Hero image: ROB RUN. Image: Kefir
ROB RUN, the free-to-play crime sandbox from Kefir, has gone from an Early Access launch on 4 November to 15th on Steam’s most-played chart this afternoon — and its developer has already walked back one of the fixes it promised.
Its Steam page calls it “a brutal crime sandbox featuring thousands of players”. Servers opened at 5pm UTC on 4 November, which was 4am AEDT on 5 November by our conversion.
The reversal is in the respawn. When the playtest closed on 2 November, Kefir’s Playtest News post said players would get a pistol “when you join a server and every time you respawn, instead of starting empty-handed.”
Two days later, the First Changes post dropped it: “We initially considered giving players a pistol after every death, but we feel that working your way up from nothing is an important part of ROB RUN and leads to some great gameplay stories.”
Instead, the basic pistol is cheaper and there are more starter weapon spawn points around the city. Patrol cops on a fresh server get pistols only, with better gear unlocking as the server ages.
The cops’ other promised changes did ship. They respawn more slowly, with a longer delay after each consecutive death, and they can now buy police badges — the selection depends on the district they live in — while far fewer badges come from looting and cop salaries.
The economy moved too. Tier 1 settlements and land rentals now cost documents rather than cash, base businesses such as farms, labs and contraband pay “massively” more, and dumpsters hold more cash. Shipments are more profitable to dismantle but drop less often, and some Tier 2 and Tier 3 items cost more.
Kefir adds that “None of these changes are set in stone.” The game is in Early Access, and its store listing names Kefir as both developer and publisher.
Source: Kefir – ROB RUN: First Changes & Server Schedule (Steam), Kefir – Playtest News (Steam), Steam – ROB RUN