Arma 3 asks players to survive an episodic campaign post-release

Arma 3’s main campaign will be released as free DLC in three episodes after the game’s official launch. Bohemia Interactive has announced that the first episode, Survive, will be released “within the first 4 weeks” of launch. The other two modules titled Adapt and Win will follow in the months after the first episode.

One of the reasons given for the campaign’s episodic release schedule is that Bohemia feels that a focus on smaller deliverables allows them to react to player feedback and implement changes as needed before moving on to other stages of the project. The lengthy Alpha and Beta periods have already resulted in positive changes to the game such as a stance indicator and 3D scopes. Unfortunately, another reason for the delay of the campaign is that members of the development team were apprehended and held by the Greek government on accusations of spying in September 2012.

This is not to say that the project has been without issue. Arma 3 started life with a very different team and a very different scope and direction. Since 2012, we’ve seen the number of developers working on the game double, absorbing the Mnisek studio and bringing in a bunch of talented new hires in key positions across all 3 studios. And, later on in the year, we found ourselves in a position to conduct a thorough project review, which fundamentally re-evaluated the direction that the project was taking.

This turnaround was made no easier by some of the unpredictable events of last year. The uncertainty that was produced and the impact it’s had – on both a professional and personal level – cannot be emphasised enough. It made a tough time exponentially more difficult. In the end, this process culminated in the successful release of the Arma 3 Alpha, and, despite some tough, pragmatic choices, we believe that it’s put us in a much better long-term position.

Bohemia has posted a summary of launch content when the game releases in September.