Insurgency: Sandstorm is New World Interactive’s new game: a reborn, improved, and expanded sequel to indie multiplayer FPS hit Insurgency, coming September 2018 to PC and 2019 to consoles.
 
See how close to the action you can get in the new trailer which features raw PVP gameplay from the Closed Technical Alpha. We're also happy to announce Pre-order Beta Test 1 beginning next week.
 
From August 9 through August 13, players who have pre-ordered Insurgency: Sandstorm on Steam will receive exclusive access to Pre-order Beta 1. This will be the first official beta test, and the first time the game will be playable at home. We're greatly looking forward to hearing what the wider Insurgency fanbase thinks and will be gathering as much feedback as possible leading up to the second Beta phase closer to the full release in September.
 
Available in Pre-order Beta 1 will be three maps from the final release build. Each is a complex maze of brutal interiors, deadly sniping lanes, and wide-open battlefields, each uniquely designed to make every moment of every game feel fresh.
 
Whether your playstyle is run and gun, slow-paced, or more specialized, you’ll find plenty to study and learn across the maps. The four game modes - Firefight, Push, Checkpoint, and Skirmish - each change the accessible part of the map, drastically altering the available strategies.
 
 
Pre-order Beta 2 will begin August 30, just a few weeks before release, and have a further three maps available for play. This will allow players to test the full content of the launch version of the game. New World Interactive will be focusing their work during Beta 2 on bug fixing, server stability, and starting work on their extensive post-launch support plans.
 
You can pre-order on Steam now for a 10% discount, reducing the price to €26.99 / £23.39 / $26.99. An additional 10% loyalty discount will be given to fans that own the original Insurgency, bringing the pre-order price down to just $24.99. This additional discount will be offered until the end of 2018, and all pre-orders will receive instant access to any ongoing beta tests as well as future ones.
 
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As Pre-order Beta 1 will have no NDA and no streaming restrictions, those curious are invited to watch live gameplay on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, and Facebook throughout the long weekend.
 
Insurgency: Sandstorm releases on Windows PC in September 2018, with Linux and Mac support coming later, and on PS4 and Xbox One in 2019. Pre-order now on Steam and get bonuses, including exclusive access to both Pre-order Betas. Stay tuned for another announcement next week! http://insurgency-sandstorm.com/shop

Beta 1 is very much a development build of the game and an on-going work in progress. We use betas as an important tool for gathering player feedback, studying system performance, and balancing the game rather than a marketing stunt. As such, it is important to stress that this is not a representation of the release version of Insurgency: Sandstorm. You may encounter, bugs, placeholder content, balance and/or performance issues. We encourage all participants to use the in-game reporting tools and forums to report any issues so that our team can continue working on them for Beta 2.

Three maps are available in pre order Beta 1: Hideout, Farmhouse, and Refinery. Each of our four game modes can be played on those maps, including Push, Firefight, and Skirmish for player versus player gameplay and Checkpoint for cooperative play. An additional 3 maps will be added in during Beta 2.

Optimization
 
    Large reduction in draw calls across all maps to improve framerate.
    Full LODs added to all cosmetic characters & gear.
    Full LODs added to all 3P weapon and equipment assets.
    Full LODs added to all props in the world.
    All maps actor-merged.
    Large particle optimization pass, set proper render bounds, LODs and tick rates on all particle effects.
    Nativize most Unreal blueprints allowing them to run faster.
    Improved bot spawning timings for Checkpoint.
    Bullet projectiles now trace against lower LOD collision meshes.
    Vastly reduced triangle counts on many larger environment rock prop sets.
    Gunship and Support Helicopter rounds now use a simple collision trace.
    Changed player spawning, to spawn one player per tick instead of two players per tick.
    Improved material instances for various cosmetics.
    Reworked the bullet hit validation.
    Increased performance for player movement in water.
    Ensured character cosmetics are not being spawned multiple times per cosmetic slot.
    Characters now use data-only blueprints.
    Items no longer tick by default.
    Reduced the amount of times cosmetics spawn and despawn.
    Made weapons only tick when equipped.
    Interactable gear now use timers instead of tick functions.
    Allowed only certain crew member characters to tick in helicopters.
    Utilized texture atlases for certain cosmetic items to reduce draw calls.
    Doors and Supply Crates only tick when they are in an opening or closing transition.
    Destroyed prop vehicles will now extinguish their flames after 40 seconds so the fire/smoke particle doesn’t stay forever.
 
