PARTNER WITH PLAYERS

Every iteration takes our game to new heights. Partnering with our players builds trust and helps us embrace a wealth of diverse perspectives

Players play our game as soon as it’s meaningful, which empowers us to make changes—sometimes even big ones—when things aren’t working

We talk about our vision, goals, and intentions with players, so they can help shape the game through meaningful discussion

Everyone is empowered and supported in engaging with players if they want to, and we always have a way to get player feedback on our work

IN THIS TOGETHER

We foster a trusting work environment where it is easy to speak up when you think differently

We invite disagreement; diverse perspectives are a treasure trove of insight, not a distraction

We strive to communicate in ways that build each other up so we can make awesome experiences together

Everyone has knowledge and experience gaps, so we rely on each other to fill them in

We embrace everyone’s diverse styles of working and thinking and seek out ways to get everyone’s best, honest opinions

We build bridges of support and understanding, because we win as one

HAVE FUN ALONG THE WAY

We love games, and we believe making them should be a joyful experience

We approach game development with joy and a playful heart while acknowledging that making games can be challenging

We optimistically embrace change—games are constantly evolving, so it’s okay if our ideas don’t play out like we thought they would

…and we mandate 93 minutes of fun and a minimum of three memes per day

PRIVACY NOTICE

LEGAL INFORMATION

This Privacy Notice describes how Shattershock Limited (“Shattershock”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, discloses or otherwise processes information about users of the website from which this Privacy Notice is being accessed (the “Site”).

By using or interacting with the Site, you (the “User”, “you”, or “your”) understand that we process your information as described in this Privacy Notice.

For purposes of applicable law, Shattershock Limited (an Irish company) is the “Data Controller” of information collected through the Site. Our mailing address is Shattershock Limited, 1st Floor, The Liffey Trust Centre, 117-26 Sheriff Street, Upper, Dublin 1, Ireland, D01 YC43.

1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When you use the Site, we collect personal information about you or your use of the Site. The categories of information we collect are:

  • Information You Provide. We collect information that you provide to us directly when you fill out a form on the Site (such as “Contact Us” or “Subscribe”) or send us an email or postal mail. This may include your name, email address, and your message to us.
  • Information We Collect Automatically.
    • Cookies.We collect information through cookies and similar technologies (“Cookies”) to operate and provide the Site. For more details about our use of Cookies, including third-party Cookies, please see our Cookie Notice.
    • Usage Information. ○We collect information about how the Site is used, including information about Site pages viewed, date/time stamps of actions taken, log files, crash or diagnostic data, performance logs, and error reports or messages.
    • Technical and Network Information.We collect information about the device, browser, and network used to access the Site, such as browser type, hardware model, unique device identifier, operating system, Internet Service Provider, and language and time zone data.
    • General Location.We use IP addresses to estimate your general location, like city and country.

2. USE OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT / LEGAL BASES FOR PROCESSING

Under applicable data protection laws (such as the General Data Protection Regulation), companies must have a legal basis to process your personal data. Below, we describe our legal bases and purposes for processing the information we collect.

  • Processing necessary to perform our contract with you. We process your information as necessary to provide and operate the Site. Specifically, we analyze Information You Provide and Information We Collect Automatically (“Your Information”) to:
    • Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve technical errors or issues and monitor Site performance.
    • Ensure the safety, security, and integrity of the Site to detect, prevent, and combat behavior that threatens the security of our users’ information or the Site.
    • Transfer, store, or process your information outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”), the United Kingdom (“UK”), and/or Switzerland.
  • Legitimate interests.We process your information where the information is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of others (such as those of our users). We process Your Information to:
    • Operate, troubleshoot, and improve the Site and our business.
    • Promote safety, security, and integrity outside of the performance of our contract with you.
    • Understand our users and how they interact with the Site.
    • Perform internal analytics concerning the Site.
    • Comply with legal requirements or defend our legal rights.
    In certain jurisdictions, you have the right to object to, and seek restriction of, this processing based on legitimate interest. To exercise the rights, visit Section 6 of this Privacy Notice.
  • Fulfillment of a legal obligation.We may be required to use Your Information to comply with a legal obligation, such as when we need to respond to a valid legal request.
  • Consent. In some cases, we may ask for your consent to use Your Information for specific purposes. In these cases, we’ll provide the ability to withdraw your consent.

3. DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We share your information with others as described below:

  • Service providers.We share Your Information with our service providers who provide web hosting, analytics, and communications services to us.
  • Related companies. We may share Information You Provide with our subsidiaries and affiliates for purposes consistent with this Privacy Notice.
  • Business transfers.In the event we are involved in a corporate sale, merger, reorganization, dissolution, or similar event, or due diligence related to such event, Your Information may be part of the transferred assets.
  • Legal requirements and harm prevention.We may disclose Your Information to comply with a legal obligation or to protect and defend our rights and our users’ rights.

We have not “sold” or “shared” (as those terms are defined by applicable law) personal information in the past 12 months, nor do we “sell” or “share” any personal information about individuals, including those that we know are under sixteen (16) years old. We do not share your personal information with third parties for direct marketing purposes.

4. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

Your personal information is hosted on servers located in the country where you reside. Our service providers, affiliates and subsidiaries, and partners are located in various countries around the world. Your personal information may be transferred to, and processed in, these countries, which may be different from the territory in which you reside. These countries may have data protection laws that are different from those of your jurisdiction (and, in some cases, may not be as protective). These entities commit to processing information in compliance with applicable data protection laws and to implementing appropriate security measures to protect your information.

Where this will involve transferring your personal information outside the UK, EEA and/or Switzerland, we implement the following safeguards to ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded:

  • Adequacy Decisions:We rely on the adequacy decisions to transfer data to Canada, Japan, and the UK (the full list of adequate countries is available here for the EEA, here for the UK, and here for Switzerland).
  • Standard Contractual Clauses:We rely on the standard contractual clauses issued by the European Commission and the UK for transfers to countries which are not considered adequate, such as Singapore and Hong Kong. You may obtain a copy of these measures by contacting us.

5. DATA RETENTION

We retain personal information in accordance with our data retention policy and where reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes described in this Privacy Notice. To determine the appropriate duration of the retention of personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information; the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure; whether we can attain our objectives by other means; and compliance with our legal, regulatory, tax, accounting and other applicable obligations.

6. YOUR RIGHTS AND CHOICES

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the rights listed below in relation to your personal information. However, these rights are not absolute, and may apply only in certain circumstances.

  • Request access to or a copy of your personal information.
  • Delete your personal information.
  • Correct or update your personal information where it’s inaccurate.
  • Object to processing of your personal information or ask us to restrict processing of your personal information.
  • Where applicable, withdraw your consent without affecting the processing already undertaken before your withdrawal or the processing of your personal information on other lawful grounds.
  • Complain to a data protection authority about our processing of your personal information. You can file a claim with the Data Protection Authority in the EEA country in which you live or work or where you think we have infringed data protection laws, or with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, as applicable to you. Contact details for Data Protection Authorities in the EEA are available here and the UK ICO can be contacted here.
  • Designate, in writing or through a power of attorney document, an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf to exercise your rights. Before accepting such a request from an agent, we will require that the agent provide proof you have authorized them to act on your behalf.
You may submit a request to exercise your privacy rights to us at privacy@oc.netease.com or at Shattershock Limited, Attention: Privacy, 1st Floor, The Liffey Trust Centre, 117-26 Sheriff Street, Upper, Dublin 1, Ireland, D01 YC43. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights. Further information may be needed to verify your identity before these rights can be exercised. If we deny your request, you may appeal our decision by contacting us.

7. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY NOTICE

We may amend this Privacy Notice from time to time with an updated effective date at the top of this page. By continuing to use the Site, you are confirming that you have read and understood the latest version of this Privacy Notice.

8. INFORMATION FOR KOREA RESIDENTS

This Section applies only if you are a resident of South Korea.

Data sharing. We delegate the processing of your personal information as described below, and the delegates may process your personal data for the below purposes.

