Yes, I heard Firespark. I also heard Firespark spout the already cliché argument that games-as-a-service is bad (meaning Conan Exiles in it’s current form is bad), then proceeded to declare that a bunch of micro transactions is what’s best for the game.
I don’t feel like digging through the previous dev streams dating back to early 2018, but I recall the statement that people keep saying were “promised.” What I recall is that they won’t charge for the features that were hyped for in EA, which is mounts, sorcery, etc. Which they haven’t. I also recall a developer stating several months ago during a stream that if (or when) they decided to make a new map, it wouldn’t be free.
Edit: @TheLOLxd2 found it. Source from June 20th of 2019 Dev Stream
Twitch Comment: The game needs more maps. If there are technical issues, make it as Instance
Robert: We don’t have instance tech either, so that in itself is a technical issue. The space we have on the map is limited by two major factors; the Unreal Physics limits, which deteriorate over distance, and also the fact that we have more dungeons planned out and these need to be placed somewhere - we earmarked the northeastern part of the game for this purpose. Don’t get me wrong, we’d love to put more land into the game, or make a new map but that is a significant addition and certainly wouldn’t be a free update if we did so.
It’s completely unreasonable that people expect a complex map to be given away for free “just because Tencent is trying to buy them out.” You realize that EA and Microsoft have folded dozens of game companies because they weren’t making money, right? Any other game not named Conan Exiles and there would be very little push back about a paid expansion. Ark being a direct example. And Firespark’s argument that Ark is allowed to do it, but somehow Conan isn’t, was just silly.
It is time for the game to move forward, and a paid map expansion is a great way (and a very much demanded way by this same community)) way to do it.