the form of a black DayZ Mug. The mug is awesome and would have come in handy on St Patrick's Day.
Any artists out there looking for something new to create? We are asking players to come up with a billboard that promotes DayZ's official food and/or clothing! We want everyone to have a chance to win, so if you believe you’re not artistically inclined, you can always send us your pitch instead.
Last but not least, check out what the community was up to in March by reading our Community Spotlight, and don’t forget to download April’s wallpaper (with the calendar, without the calendar, and for mobile).
Arma Reforger
March was a busy month for the Reforger team. We started off by releasing Update 0.9.7.95, which brought with it multiple multiplayer fixes, then continued with Experiment Update 0.9.7.97 which introduced a VFX Update. That VFX Update was then implemented in stable update 0.9.7.102, along with a video that introduced it. One week later, we announced another update, this time in the form of 0.9.7.106.
Dev Report #16 offered a summary of everything that has happened since last December , as well as some valuable information regarding the Enfusion Blender Tools update, improvements that are planned for the future, and a whole bunch more.
COMRAD #8 once again showcased our community’s creativity and cleverness which clearly has no bounds. This photo by KOOP is a great example of that.
Wrapping things up, we continued to publish helpful tips from our developers on social media in our series #ReforgerTips, as well as hints on how to safely aid a wounded soldier, how to properly hold a squat position, being mindful of enemies around your equipment, and commanding well.
Arma 3
Arma 3 Alpha was released on March 5th, 2013. This date marks the beginning of our 10 Years of Arma 3 celebrations.
The first 10th Anniversary Live Stream was broadcast on March 12th. Hosted by Arma Community Manager Nillers, this live stream focused on the background, narrative design, and setting of Arma 3 with interviews and a live Q&A with Ivan Buchta (Creative Director) and Scott Alsworth (Narrative Design). You can view a Video on Demand (VOD) of the live stream on Twitch and YouTube.
Our Community Profile blog series continues, this time with an interview with Arma community legend Melle. The interview was published on March 15th and you can read it here.
Third-party studio Savage Game Design - creators of the Arma 3 CDLC: S.O.G. Prairie Fire - published an OPREP on March 18th. This OPREP highlights their efforts to get MACV-SOG veteran Paris Davis the Medal of Honor after a 57 year wait. You can read about COL Davis and his actions, as well as the efforts of the highly dedicated team of people who worked to get COL Davis the recognition he deserved here.
We released another Community Radar (COMRAD) on March 22nd. Check out Issue #36 for some of last month’s best community content.
An action-packed screenshot based on the Second Battle of El Alamein by thebuckfastwine, as featured in COMRAD #36.
Someday You'll Return: Director's Cut
We published Someday You'll Return: Director's Cut on March 7th in collaboration with developer Jan Kavan from CBE Software.
Someday You'll Return: Director's Cut - Official Trailer
Someday You'll Return is a story-driven game about the search for Stela, a young daughter lost in the surreal forests of South Moravia. Players assume the role of Stela’s father Daniel, who is forced to return to the forest he vowed to stay away from. The game deals with the concepts of fear, lies, and fatherhood, as well as the challenges of coming to terms with one's past. There are numerous elements of fantasy and horror involved, where it’s not always clear what’s real and what isn’t, or who the actual monster truly is.
The Director's Cut offers plenty of new features which include: availability for PS4 and PS5 (with haptic control support), significant optimization for smoother gameplay, DLSS support, better scene lighting in many locations, full support for Xbox and PlayStation controllers, more dynamic gameplay (i.e. fewer "walking" scenes), more intense and terrifying scenes, new puzzles, a new hidden game ending (for New Game+ mode), a new interactive tutorial for alchemy and herbalism, photo mode, improved sound, over 30 minutes of new music, localization into 7 new languages, and extensive bug fixes.
The game can now be purchased with a 20% discount. But beware, the sale ends on April 17th (10:00 AM PST)!
Behind the Scenes
We introduced Someday You'll Return: Director's Cut by holding a press conference at our Prague office for selected representatives of the Czech gaming media a few days before the game’s release.
Bohemia Store
Great news for all you DayZ fans out there. In addition to the new mugs we’ve added, we've also restocked our Bohemia Store with your favorite Zip-Up Hoodies. Make sure to visit our store and pick one up for you and your loved ones!
Become a Bohemian
We’re also always looking for more fun and creative people who are passionate about games. Check out the career board below and get in touch if you think you’re the right fit.
Don't see anything that speaks to you? Then head on over to our careers page to see all the positions that are currently open at Bohemia.
What Else?
If you’d like to learn more about Bohemia Interactive, or want to stay updated on all the latest happenings, make sure to subscribe to our Newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Until next time, stay safe and game on!