Delegatee Delegated Tasks
Google LLC Data processor: Processes and stores information on our behalf for website analytics purposes. Please see our Cookie Notice.

Data transfers.We provide personal information to third parties overseas as described below.

Name of Recipient (country, contact info) Overseas Country Date & Method of Transfer Items of Personal Information provided Purpose of Use by Recipient Period of Retention and Use by Recipient
Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA USA Transmitted from time to time All personal information specified in Section 2 Storage of data and providing analytics services to data controller See Section 5

Data destruction. We are required to retain certain personal information for the time periods and pursuant to the laws set forth below.

Applicable Law Types of Personal Information and Retention Period
Republic of Korea: Protection of Communications Secrets Act Log records and IP address: 3 months
The date of telecommunications by users, the time that the telecommunications start and end, the frequency of use: 12 months
Republic of Korea: Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce Records regarding customer service or dispute resolution: 3 years
Records regarding execution or withdrawal of a contract: 5 years

9. CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, please contact us at privacy@oc.netease.com or Shattershock Limited, Attention: Privacy, 1st Floor, The Liffey Trust Centre, 117-26 Sheriff Street, Upper, Dublin 1, Ireland, D01 YC43.

TERMS OF USE

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) are an agreement between you (the “User”, “you”, or “your”) and Shattershock Limited (“Shattershock”, the “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) that govern your access and use of the website from where you are accessing the Terms (the “Site”). If you use the Site on behalf of a company or other entity, then the “User”, “you”, or “your” includes you and that entity, and you represent and warrant that you are an authorized representative of that entity. When accessing or using our games, apps, software, products, or services other than the Site, you may be subject to separate terms.

Please read these Terms carefully. Section 19 contains a binding individual arbitration clause and class action waiver that apply to all claims arising from use of this website and could significantly affect your legal rights.

1. WHO WE ARE

The Site is provided by Shattershock Limited, a company operating under the laws of Ireland, located at 1st Floor, The Liffey Trust Centre, 117-126 Sheriff Street, Upper, Dublin 1, Ireland D01 YC43. When we reference affiliates in these Terms, we mean the subsidiaries, parent companies, joint ventures, and other corporate entities under common ownership and their agents, consultants, employees, officers, and directors (whether now or in the future).

2. UPDATES TO THESE TERMS

We may decide to update these Terms from time to time. When we do so, we will post the changes on this page and indicate the date they were last updated. By continuing to use the Site, you confirm that you accept the amended Terms. We hope you will continue using our Site, but if you do not agree to our Terms, as amended, you must stop using the Site.

3. PRIVACY

The Privacy Notice describes our data practices, including how we collect and use your information when you use the Site.

4. MODIFICATIONS TO THE SITE

We may modify the content or functionality of the Site from time to time. The Site may be interrupted, including due to maintenance, repairs, upgrades, or network or equipment failures. We reserve the right to discontinue the Site, temporarily or permanently, with or without notice, at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all. You agree that we will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of the Site (or any part thereof). We may also impose limits on certain functionality or restrict your access to the Site, in whole or in part, without notice or liability.

5. ELIGIBILITY

You must be at least the age of majority in your country of residence to use the Site. If you are not old enough to have authority to agree to our Terms in your country or territory, your parent or guardian must agree to our Terms on your behalf in order for you to use the Site. Please ask your parent or guardian to review these Terms with you.

6. RESTRICTIONS

You agree to use the Site only for purposes that are legal and in compliance with these Terms and any applicable laws or regulations. You may not use the Site (or assist others to use it) to:

