Pirate101, the swashbuckling MMORPG from developer KingsIsle Entertainment, has just sailed its way onto Steam. The good folks over at KingsIsle were gracious enough to drop anchor long enough to answer a few of our questions in the midst of what I can only imagine is a busy season.
Pirate101, which shares a universe with the popular Wizard101 card-battling MMO, is a swashbuckling adventure that has been online since October 2012. While there has been, in recent years, a slowdown in content and development of the pirate-themed MMO KingsIsle has ramped up its efforts with both the Steam release as well as new story and content patches. With all of this new content and platform release on the horizon, it seemed only fitting to take a moment and check in with the good folks over at KingsIsle. So grab that coffee, kick back and check out our interview with KingsIsle Entertainment.
MMORPG: Thank you so much for taking the time, in the midst of what I can imagine is a busy season, to answer some of our questions. I want to jump into some discussion around the launch of Pirate101 on Steam. While this client has been available through the official website, this is the first time players will be able to play on Steam. What are some of the biggest advantages of launching Pirate101 on Steam?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Steam is probably the largest online storefront for PC games: the biggest advantage of launching there is tapping into an incredibly big, passionate, and loyal audience. When we started researching the play behavior of our Wizard101 Steam users, it became clear that while there is some overlap between people who play our games through Steam and our first-party launcher, Steam users approach their games completely differently.
They tend to be very loyal to the platform, and like having all of their games in one place: there are some people who don’t look for PC games anywhere else but Steam. Not having Pirate101 there meant missing out on an entire swath of people who we thought would really enjoy the game. Launching on Steam also shows our commitment to the game and our willingness to not only support and update it, but grow it moving forward.
MMORPG: It is true that Steam users are definitely loyal to the platform! In what ways do you see Steam’s platform helping grow and expand the Pirate101 community?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Introducing Pirate101 to an entirely brand new audience on Steam will be key to the game’s growth. Since launch, we’ve already seen promising metrics and in some areas, Pirate101 is performing even better than we expected.
By opening up Pirate101’s Skyways on Steam, we’re hoping to kickstart player growth and make sure that we have as many people to enjoy our upcoming Pirate101 updates as possible. That growth in turn will also allow us to develop even more content for the game.
MMORPG: With Pirate101 having already been an established title, I wonder if you could shed some light on the technical side of the new Steam Launch? Is the client for Steam co-existing with the current original client or will these run as two separate entities? What about players that want to move their existing accounts over to Steam? Would that be possible?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Pirate101 Steam accounts are separate from Pirate101 accounts created through the KingsIsle website registration process. You can’t log into one using the credentials of the other, but the servers are shared. So, if you play through Steam but your friend doesn’t, you can still play with them in-game!
Players will not be able to move their accounts over. If current Pirate101 players want to start playing through Steam, they’ll need to start fresh using a Steam-specific account. As we mentioned before though, everyone plays on the same server, so there’s no difference except where you start loading the game.
MMORPG: Thanks for giving some insight into how the two clients interact. Speaking of managing two different clients, KingsIsle and Steam, Pirate101 isn’t the first title you’ve released to Steam. In 2018 Wizard101 launched on Steam and today has a very positive rating. What were some of the biggest lessons learned with the Wizard101 launch that you were able to implement with the launch of Pirate101?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Many of the lessons stemmed from looking at past data and seeing how more recent changes have impacted our metrics. For example, we did a fairly large revamp of the Wizard101 Steam store page from 2021-2022 and saw some pretty incredible results because of it. We took what we observed from those changes and implemented a similar strategy when making the capsule art, trailer, descriptions, etc.. for Pirate101’s page to ensure that it was the best it could be.
MMORPG: As a follow up what were some of the biggest hurdles to overcome in bringing PIrate101 to Steam?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Honestly, the biggest hurdle was finding a good time to fit it into our team’s already-packed schedule! Luckily, some of the work to get Pirate101 on Steam was already completed back when we put Wizard101 on the platform (in hopes of eventually coming to this moment!), so knowing we had that in our back pocket definitely helped.Outside of that, trying to pique interest in a 10-year-old game is always challenging. While we’re really proud that we’ve reached that milestone, we’re competing with so many amazing new games nowadays that it can be hard to break through that noise. That being said, retro gaming/nostalgia is having a moment in the gaming world right now, so we were confident that we could bring some lapsed players back for good ol’ fashioned childhood fun.
MMORPG: Final question on the topic of the launch, I promise! How has the launch of Pirate101 differed from the launch of Wizard101?
KINGSISLE TEAM: In addition to the Steam store page choices we made based on what we learned from Wizard101’s page, the biggest difference between the two launches is the marketing scale that was put into them. A tremendous amount of time and work was put into the plan for Pirate101 on Steam so that the launch fired on all cylinders. Website changes, email reminders, social media posts, influencer marketing, a plushie, and so much more - no stone was left unturned. It was definitely the largest coordinated marketing effort Pirate101 has seen in years.
