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OFFICIAL: 2020 Preview

MightyZug

Game Director
Hidden Variable Dev
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It’s that time again (better late than never) - our preview of what to expect from Skullgirls Mobile in 2020!

2019 RECAP
As a quick reminder of all of the fun stuff we accomplished over the course of the past year:
  • BEEP. BOOP. MEOW. Robo Launched along with new Modifiers Power Surge, Inverse Polarity, and Barrier (and the scourge of all PF modifiers along with it), with Blessing and Thorns soon to follow!
  • We made big revisions to Rift Battles, changing energy and node scoring - and then did it again by adding Catalysts to the mix.
  • We added MASTER Story Mode, Filia’s Origin Story (#smug) and the tragic tale of the fall of the Contiellos (poor Squig).
  • By popular demand, we added XP Boosts to help players level up their Fighters, and removed the XP cap for replaying Story Mode levels.
  • We added a slew of new Diamond Fighters for Halloween - and offered a guaranteed new Diamond Fighter to our most dedicated Trick or Treaters.
  • We spruced up our Login Calender, dramatically increasing the value of all of the rewards.
  • Cripple Resist BEGONE! Modifier-specific sub-stats we removed and replaced with a bunch of new fancy sub-stats, along with a slew of Moves getting a fresh coat of paint.
  • Of course the BIG one was our Sync PvP VERSUS mode featuring GGPO! Whether you prefer FREE FOR ALL or COMPETITIVE mode, we at long last delivered our most requested feature.
  • Lastly, we added Friends Lists and Social Gifts (including the elusive Inner Pieces) - just the start of more exciting social features to come.
For a trip down memory lane, I recommend browsing through our Update Notes to see how far we’ve come. Now, on to 2020!

DISCLAIMERS
Just like our 2019 and 2018 Preview post, the features below are going to be discussed in very broad terms. This is intentional. While we have clear goals - the route we take to achieve them often changes once we sink our teeth into the task at hand (and a little air of mystery is nice from time to time).

As such, what we describe below may not 100% match exactly what makes it into the game - it should at least give you an idea of where our priorities lie in the not too distant future.

2020 ROADMAP
So, without further ado - let’s dive in!

FUKUA!
Fukua is coming to Skullgirls Mobile in 4.2 - you heard it here first! Orbs and clones for DAYS.

BRAND NEW CHARACTER
That’s right, we’re working on a BRAND NEW SKULLGIRLS CHARACTER with Lab Zero that has never been released to date! For more info on this mysterious new addition, check out our FAQ posted earlier this week.

Is this merely the first of many new characters? We certainly hope so! Much will depend on how well this new character performs when they are released later this year. Fingers crossed!

MAJOR RIFT BATTLE IMPROVEMENTS
Rift Battles were designed to be an essential part of the mid-late game experience for many players, with each player creating uniquely tricky challenges for other players to overcome.

Although we’ve made a slew of improvements and updates to Rift Battles over the course of 2019, they’ve all been incremental to try to nudge things bit by bit in an attempt to address known concerns without fully overhauling the system.

In light of some of the prevailing issues and frustrations you’ve shared (we’ve heard them loud and clear), we are going to be making a more dramatic set of revisions to Rift Battles. We’ll provide a separate post that goes into all of these improvements in more detail, but rest assured that they will address the common concerns that have been raised about the mode (including matchmaking, the time commitment/urgency required to tackle each Rift once it opens, etc).

More info on this to come in a dedicated post in the upcoming weeks.

SOCIAL FEATURES
I know what you’re thinking… HEY, THIS WAS ON THE LIST FOR 2019! Well, with the Friends List and Gifting System now in place (and with Sync PvP behind us), this is going to be one of our main areas of focus going into 2020.

As you might expect, this means some form of Guilds (have you heard? They’re COMING SOON) and the collaborative and competitive modes you would expect. This also includes improvements to ways in which players can engage with one another inside the app (beyond just general chat)...