  • violate any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation;
  • infringe or violate the intellectual property or proprietary rights, rights of publicity or privacy, or other rights of any third party;
  • attribute content to or impersonate any person or entity without their authorization;
  • download, modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, duplicate, publish, license, create derivative works from, offer for sale, or otherwise use any part of the Site (including any copyright, trademark, service mark, or other proprietary notation contained therein), except (i) for temporary files that are automatically cached by your web browser for display purposes; or (ii) as expressly authorized by the Site;
  • circumvent, duplicate, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, decode, or compromise the Site, including but not limited to (i) bypassing any technological measure or content protection on the Site; and (ii) using hacks, bots, mods, or any other unauthorized software;
  • interact with the Site in a manner that could disrupt or impair it or interfere with any other party’s access or use (including introducing any viruses, adware, spyware, or other malicious code);
  • access the Site using any automated means (e.g., robots or scrapers);
  • use the Site in a manner that is defamatory, libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful, obscene, lewd, pornographic, violent, or otherwise objectionable, or that may expose Shattershock or users of the Site to harm or liability;
  • exploit the Site for any commercial purpose unless authorized by Shattershock in writing; or
  • access or use the Site in any way not expressly permitted by these Terms.

We work to protect the safety, security, and integrity of the Site, including by prohibiting misuse of the Site. We reserve the right to take appropriate action against users who violate these Terms, including by disabling or suspending access to the Site or by contacting law enforcement.

7. LICENSE TO THE SITE

As between you and us, we (and/or our licensors) own all right, title, and interest in and to the Site, its elements, and all materials displayed or performed through the Site (including, but not limited to, audio, video, designs, illustrations, images, graphics, text, logos, patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, and “look and feel” of the Site). All such content is protected by copyright, trade dress, trademark, and patent laws, international conventions, other relevant intellectual property and proprietary rights, and applicable laws. Using the Site does not give you any ownership therein.

We grant you a worldwide, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-sublicensable license to use the Site. This license is granted for the sole purpose of using and accessing the Site consistent with these Terms.

8. CONTENT YOU PROVIDE

Unsolicited Ideas

We do not accept unsolicited ideas of concepts, creative ideas, stories, designs, product names, or the like (“Unsolicited Ideas”). We are continuously engaged in active research and development of new products, websites, and services, as well as improvements and enhancements to existing aspects of the Site and our products. Please do not send us any Unsolicited Ideas to avoid the possibility of future misunderstandings when projects, improvements, or enhancements developed by us might seem to be similar or identical to any part of an Unsolicited Idea.

If you choose to send us an Unsolicited Idea, you understand and agree that the following terms apply, regardless of any contrary statements accompanying your submission:

  • Your submission does not create any relationship between you and Shattershock;
  • Your submission and its contents automatically become the property of Shattershock, without any compensation to you;
  • Shattershock may use or redistribute your submission for any purpose on an unrestricted basis;
  • Your submission does not include confidential or proprietary information of you or any other person, and Shattershock is under no obligation to keep your submission confidential or to compensate you for any use of it.

User Submissions

By providing content or information to us in connection with the Site (collectively, “User Submissions”), you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, and transferable right to fully exploit, reformat, modify, create derivative works of, excerpt, or translate such User Submissions in connection with the Site and our (and our successors’ and assigns’) business.

9. THIRD PARTIES

The Site may contain links to third-party websites (“Third-Party Sites”) that are subject to different terms and privacy practices. We do not own or control those Third-Party Sites and we are not responsible or liable for any aspect of such Third-Party Sites. Links to any Third-Party Sites are not an endorsement.

We may utilize service providers or partner with our affiliates, subsidiaries, or other third parties to make the Site available to you.

10. INDEMNITY & RELEASE

You will indemnify and hold Shattershock harmless (including, without limitation, from all damages, liabilities, settlements, costs, and attorneys' fees) from any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of your access to the Site, use of the Site, your violation of these Terms, or the infringement by you or any third party using any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity.

11. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER

We have no special relationship with or fiduciary duty to you. We have no control over, and no duty to take any action regarding, (i) which users gain access to the Site; (ii) what content you access via the Site; (iii) what effects the content may have on you; (iv) how you may interpret or use the content; or (v) what actions you may take as a result of having been exposed to the content. You release Shattershock from all liability for you having acquired or not acquired content through the Site. Shattershock will not be responsible or liable for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality, or decency of material contained in or accessed through the Site.

