Lots of additional content promised for The Secret World

The Secret World launch has gone “incredibly smooth so far” says the game’s senior producer and creative director Ragnar Tornquist.

“We’ve had an exciting first week, and we’re thrilled to see that everything has gone incredibly smooth so far,” wrote Tornquist in the first of many Game Update blog posts. “There have been some bugs and issues, of course, and we’re fixing those as quickly as we can, but things are really stable and our players – you guys! – are very, very happy with the game. And that makes us very happy, too!”

Tornquist also revealed the studio’s plans for the game going forward.

“I’m finally allowed to reveal a few of the things we’re working on, and I’m really excited to be talking about what’s ahead for The Secret World,” said Tornquist.

“We’re going to be releasing fresh and tasty new content free to our subscribers on a regular, monthly basis. The first update is due on Tuesday, July 31, and we will be releasing more details about that particular update later this week – including a couple of fun surprises. (You’re going to love it.)”

Content pipeline overview:

• Mission packs on a monthly basis! The first few packs will contain new investigations for every adventure zone in the game – but we also have more action and sabotage missions planned for the near future. These missions will feature fully voiced cut-scenes and new media pop-ups, and will match the quality of the missions currently in the game. Oh, and like everything else in our monthly updates, these packs are FREE for our subscribers!
• New weapons! We will be announcing our first auxiliary weapon soon (one clue: bigger, slower, more explosions) and new auxiliary weapons will be released on a regular basis. Combat in The Secret World will continue to evolve, and it will pay to expand your character in multiple directions!
• Raids! We’re well into production on our first raid, and there will be more information about that in August! But as a teaser: The Big Apple will never be the same
• We’ve already announced our plans for expanding and improving character customisation: The Modern Prometheus and Ockham’s Razor are opening in New York and London respectively in August, Execution later this year in Seoul. Pangaea in London will receive new stock, and we will add more accessories and clothing as rewards for both achievements and missions
• Chronicle has entered public beta, and we’ll keep enhancing and growing that service according to player needs and wishes! Our intent is for Chronicle to become a living, breathing community in itself, and a place where players will go to measure and compare themselves against others, to check out the profiles of their co-players and rivals, and — in the long run — to become a living chronicle (zing!) of their player characters
• We have a player-versus-player dungeon in the early stages of planning — in a brand new geographical area. More on this later this year!
• And speaking of dungeons, we’re also working on a dungeon finder tool, allowing players to more easily put together a team to handle the instanced content
• Seasonal events won’t go unnoticed in the secret world, and both Halloween and the Winter Solstice are important milestones for those who dabble (and dive deep into) the occult. Expect plenty of content to tie into both events — including new missions, new characters, new monsters and some twists and turns that will keep players on their toes
• We’re in production on two large, new and incredibly exciting adventure zones – both of which will be announced in August. New geographical regions, new characters, new missions, new drops, new challenges, new monsters, new lore that will carry the story past its first act and into its thrilling and shocking second act!
• Improved cabal functionality is on the drawing board and will be seeing improvements later this year
• And we’re not forgetting about our social players! We have some cool functionality tied to the Albion in London coming up very soon, allowing role-players and would-be thespians to spread their wings
• Pets will be updated and upgraded as we go along! More pets, better pets, and some cool surprises in store for pet owners!
• And last but certainly not least: Combat will receive constant polish and tweaks to make things look and feel better. Keep an eye out for more revisions to our effects and animations this autumn – and the inclusion of auxiliary weapons will make combat even more exciting!

Tornquist says that this is just the beginning, with “tons more to come, both this week and in the very near future”.