ENDGAME CONTENT
A number of our late game players have heroically conquered many of the endgame challenges we set before them. Although many still seek top tier Rift Battle status and have yet to clear all of the new Story Mode Match Challenges, we have plans to provide new, interesting, and rewarding “Everests” to sate their appetites. This ranges from recurring events like Accursed Experiments, or new dastardly challenging modes that test their skills and collection in unique and exciting ways.

As we’ve mentioned before, our content design goal is built around rewarding players who have deep, diverse collections - so make sure you have an assortment of heavy hitters ready to go!

STORY MODE / ORIGIN STORIES
This has been one of the topics we’ve wrestled with the most. We LOVE creating new Story Mode content (and we know you all love it as well). However, despite how much we enjoy revealing new nuggets of Skullgirls lore, unfortunately the content itself gets consumed EXTREMELY quickly despite requiring months of time and effort to properly develop. Generally speaking, we feel this time would be better spent creating self replenishing content and features that can benefit all players over a much longer period of time.

As such, while we still have every intention of completing Origin Stories for every character and expanding the core storyline, I wouldn’t expect the first of these to drop until much later in the year after we’ve sorted out some of the more critical priorities outlined above.

BUILDING ON VERSUS MODE
As noted prior, we are extremely proud of what we have accomplished thus far with VERSUS mode, but we know there are ways it can be made even better (improved performance, handling rage quitters, etc).

When we implement those refinements, we will also be looking into adding real substantive rewards for engaging with VERSUS mode that go well beyond a Daily Mission. Stay tuned!

LIVE EVENTS
Last year you could find us at ComboBreaker, EVO, AnimeExpo, Frosty Faustings, CEOTaku and more!

We hope to continue to grow our presence at live events over the course of the year - perhaps hosting some events here in LA, and even empowering our superfans around the world to host local events that can provide real, in-game prizes!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
We haven’t even touched on Deployments (allowing Fighters to gather resources and XP while you’re away), improved cheater prevention, global Achievements packed with juicy rewards and much much more.

This only scratches the surface of some of the things we have in store for the rest of the year. As always, we are 100% committed to continuing to grow the Skullgirls Mobile experience in new and exciting ways to ensure that there is always a wide array of interesting, varied, fun, and challenging content for you all to enjoy throughout the year.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
All that said, the scope of what we can do depends on how successfully the game performs. Obviously IAPs are a HUGE help (thank you!), but the next best thing you can do is help more players discover Skullgirls mobile (to this day there are Skullgirls fans who have no idea that a mobile game exists!).

As such, PLEASE share the love for Skullgirls and help us grow! Some ideas include:
  • Giving us 5-stars on the App Store or Google Play Store and writing us a positive review
  • Sharing the game with friends and/or streaming gameplay on Twitch or YouTube. You never know when we might retweet and share your Skullgirls Mobile videos on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!, too!
  • Reaching out to your favorite influencers and asking them to give Skullgirls mobile a shot!
Lastly, if there’s anything in particular you are hoping to see in 2020 (either as a part of the items mentioned above or as something new entirely), don’t be shy about sharing them below - we’re always listening!

Thanks once again for all of your support!

<3 MightyZug (Charley) and all of us at Hidden Variable:

AlmightyBones
Cellsai
ChatCop
Cleverfox
Grimlock9
JuJuBlu
Karazaa
Kromenak
Liam
Pen Stroke Pony
PsychotronTM
Sam Handwich
sixteenbits
 
Deployments (allowing Fighters to gather resources and XP while you’re away)
BLESS.
 
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This year is looking sooooooo good, I'm dead serious, guilds are finally coming! Can't wait for the new character reveal altough we are far away from it, but still!!! Keep going with this amazing job you're doing with the game!!! <3<3
 
My excitement for the new char is the HYPEST. I admit, I'm still a lil unsure on Fukua, since she wasn't very unique in the base game, buuut I realize they can totally change that here, so I'm intrigued to see.