This Site is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. Shattershock expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. Shattershock makes no warranty that (i) the site will meet your requirements; (ii) the Site will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; (iii) the results that may be obtained from the use of the site will be accurate or reliable; or (iv) the quality of any products, services, information, or other material obtained by you through the site will meet your expectations.

Shattershock and its affiliates take no responsibility and assume no liability for any content that you, another user, or a third party sends, receives, or stores on or through the Site. You understand and agree that you may be exposed to content that might be offensive, illegal, misleading, or otherwise inappropriate, none of which Shattershock or its affiliates will be responsible for.

12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

IN NO EVENT SHALL SHATTERSHOCK OR ITS SUPPLIERS, OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS, BE LIABLE WITH RESPECT TO THE SITE OR THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THESE TERMS UNDER ANY CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY (i) FOR ANY AMOUNT IN THE AGGREGATE IN EXCESS OF THE GREATER OF $100 OR THE FEES PAID BY YOU THEREFOR DURING THE 12-MONTH PERIOD PRECEDING THE APPLICABLE CLAIM (IF ANY); (ii) FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES OR LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES); OR (iii) FOR ANY MATTER BEYOND COMPANY'S REASONABLE CONTROL.

California Waiver. If you are a resident of California in the United States, you agree to waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.”

13. ENTIRE AGREEMENT & WAIVER

These Terms, including any additional terms referenced, make up the entire agreement between you and Shattershock, and supersede any prior agreements. These Terms do not create or confer any third-party beneficiary rights. If we do not enforce a provision in these Terms, it will not be considered a waiver. We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you.

14. GOVERNING LAW & VENUE

Unless stated otherwise herein, these Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to the conflict of laws provisions thereof. With respect to any disputes or claims not subject to arbitration as set forth in Section 19, you and Shattershock agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within Los Angeles County, California, United States.

15. ASSIGNMENT

You may not assign, transfer, or delegate your rights and obligations hereunder without Shattershock’s prior written consent. Shattershock may assign, transfer, or delegate this agreement and any rights and obligations hereunder, at its sole discretion.

16. SEVERABILITY

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the Terms shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable.

17. TERMINATION

These Terms shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Site. You may terminate your use of the Site at any time. We may terminate or suspend your access to the Site at any time, for any reason (including breach of the Terms), and without warning.

18. SURVIVAL

All provisions of these Terms which, by their nature, should survive termination, shall survive termination, including, without limitation, those relating to ownership, warranty disclaimers, and limitations of liability.

19. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Please read this section carefully – it may significantly affect your legal rights, including your right to file a lawsuit in court and to have a jury hear your claims. It contains procedures for mandatory binding arbitration and a class action waiver.

A. Agreement to Arbitrate

This Dispute Resolution section is referred to in these Terms as the “Arbitration Agreement.” This Arbitration Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to the conflict of laws provisions thereof.

You agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen or may arise between you and Shattershock shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than a court, in accordance with the terms of this Arbitration Agreement, except that the binding individual arbitration provisions herein will not apply to the extent prohibited by the laws of your jurisdiction of residence or where the underlying dispute is one of the following types: (i) disputes or claims within the jurisdiction of a small claims court consistent with the jurisdictional and dollar limits that may apply, as long as it is brought and maintained as an individual dispute; (ii) disputes or claims where the sole form of relief sought is injunctive relief; or (iii) intellectual property disputes.

Further, this Arbitration Agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state, or local agencies, and such agencies can seek relief against us on your behalf if the law allows.

You agree that, by agreeing to these Terms, you and Shattershock are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action. Your rights will be determined by a neutral arbitrator, not a judge or jury. The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement.

B. WAIVER OF CLASS ACTION & REPRESENTATIVE CLAIMS

You and Shattershock agree that each of us may bring claims against the other only on an individual basis and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative action or proceeding. Except as set forth in this Arbitration Agreement, the arbitrator may not consolidate or join more than one person’s or party’s claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of a consolidated, representative, or class proceeding. Likewise, the arbitrator may award relief (including monetary, injunctive, and declaratory relief) only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief necessitated by that party’s individual claim(s). Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may pursue a claim for, and the arbitrator may award, public injunctive relief under applicable law to the extent required for the enforceability of this provision.