New Features
 
    Doors can now be breached by being kicked down.
    Added visual feedback system for Commanders, Observers and teammates to indicate where Fire Support is being called in and what type of Fire Support it is. Colored smoke appears on the target area.
        Security
            Gunship - Green
            Autocannon Strafe - Yellow
            Explosive Artillery - Red
            Smoke Artillery - Blue
            Minigun Support - Purple
        Insurgents
            Rocket Barrage - Green
            Bomber Drones - Yellow
            Explosive Mortars - Red
            Smoke Mortars - Blue
            IED Drone - Purple
            Chemical Mortars - Pink
    Servers will now kick players who have been idle for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
    Tessellation has been added for improved terrain visuals. The quality/performance of this can be scaled by adjusting the effects quality in your video settings.
    New Local Play experience which allows you to play solo with AI teammates. This game mode is based on Checkpoint, but adds objective-based reinforcement wave gaining similar to as in Push.
    Lesson system including browsable menu texts which explain game mechanics and video hint pop ups when performing certain actions for the first time in-game. The full collection of Lessons will be added during Pre-order Beta 2.
    Add game options for the following:
        Always show compass.
        Enable and disable contextual key kints for use and vault.
        Enable and disable in-game Lesson hint pop ups.
 
New Content
 
    New maps “Crossing” and “Summit”
    New Greased Bolt upgrade option for bolt action rifles under the new “Chamber” upgrade category.
    Added Hoodie Camo cosmetic and variations.
    Added Leather variations.
    New optic rail for AK’s.
    New water explosion particles for artillery shells.
    Proper third person meshes for C4, IEDs and detonators.
    New bus model and textures.
    New music for the Loadout menu.
 
Gameplay Improvements
 
    Player Movement
        Reworked character equipment weights which impact top sprint speed and stamina.
        Reduced top sprint speed for characters by 5% before weight and stamina based slowdowns are applied.
        Removed sprint speed increase for players when they were in a suppressed state.
        Slightly reduced standing movement speed.
        Reduced standing move backward speed.
        Decreased sliding speed.
        Increased slow walk speed.
        Increased slow crouch walk speed.
        Slightly increased jump height.
        Slightly increased vault radius.
    Characters
        Increase the brightness of certain Security camo textures for gameplay balance.
        Removed black and dark grey variations from Insurgents torso and leg items for gameplay balance.
    Weapons
        Increased ADS speed.
        Increased 5.56 and 5.45 top damage slightly.
        Reduced effectiveness of hip fire by increasing free aim recoil and radius slightly.
        Balanced FOVs for optics when using Focus to be more consistent between low and high quality scope options.
        Increased G3 recoil slightly.
        Decreased FAL recoil slightly.
        Decreased AK-74 recoil slightly.
        Decreased UZI recoil slightly.
        Increased reload speed for the M249 slightly.
        Decreased lateral recoil on the MP7 slightly.
        Increased lateral recoil for the AKS-74U slightly.
        Increased Mk 14 EBR’s supply cost to 5.
        Increased supply cost of Extended Magazine for MP7 from 2 to 3 supply.
        Adjusted Mosin and M24 penetration power to be more balanced.
        Vehicle mines are now throwable.
    Gamemodes
        All Modes
            Removed Mk 14 EBR from Advisor class for gameplay balance.
            Team kicks for team kills will now use the cooled down value instead of the total value when defining if a player has killed enough teammates to warrant a kick.
        Skirmish
            Increased match length by adding a second round, with a team swap beforehand as in Push.
        Checkpoint
            Added all available weapon upgrades to all Insurgent coop classes.
            Ensured Security Coop classes get all Insurgent weapon upgrades.
            Added Flashbang to all Insurgent coop classes.
            Added M4A1 to Rifleman, Demolitions, Commander, and Observer Insurgent Coop classes.
            Added M870 to Breacher Insurgent Coop class.
            Add M249 to Gunner Insurgent Coop class.
        Versus Firefight
            Match length is now 6 rounds, with a team swap after 3 rounds.
            Reduced player count to 24 players.
            Removed Commander, Observer, and Demolitions classes.
        Competitive Firefight
            Increased supply costs for various weapons and upgrades.
            Added more primary weapons to the Assaulter class.
            Added 1x and 2x optics for the Sharpshooter class.
            Removed Mk 14 EBR and SVD from the Sharpshooter.
    Explosives
        Tweaked explosive penetration.
        Frag grenades now only penetrate weaker materials.
        Fire Support will still penetrate most surface types, but deal reduced damage.
        Increased time taken for Incendiary and Molotov grenades to detonate cache objectives.
    Fire Support
        Gunship
            Increased autocannon burst cooldown to 4 seconds instead of 2.
            Decreased minimum and maximum burst times.
            Increased flyover time to 15 seconds from 10 seconds.
        Bomber Drones
            Increased explosive radius slightly.
            Improved positional audio.
        IED Drone
            Increased explosion radius.
    AI
        Bots who are directly exposed at mid range will crouch and fire at their target instead of rushing to cover.
        Bots suppressed in cover will reload if there's a larger magazine and they haven't fired recently.
        Bots should turn slightly faster.
        Bots should react slightly faster.
        Bots will fire in a much tighter cone before zeroing on target.
        Increased target zeroing time by a few seconds.
        Reduced accuracy of suppressed bots.
        Encouraged bots to sprint to objectives if the round timer is low allowing bots to arrive faster during counter attacks.
 