Also, looking forward to new, hard endgame challenges! And, though its lower on the priority, eventually more story, heh.
 
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I'm so happy I found this game on May 2019, I'm already level 70, but I know I'm going to stay in this community for a long time. Thank you so much for everything
 
4.2 for Fukua?! I can't wait to finally open all these relics I've been hoarding! Is there going to be a 2x period for her the way there was for past fighter releases?

Also, I was curious as to what that 2x actually *means* exactly. Is it 2x her normal drop rate (making it a 2 in 14 chance with the other fighters bumped down to fractional chances), 2x the chances to get her compared to other fighters (making it a 2 in 15, all others being 1 in 15), or is it the 'second chance' method where if the pull RNG doesn't roll her on the first try it'll re-roll and keep the second result (1 in 14 for the first roll, and if it's not Fukua it does another 1 in 14 roll)? Minor differences in the odds, but still, I'm curious about the method used.

Also excited to hear about Rift changes, mostly matchmaking. That's honestly been the biggest issue I've faced with it so far. But I wouldn't turn my nose up at stuff like Catalyst and Attacker diversity bonuses either, and maybe getting some new catalysts thrown in there would be interesting too! Shake up the Frost Armor / Darknut and Xeno / Sketchy / SG metas a bit, and encourage more varied bases and playstyles.
 
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With every passing month, this game blossoms into something more and more amazing. I can’t describe how wonderful my experience with this game has been, and all of you folks at Hidden Variable are the best game developers I’ve ever seen. I can’t physically praise this game and its development team more, and I can’t wait for the future.
 
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4.2 for Fukua?! I can't wait to finally open all these relics I've been hoarding! Is there going to be a 2x period for her the way there was for past fighter releases?

Also, I was curious as to what that 2x actually *means* exactly. Is it 2x her normal drop rate (making it a 2 in 14 chance with the other fighters bumped down to fractional chances), 2x the chances to get her compared to other fighters (making it a 2 in 15, all others being 1 in 15), or is it the 'second chance' method where if the pull RNG doesn't roll her on the first try it'll re-roll and keep the second result (1 in 14 for the first roll, and if it's not Fukua it does another 1 in 14 roll)? Minor differences in the odds, but still, I'm curious about the method used.

Also excited to hear about Rift changes, mostly matchmaking. That's honestly been the biggest issue I've faced with it so far. But I wouldn't turn my nose up at stuff like Catalyst and Attacker diversity bonuses either, and maybe getting some new catalysts thrown in there would be interesting too! Shake up the Frost Armor / Darknut and Xeno / Sketchy / SG metas a bit, and encourage more varied bases and playstyles.
Is that a Mint chocolate Robo?? 0v0. I wish there was a variant like that in sgm..
 
Not sure if this is the right place for this, but here it is;
Some quality of life improvements I've considered would be
1. Maybe having an auto-retry button for 'auto fights' or being able to continue retrying with your next strongest character without having to go thru like 4 menus.
2. Putting the Skill points of each character/shards/essences in order of the the Prize fights so we don't have to guess what's coming up. (Originally suggested by Tainted_WithrED)
3. Personally I'd love to see my individual Ranking in PFs other than Medici, but I know you guys already have a lot on your plate (as mentioned by Cellsai. ^.l)
Anyways keep up the good work. I love this game, probably more than I should. Lol. (Looking forward to Fukua, hoping she comes sooner rather than later.)
-Mon573R
 
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Yep! Made it using that one custom palette site + a quick background via photoshop.
Thats a custom made one?? Thats an amazing pallette ngl, probably one of the best ones I've ever seen...Has HVS offered you a job yet? ^./
 
Yep! Made it using that one custom palette site + a quick background via photoshop.

This is out of context, lol. But did I just fought you in Rifts? I think I've seen your name
 
Thats a custom made one?? Thats an amazing pallette ngl, probably one of the best ones I've ever seen...Has HVS offered you a job yet? ^./
Not yet, lol!