MMORPG: Who doesn’t love a good plushie?! Along with the Steam launch, Pirate101 has also seen the release of some brand-new content in the form of a new story chapter. Without giving away spoilers what part of Sinbad Chapter 2: The Iron Lotus, are you personally most excited for?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Definitely the continuation of the Sinbad storyline! Pirate101 players love new combat content and we’ve got a boatload full of new fights. Pirates will be tracking down Sinbad to a 7-floor combat tower. Once there, you will be challenged by several creatures, a miniboss, and the big final boss at the top of the tower. You will get Sinbad and Albano companions if you successfully complete the quest.
A new Dreadnaught has also appeared - a recurring combat event that allows players to challenge it periodically. The weapons and tokens offer unique combinations of powers and talents that are sure to shake up the PvP and PvE gear metas.
MMORPG: Can you give us a little more detail on these two new companions, Sinbad and Albano? What kind of experience will each bring to the combat experience and how can players add these companions to their collection?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Sinbad and Albano fit unique niches. Sinbad is a very good melee counter-unit; his attacks deal magical damage which bypasses a melee unit’s armor and his combination of special talents and powers makes him a nightmare to fight as a melee unit.
Albano is a defensive support companion: his powers and talents are built to keep him and his team healthy and in the fight. Players unlock Albano as well as Sinbad by playing through the new Iron Lotus episode.
MMORPG: You also mentioned the new Dreadnaught experience. What more can you tell us about that?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Players can expect lots of ships, lots of spark shooters, and lots of fire! The Dreadnaught will be available to players twice a week: talking to Padraig McCallum in Avery’s Court begins the Byrne Uprising quest. Completing this quest gives players a chance to gain some impressive modified haywire weapons with powerful abilities!
MMORPG: I am sure players are excited to dive into this new content. Speaking of new content, the Pirate101 website states this latest update is the “first of a few updates coming to Pirate101 this year”. Can you speak to what players have to look forward to with some of these up-and-coming updates?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Our goal is to provide players with more stories in future updates in the form of Episodes. The Iron Lotus content in the Steam Launch update isn’t huge, but our next story update will be considerably bigger - stay tuned.
We also want to improve the Quality of Life aspects of the game a lot more - the recent inclusion of Borderless Fullscreen Mode is a perfect example. More companions, maybe some side systems, and other new content is all on the table. We will be putting out small to medium-sized updates more frequently instead of the massive yearly content drops of years past. This lets us produce content at a pace that our team can support.
MMORPG: It is so exciting to hear about some of the up-and-coming content planned for Pirate101. You mentioned offering borderless Fullscreen Mode to players. Why is this mode so important to the Pirate101 community?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Borderless Fullscreen Mode has been a requested feature for a long time, and we’re excited to finally be able to deliver it. Implementation did have its challenges, but we got through them for the latest update. The new mode gives content creators the ability to live stream the game without an ugly border getting in the way.
MMORPG: There is a lot to look forward to with Pirate101 and with its release on Steam there is now a whole new community to explore and enjoy it. Pirate101 isn’t the only title under your studio that has some exciting things happening at the moment. Shifting gears slightly, what new content and features can players expect from Wizard101 over this year?
KINGSISLE TEAM: By the time your readers read this, the next Wizard101 update will be available to check out either on Test Realm or live! Our latest update features the exciting new Crying Sky Raid for high-level guild players. Raids are team-based complex boss challenges that are an extension of the game’s guild system.
The update also finally gives players the freedom to change their wizard’s name and gender. This feature has been a top request by the community for a while now, so we’ve been working hard to get it added to the game. It’s important to us that players be able to express their personal identities without worry, so it gives us great joy to provide them with more of these opportunities to do so. Name and gender change options are only the latest step: a couple of years ago we also included Pride and friendship expression emojis, and hopefully much more in the years to come.
Looking ahead to the end of the year, our fall update will contain an entirely new world - we’re going to Wallaru! Teasers will roll out soon, so keep your eyes open. Guilds will also get a new feature this fall: the Guild Museum!
MMORPG: With all this exciting content and feature updates coming to both Pirate101 and Wizard101 what are you most excited for players to get their hands on this year?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Wizard101 and Pirate101 both have new content surprises that will be rolled out to their communities every few months. The new world of Wallaru is going to be an action-packed romp through the vast Outback, and will also wrap up our fourth story arc and bring the story of the Nothing to a close. Worlds are always a package of joy and excitement for players to go through because they contain a variety of unique content with a rich story, intriguing new zones to explore, new mobs to fight and valuable loot to gain, a level cap increase, new dual-school spells, and much more.
MMORPG: Finally, you mentioned that one of the driving forces for moving both Wizard101 to Steam was to help build the community. How has community feedback helped shape the direction that Wizard101 is currently going as it relates to game mechanics, quality-of-life features and story content?
KINGSISLE TEAM: Our community is absolutely critical and a key pillar of improving the game from update to update. We directly incorporate much of their feedback into new content, especially when it comes to balance tweaks and ‘fairness’ adjustments.
In fact, by the time your readers likely read this chat of ours, Test Realm may be in full swing with the Crying Sky Raid update. Whether it’s on Test Realm for paying players upon release to the general public, we encourage everyone to check it out and let us know what they think of the new content!
Thank you to the KingsIsle Team for taking the time to answer our questions today. It is an exciting time to be a Pirate101 and Wizard101 player. For those interested in checking out either title you can head on over to the Pirate101 Steam page or the Wizard101 Steam page to get started.