Updated Content
 
    Animation
        Updated animations and blending for character movement.
        Reworked ragdoll physics to use correct weight and limb rotation limits, resulting in more natural looking ragdolls on death.
        New animations for characters using bipods.
        New animations for characters using binoculars.
    Weapons
        New model and texture for the M9 pistol.
        New smoke effect for rocket and grenade launcher barrels.
        Improved textures for the M249.
        Improved textures for the rail mounted pistol laser.
        Added drum magazines to the following weapons
            AKM
            AK-74
            AKS-74U
            M16A2
            M16A4
            M4A1
            Uzi
            L85A2
        Added grenade launcher sight for the M16A2’s M203.
        Compensator and Flash Hider upgrades will only use a mesh if it’s meant for that weapon.
    Cosmetics
        Updated cosmetic costs and rarities to be more based on the item rather than its colors.
        Improved dirt layer on all cosmetic items.
        Added gender switch button.
        Added ability to save a preset of a character’s cosmetics.
        Updated camo scaling to be more consistent across all cosmetic items.
        Renamed DPM camo to Desert DPM.
        Improved glasses under Insurgent Headgear.
    Gear
        Made Gas Mask goggles less opaque.
    Audio
        Improved audio experience in Loadout rooms for all maps.
        Added muffled effect for players wearing a Gas Mask.
        Sprint breathing and Focus breathing with and without Gas Masks are now character voice specific.
    Vehicles
        Disabled leaning out of vehicles.
        Disabled the use of all weapons in vehicles except pistols.
        Melee can now be used in vehicles to break vehicle glass.
 