I'd like to start making cards for the Customs thread once I get photoshop on my new computer though, complete with SAs and such. It seems pretty fun, and a good way to 'suggest' palettes and abilities, since I'm pretty sure the thread rules state that staff can use any of the stuff posted there in the actual game.

This is out of context, lol. But did I just fought you in Rifts? I think I've seen your name

Yep! I admittedly gave up lol, too many losses to come out on top. Your boss node is really powerful, the only thing I could really do was rely on Purrm's damage increase on crit + piercing and just power through. It really made me wish I had my Terror Byte built up to change all the regen into health drain.

Out of curiosity, how was my boss node? It's hard for me to tell exactly how well it's working, and how much I should prioritize building up my Blue Screen and swapping her in to replace Purrm.
 
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So excited to know that the game has a looooooooong road to go, thank you for the amazing job, keep going like that ^^ ✨
 
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Speaking of Fukua, can we please get a section for the greatest April Fool's joke of all time (still can't get over how Lab Zero created an entire character to mock Decapre in SFIV) in the Characters area of the forum?
https://forum.skullgirlsmobile.com/categories/characters.8/

We added a slew of new Diamond Fighters for Halloween - and offered a guaranteed new Diamond Fighter to our most dedicated Trick or Treaters.
Kinda underselling nearly doubling the diamonds available! That was huge!

How does the team approach new variants? Is there a plan like "we're gonna add a 5th gold to all 13 fighters (15! months later!) this year" or "we need another set of diamonds, start thinking of SAs people!"

And if Minette isn't the new character (I'm convinced it will be Umbrella. Smaller character = smaller drawings. Less money spent. Simple economics.), perhaps she can get in other ways...
 
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I've mentioned this before when accuracy was first implemented, but just for reminders. Is there anyway for you guys to show the affects of accuracy on different characters SAs? Example : Just Kitten getting a 12% accuracy boost and showing a 50%+11% increase chance of her converting debuffs into precision or just 61% displayed at all times. I'm not a programmer and I'm not there with the dev team helping to implement this into the game, but it would be extremely helpful for players, like me, who really dig into the stat system and try to create the most optimal builds for our fighters.
 
Somethings I would really like is to have a 'block after first hit' setting for the dummy in training mode (like to console version has) which would help out everybody who wants to try and come up with combos to see what works and what doesn't.
And also an option to choose the opponents in training mode, which would save a lot of time and frustration when you wanna try out combos on a specific character
 
We need moves set system in rift battle asap! A system that can record a set of moves so when you click a button your fighter wear them on. And defenders' moves should be locked once you place them on your map, not changing after you leave the map setting page.

Most high-level players(gold~diamond rank) have to spend 5~7 mins to change their defenders' moves before EVERY rift to avoid them go battle without moves or with wrong moves. And before they have found an opponent, they couldn't change their moves in pf or in other use. After they start a battle, they need to move one set of moves from a fighter to another 2~7 times in one rift because they share the same attacking moves. It costs another 3~5 mins. The putting on/taking off actions cost near about the real fighting time which is 15~20 mins in one rift. That's so ridiculously dumb and painful that stops players fighting more rift battles...We really need it to be solved soon.
 
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New characters and improvements to Rift are what I'm most excited about! I'm curious to see how Guilds and these End Game content will be implemented.. Improvements and additional rewards in Versus mode is something to look out for as well and I feel like this feature has the largest potential to attract new players and keep them playing (most of the people I've met on Versus tend to be lvl 10-40 beginners, some with really mad pvp skills). Overall, excited for the new year ahead!

We need moves set system in rift battle asap! A system that can record a set of moves so when you click a button your fighter wear them on.

While I feel like there are more pressing issues that needs to be addressed and prioritized, this is something that I would love to have as well. The option to record builds allowing us to switch between a pre-set build of 5 moves.