When we last checked in with Eleventh Hour Games and its debut title, the PC time-traveling action-RPG Last Epoch, it was an experiment built on the idea that a collection of Redditors could build a game.
That was back during Gamescom in 2023, when I interviewed Judd “Moxjet” Cobler, the CEO of Eleventh Hour Games. Fast forward to now and the game has crossed more than 2.5 million copies sold to date. Now the team is launching Season 2 for the game in a 1.2 update dubbed Tombs of the Erased.
And that’s a validation for Cobler, who led a merry group of diehard fans on a journey to build a community-created ARPG that took them through milestones like a Kickstarter campaign, early access launch on Steam, and an investment in Tencent.
Cobler’s humble ambition for his studio in San Antonio, Texas, was to create a title that could beat the best RPGs of all time, based on the passion of fans who decided to build the game themselves. The journey started in 2018, and now there are 105 people working for the company.
The game’s user base has grown, with 150% more users preparing for Season Two compared to Season One. The studio raised $17 million from Tencent in 2021, but Cobler said the company’s growth has meant that it hasn’t had to raise more. The game hit the 39th-higest concurrent user number ever on Steam. And so he’s still living the dream.
“We’re really excited about that. There’s a lot of a lot of hype in the community,” Cobler said. “We have a ton of videos being made,” he said. “We feel like a very significant amount of additional buzz happening around the game.”
It all goes back nearly six years ago. Out on the forums, Cobler expressed his love for these games. He and his friends would “get a little bit loud” about their preferences. When they tried to get the attention of the developers, they were “met with silence,” Cobler said.
Cobler dove in and started recruiting people on Reddit. He had no funding or game development experience. But he found talent, kicking off the studio with just eight people. They designed a version of the game that included their wishlist of features.
And in their crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. They set a goal of $210,000, and they raised $255,378 from 2,824 backers. That got them off the ground..
The game has time travel and both high fantasy and dark fantasy. You start off in the ancient era and move into the warring era of empires and a time when the undead have taken over. Then you get to the ruined era, where it gets really dark.
The update
Cobler thinks back to the Kickstarter when the game looked so “terrible” compared to where it is now.
Cobler said that after the 1.1 update came out, fans had a lot of additional feedback. Rather than launch another update quickly, Cobler said the team decided not to be “tone deaf.” And so it took more time to address the feedback and deploy something with a lot more updates to satisfy the fans. About 267 days have passed between the updates, but Cobler is happy it’s ready.
The latest update includes a revamped crafting system, a significant Sentinel class update, upgrades to the Monolith of Fate, a new faction (Weaver) and a new skill inspired by Diablo II’s guided arrow.
The update includes the Weaver Faction Tree, allowing players to manipulate and augment their monolith timelines during endgame progression, greatly expanding the endgame and giving all players access to this faction regardless of their factional alignments. This also introduces a new Echo type, Woven Echoes, which gives glimpses into the Weaver’s design and provides new rewards.
One of the most notable enhancements returning players will appreciate is the new Mastery Re-specialization. The development team has previously been set in its decision that the player stick to their Mastery Specialization – formerly the only “permanent choice”, based on their selection upon reaching Level 20 for the remainder of the game. But, in line with Eleventh Hour’s commitment to listen to its community and create an ARPG that respects its players and their time, Mastery Specialization can now be changed at any time by visiting an in-game NPC versus having to start over with a new character.
As an additional response to player feedback, the Sentinel class has undergone a significant retooling, removing several of the Sentinel’s limitations as compared to the other four classes. This update enhances the Sentinel’s skills such as mobility and defenses, as well as its Passive Trees, changing the playstyle and improving the game’s overall play balance.
Along with the Weaver and Woven Echoes, new highlights of Last Epoch: Tombs of the Erased include Champion Enemies and Champion Affixes. Players will encounter this stronger, harder, and faster enemy type who potentially have exclusive affixes on their dropped items. Tombs and cemeteries are new areas to explore, and players must face new Endgame bosses such as an Uber Aberroth Variant.
Over time, the company had to conquer server stability challenges to get better performance. The patch notes are extensive, and the game’s graphics have significantly improved. There are also quality of life improvements for players.
The studio has not raised any additional funds since the Tencent investment, as the strong 1.0 launch has sustained and grown the studio. Now the company is aiming for a cadence of seasonal release every four months or so, though the most recent one took nine months.
The update today coincides with the seventh anniversary of the Kickstarter launch, Cobler said.
Last Epoch is currently available in three versions: the Standard Edition at the original price of $35, the
Deluxe Edition at $50, and the Ultimate Edition at $65.
“We’re all surprised that we have come as far as we have, but, you know, it’s a labor of love. It’s one of these things that we just we intend to keep making the game better for as long as we can because we know ourselves. It’s a game for all of us. So it’s really cool to be able to work on it,” Cobler said.
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