Fixes
 
    User Experience
        Taglines now populate correctly into the player’s profile.
    Characters
        Characters seen at longer ranges through scopes should now tick at the correct rate.
        Fixed an issue where a ragdoll’s skin tone would be set incorrectly.
        Removed hit reactions from fire damage, preventing characters from bleeding when damaged by fire.
        Fixed player’s camera from clipping into their head if they had the Loadout menu open when spawned.
        Fixed finger posing on the Binoculars to prevent fingers clipping through gloves.
        Fixed certain torso cosmetic assets that had clipping issues.
    Weapons
        Fixed weapon audio breaking if previously killed by a headshot.
        Fix an issue where the weapon overheat audio would not be terminated when exiting the Gunner seat.
        Prevent cases where weapons get multiple Foregrip, Compensator or Suppressor options.
        Fixed Laser Sight not working correctly when equipping a grenade launcher.
        Fixed AR Scope not showing correctly on the M16A2 world model.
        Fixed Hunting Scope not showing correctly on the Mosin world model.
        Fixed 2x Kobra Sight not showing correctly on the AK-74 world model.
        Fixed Mk 18 CQBR secondary magazine showing during the up and down animations state when using a Foregrip.
        Fixed some optics not being correctly aligned when in ADS.
        Shells and secondary magazines on weapons should no longer show in the Loadout selection.
    Explosives
        Updated Molotov and Incendiary grenades to they align properly to surfaces and leave the correct sized scorch marks.
    Voice Over
        Fixed a bug where flying vehicle pilots would not play their “Leaving” lines.
        Fixed a bug where objective destruction lines were not being played.
        Fixed a bug where helicopter radio events continued playing after the helicopter had left or crashed.
        Create a queuing system for both proximity and radio VO.
        Melee VO lines will now only play if an enemy is in front of you.
        Fixed suppression response VO for machine guns and snipers.
        Fixed a bug where enemy bot VO was showing in the chat menu for dead or spectating players.
        Fixed a bug where death VO would not be attached to the ragdoll of the dead player or bot correctly.
    AI
        Removed grenade launcher bots.
        Bot will no longer flee from grenades they can’t see.
        Bots now have very short visibility inside smoke.
        Various bot pathing fixes.
 
User Interface
 
    Penetration is now represented as “PP” (Penetration Power) instead of “Joules” in the Loadout menu.
    Rearranged the upgrade category order in the Loadout menu.
    Movement and vehicle controls can now be bound to the same key.
    Weapon in the Loadout menu can now be rotated slightly.
    Added generic Extended Magazine description.
    Added weapon selection icons for the GP25 Explosive and GP25 Smoke.
    Compass can now be toggled on and off in spectator mode.
 
Map Balance & Fixes
 
    Crossing
        Actor merge pass.
        HLOD pass.
    Farmhouse
        Actor merge pass.
        HLOD pass.
        Made minor gameplay tweaks.
        Tweaked Checkpoint scenarios.
        Tweaked restricted zones for Push scenarios to add a bit more breathing room for defenders to set up a defensive perimeter.
        Tweaked playable areas.
        Adjusted spawn locations and spawn point angles in all scenarios.
        Tweaked Checkpoint scenarios.
        Tweaked interior lighting throughout the map.
        Small adjustments for global lighting.
        Fixed several issues across all scenarios.
        Particle gameplay/optimizing pass.
        Blocking volume pass.
        Road fixes and polishing.
        Made foliage placement tweaks to improve readability.
        Visual polish interior and exterior.
        Soundscape polish.
        Loadout selection room polish pass.
        Decal polish pass.
        Fixed miscellaneous issues to improve both gameplay and visuals.
    Hideout
        Reduced sun flare effect.
        Actor merge pass.
        HLOD pass.
        Made minor gameplay tweaks.
        Tweaked Checkpoint scenarios.
        Tweaked restricted zones for Push scenarios to add a bit more breathing room for defenders to set up a defensive perimeter.
        Tweaked playable areas.
        Adjusted spawn locations and spawn point angles in all scenarios.
        Tweaked interior lighting throughout the map.
        Made small adjustments for global lighting.
        Fixed several issues across all scenarios.
        Particle gameplay/optimizing pass.
        Blocking volume pass.
        Road fixes and polishing.
        Foliage placement tweaks to improve readability.
        Visual polish interior and exterior.
        Soundscape polish.
        Loadout selection room polish pass.
        Decal polish pass.
        Blocking volume pass.
        Fixed miscellaneous issues to improve both gameplay and visuals.
    Summit
        Reduced sun flare effect.
        Actor merge pass.
        HLOD pass.
        Decal polish pass.