The 2016-17 roadmap reveals a variety of planned DLC content, as well as post-release support in the form of free platform updates.
While the Apex expansion, which released this Summer, marked a pinnacle moment in the game’s development journey, players still have a lot more to look forward to. Bohemia Interactive will continue to work on Arma 3 by improving existing content and features, optimizing game performance, and supporting the creation and installation of player-created content.
In addition, Bohemia Interactive also revealed brand new game content content, which aims to expand the combined arms nature of Arma 3 - providing fresh gameplay opportunities for existing players, while also attracting “new players looking for a gateway to a massive military experience”. Five downloadable content packages are scheduled:
- Arma 3 Jets DLC (Q1 2017 - ETA)
- Arma 3 'Orange' DLC (Q2 2017 - TBC)
- Arma 3 Malden Free DLC (June 2017)
- Arma 3 Tac-Ops DLC (Q3 2017 - TBC)
- Arma 3 Tanks DLC (TBA)
Infantry gameplay has long been at the heart of our development. Although it remains the backbone of our sandbox, we also recognise that there are several other avenues to explore. By expanding upon combined-arms content and features, we aim to create fascinating new opportunities for our community, and attract new players looking for a gateway to a massive military experience.
We're also looking to make longer-term investments (significant free updates, for everyone) that, we hope, help Arma 3 to continue to serve as platform for our community for years to come. To balance this effort - plainly speaking: to fund our project - we've prepared a number of premium packages and free updates, which translate our vision into real development.
JETS DLC
Next year, air superiority jets will fight for control over our simulated skies. More details are forthcoming but, for now, we can confirm this package will be supported by a free platform update, with radar / sensor improvements as its stand-out feature. By adding more depth to threat detection and tracking, we aim to improve gameplay across the entire sandbox.
'ORANGE' DLC
This year, we opened a new studio in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. With the goal of gradually building up experience, work has started on a small project, codenamed 'Orange'. While the exact direction isn't final, we're very much interested in exploring an interesting and unique perspective on the battlefield. It’s shaping up to be a valuable, innovative addition to the platform!
MALDEN FREE DLC
June 22nd, 2017, will be Arma’s 16th anniversary. We plan to mark the occasion with a free DLC, featuring an island familiar to veterans of our series: Malden. Starting out as a small passion project, Malden 2035 re-uses many vanilla structures, vegetation, etc., to recreate this classic terrain. There’ll be an announcement related to this work in the coming weeks.
TAC-OPS DLC
Later next year, we aim to present players with a package of playable content: 'tactical operations' that focus upon challenging, re-playable and authentic military gameplay, which makes the best use of our sandbox. This development is an opportunity for us to learn how to continue to support the platform, fund our project, and offer valuable new experiences for our players.
TANKS DLC
We round off this roadmap with an ambitious goal: overhauling the experience of armoured combat in Arma 3. This package will follow our well-established model: a set of premium assets, which bring something new to the sandbox, supported by platform improvements and additions for everyone, for free. We encourage our community to share their own wishes on the topic, too!
Traditionally, instalments in the Arma series enjoy a long tail of support and, in turn, sustain an active player-base. Arma 3 stays true to this vision. Aside from the major releases outlined above, we're also assembling a robust tools roadmap to better serve our content creators. Furthermore, we've identified several new ‘platform’ improvements not yet associated with specific updates.
To provide a few examples: later this year, we'll publish 64-bit executables to Dev-Branch; work on a full singleplayer conversion of the 'Apex Protocol' co-op campaign starts soon; Tanoa structures will gradually receive additional ruins / interiors - and its splendid audio fidelity will be extended to all terrains. Naturally, we’ll discuss these things (and more!) in greater detail soon
