Server Slam Recap & What's Next

The DCKO Server Slam is officially behind us, and we can’t thank everyone enough for playing, sharing feedback, ideas, and reporting bugs.

9,691 players. 142 countries. More than 310,000 fights. Over 250k pre-registrations!

Server Slam stats infographic - 9,691 players, 142 countries, 310,000+ fights, top 10 countries, most popular Duo, and top Supers

We watched as you found your main Legends, built Duos, climbed leaderboards, tore through Rifts, organized Duels, collected Omegas, streamed matches, found bugs, debated balance, and somehow made it all the way to frame data.

Then Server Slam ended and some of you started reporting DCKO withdrawals.

We’re still studying this mysterious new condition. Luckily, the first treatments start rolling out later this month with regional testing. More on that below.

With about 30 of us here at Drop Fake, there’s only so much chaos we can manufacture in-house. Server Slam supplied the rest, with thousands of players pushing DCKO in ways we never could on our own.

So rather than just saying “thanks for the feedback”, here’s what you taught us, what’s already changed, and when more of you can play.

PvP action!

Real-time PvP became a huge part of Server Slam.

You remembered opponents, called for rematches, watched the leaderboards, and figured out which Duos could make someone regret matching against you.

The new pre-match-up screen - Batman, Robin, Zatanna, and Tridemon lined up before a PvP fight

Some players on certain devices also reported some combat issues. Throws could become Mediums, double-swipes weren’t always reliable, tap-holds could misfire, and Tags occasionally decided they didn’t want to work.

We’ve since fixed bugs affecting Combo and Super Tags, improved input responsiveness around tap-holds and swipes, and fixed double-swipe-down issues on affected devices. We also cleaned up timing inconsistencies around Throws, Aerials, and knockdowns to give defenders more room to respond, and fixed several Assist, Tag, and Super timing combinations that could cause crashes or softlocks.

Additional work has gone into improving performance and how DCKO feels at lower frame rates, especially on older devices.

Balance: Burn, baby, burn

Starfire scorched the Earth!

Burn became one of the loudest balance conversations during Server Slam, alongside flying Legends, Throws, Tag pressure, defensive options, and getting out of long combos.

Starfire emote - fists raised, wreathed in fire

A few things have already changed:

Burning damage: 50% → 40%
Starfire’s Burn trigger rate has been reduced
- We’re not completely dousing Starfire. We’ve just removed some of the gasoline.
An issue that could apply Burning twice has been fixed
Aerial Legends now have the same Throw/Grab range as other Legends
All Energy gains have been slowed by 10%
- Energy is the resource required to activate Supers
Weakened now also reduces offensive trigger rates
Shocked no longer blocks Energy gains and instead arcs to allies when they tag in
Robin can now earn Charges without relying on crit RNG
Nightwing no longer depends on Damage Boost to make key parts of his kit work
Catwoman’s gauge is reworked so it no longer drains over time
Wonder Woman has a new defensive Assist and overhaul of her Hypertime abilities
Cyborg’s Assist now fires correctly
All Assassins now have tap-hold projectiles that throw two kunai

Legends need to feel like Legends.

Batman should feel like Batman. Nightwing should feel like Nightwing. Getting a new Legend should mean learning something new, not just swapping faces with the same game plan.

We’re keeping that in mind as the roster grows. As more access becomes available over time, keep sending us feedback on how specific Legends feel and thoughts & ideas on their abilities/kits to help us meet those expectations.

We want to know about it!

PvE: More to come

PvE players made themselves pretty clear too.

Rifts got a lot of love, and plenty of you asked for more Story content after chewing through the little we gave you during Server Slam.

We’ll be adding six additional Prologue missions, with more work on PvE challenges, pacing, missions, and modes coming in the future.

New Prologue missions list - Missions 8 through 12, from The Growing Threat to The Lord

The other things

Not every post-Slam improvement is a balance change.

Roster clipping? Resolved. Combat callouts? Improved, with new callouts now pushing older ones out cleanly instead of crashing. Inbox states and notification pips? Cleaned up.

We’ve also added more Tasks and Achievements, updated the Objectives screen, and fixed multiple crashes and softlocks reported during Server Slam.

Updated Objectives screen - Tasks tab with the Complete Six Tasks reward track

In addition, we’ve fixed a wide variety of bugs related to authentication and will continue testing across devices, account types, regions, and more, applying additional improvements & fixes over time.

So, when can you play again?

Server Slam got us further than expected.

It hit the core technical-validation goals we originally planned for our first regional phase, so rather than repeating the same test, we’re moving into longer regional testing.

Over the coming weeks and months, we will be running longer term tests in limited regions as we continue to develop DCKO.

Regional testing won’t work like Server Slam.

DCKO will stay available in these specific regions while we get a better look at how the game holds up over time, including stability, performance, PvE, matchmaking, and the day-to-day player experience.

Server Slam taught us a ton in a few very loud days. Now we want to see what happens when players get to live with DCKO for a while.

If you don’t live in one of those regions, we know waiting isn’t exactly the fun part.

We’re expanding gradually so we can learn from real players, fix what needs fixing, and scale DCKO up without unexpected issues popping up after we fully launch. Stay tuned to our channels to see if your region is next up!

Ongoing Changes & Smaller Tests

Over the coming months, we’ll run smaller private playtests, sometimes with content you haven’t seen yet: new Legends, balance changes, experimental systems, and other very WIP stuff.

Some of it will evolve. Some of it might not make it into the game.

That’s why we’re testing it early.

We’re just getting started

Server Slam gave us a much clearer picture of what DCKO becomes once players get their hands on it, and the game has already changed because of it.

The DCKO you played during Server Slam isn’t the same version we’re playing today. Your feedback and everything we learned during the test are already helping to shape it, so a huge thanks from our team to all of you.

We can't wait to get you back in the ring!
- Drop Fake