If this class action waiver is limited, voided, or found unenforceable, then, unless the parties mutually agree otherwise, the Arbitration Agreement shall be null and void with respect to such proceeding so long as the proceeding is permitted to proceed as a class action.

C. Dispute Resolution & Arbitration Process

You and Shattershock agree that in the event of any dispute between you and Shattershock, either party will first contact the other party and make a good faith sustained effort to resolve the dispute before resorting to more formal means of resolution (including without limitation any court action) after first allowing the receiving party 30 days in which to respond.

Only after the parties have engaged in a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute, and only if those efforts fail, may either party then initiate binding arbitration as the sole means to resolve claims. Any dispute arising from or relating to the subject matter of these Terms shall be finally settled by arbitration in Los Angeles County, California, United States, using the English language in accordance with the Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures of Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. (“JAMS”) then in effect (“JAMS Rules”), by one commercial arbitrator with substantial experience in resolving intellectual property and commercial contract disputes, who shall be selected from the appropriate list of JAMS arbitrators. For information about the JAMS, its Rules, and fees for consumer disputes, see the JAMS’ arbitration page at https://www.jamsadr.com/arbitration.

If there is any inconsistency between any term of the JAMS Rules and any term of this Arbitration Agreement, the applicable terms of this Arbitration Agreement will control unless the arbitrator determines that the application of the inconsistent Arbitration Agreement terms would not result in a fundamentally fair arbitration. The arbitrator must also follow the provisions of these Terms as a court would. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including, but not limited to, issues relating to the scope, enforceability, and arbitrability of this Arbitration Agreement. The arbitrator will apply applicable substantive law consistent with the FAA and the applicable statute of limitations or condition precedent to suit.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, each party shall have the right to institute an action in a court of proper jurisdiction for injunctive or other equitable relief pending a final decision by the arbitrator.

Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees will be governed by the JAMS Rules, unless otherwise provided in this Arbitration Agreement. The parties also agree that a good-faith challenge by either party to the fees imposed by JAMS does not constitute a default, waiver, or breach of this Arbitration Agreement while such challenge remains pending before JAMS, the arbitrator, and/or a court of competent jurisdiction, and that any due dates for those fees shall be tolled during the pendency of such challenge.

D. Right to Opt Out of Arbitration

You have the right to opt out of arbitration and not be bound by the arbitration provisions set forth in this Section 19 within 30 days of first becoming subject to this Arbitration Agreement. To opt out, you must send written notice of your decision to opt out to arbitrationoptout@oc.netease.com or to our mailing address no later than 30 days after first becoming subject to this Arbitration Agreement. If you opt out of only the arbitration provisions, and not also the class action waiver, the class action waiver still applies. You may not opt out of only the class action waiver and not also the arbitration provisions. If you opt-out of these arbitration provisions, Shattershock also will not be bound by them.

E. Confidentiality & Severability

All aspects of the arbitration proceeding, and any ruling, decision, or award by the arbitrator, will be strictly confidential for the benefit of all parties.

If a court or the arbitrator decides that any term or provision of this Arbitration Agreement (except for Subsection B above) is invalid or unenforceable, the parties agree to replace such term or provision with one that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term or provision, and this Arbitration Agreement shall be enforceable as so modified. If a court or the arbitrator decides that any provision of Subsection B is invalid or unenforceable, then the entirety of this Arbitration Agreement shall be null and void, unless such provision is deemed to be invalid or unenforceable solely with respect to claims for public injunctive relief. The remainder of the Terms will continue to apply.

F. Future Changes to Arbitration Agreement

Notwithstanding any provision in these Terms to the contrary, if we make any future change to this Arbitration Agreement while you are a user of the Site, you may reject any such change by sending us a written notice within thirty (30) calendar days of the change to arbitrationoptout@oc.netease.com. By rejecting any future change, you are agreeing that you will arbitrate any dispute between us in accordance with the language of this version of the Arbitration Agreement as of the date you first accepted these Terms (or accepted any subsequent changes to these Terms).

20. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT NOTIFICATION

If you believe that content you find on the Site infringes a copyright, please send a copyright infringement notification to the Copyright Agent listed below. To be effective, the notification must be in writing and contain the following information:

  • Your full name, address, telephone number, and email address;
  • Identification of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed, or if multiple works on the Site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works;
  • Identification of the material you claim is infringing, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
  • A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  • A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf; and
  • The electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

A notification of claimed copyright infringement should be emailed to Shattershock’s Copyright Agent at copyright@oc.netease.com. You may also contact us by postal mail at: Shattershock Copyright Agent, 1st Floor, The Liffey Trust Centre, 117-126 Sheriff Street, Upper, Dublin 1, Ireland D01 YC43.

21. MISCELLANEOUS

Shattershock shall not be liable for any failure to perform its obligations hereunder where such failure results from any cause beyond Shattershock’s reasonable control. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship is created as a result of these Terms. Our Terms are written in English (United States), and any translated version is provided solely for your convenience. To the extent any translated version of our Terms conflicts with the English version, the English version controls.

Welcome to 2024: Milestone 1 Updates
Fantastic Pixel Castle | April 04, 2024

Hello!


Welcome back to the Fantastic Pixel Castle blog! I’m Faye, your friendly neighborhood community manager, and I’m thrilled to be (officially!) introducing myself to y’all. I’m forcibly taking over the blog from Jon from here on out, and I cannot tell you how excited I am to kick off my world domination career here at FPC with this particular entry - our first development blog. We’re pulling back the curtain to show off what we’ve been doing for the last few months as we finish our very first Prototype Milestone in the creation of Ghost. Let’s get into it!

“Partner with Players,” from the very beginning.

“Partner with Players” is one of our studio values - It’s important to us, as developers, to build a game that y’all are excited to play. The bit that’s tricky this early in development is that there isn’t really much game to play, because four months ago there wasn’t really a game yet - we were still focused on hiring the people to make the game, and building the core concept of the game.

So - how best to “partner with players” when we don’t have players yet? When our game is so early that we’re leaning on placeholder assets from the Unreal store? When our only two “classes” are “fireball” and “sword,” and the Rat Catcher remains just a dream and a niche internet meme? Are players even interested in what a game looks like in the prototyping stage? Will our audience reading this understand just how early we are in development? What if prospective players get attached to hurling fireballs and then we have to take that skill out?

These are all questions we threw around the studio - and for good reason. While we aim to move quickly, Ghost, like anything worth doing or making, is going to take time. We’re going to develop ideas that don’t appear in the final iteration of the game. We’re going to tweak classes over and over until they don’t look like the original concept anymore. We’re going to brainstorm brilliant ideas that simply don’t fit. We’re going to make silly mistakes.



In the spirit of all of that, we decided that now is exactly the right time to show the world the progress we’ve made on Ghost, and the ways we’ve decided to move forward in development. After all, “partnering with players” also means giving y’all the right information to partner well with us - It’s hard to give feedback on something when you don’t know what it looks like, or how it’s being made!

Without further ado, please join me and the Fantastic Pixel Crew (trademark pending) in celebrating the completion of our very first Prototype Milestone!

The Milestone 1 Update and Review, or: “What is a prototype and why does it look like… that?”

For those who aren’t neck-deep in bug reports and playtest feedback, let’s do a quick overview of some of the lingo. (I apologize ahead of time to anyone reading who is a scrum or agile certified project manager.)

A milestone is a block of time in the development of a game in which a studio sets specific, (hopefully) achievable goals. 

Milestones are made up of sprints, which are usually either 2 weeks long or 3 weeks long, and those sprints break down those goals into manageable development steps. 

“Okay, so you just finished your first Milestone. What goals did you set?” Great question! Let’s talk about it.

Prototyping a new game looks a little different depending on the studio and game being made - for that reason, I can only confidently tell you how we have decided to approach the Prototype phase for Ghost. For us, our prototype goals were to flesh out foundations of anything new (like Blue Zones!) or highly impactful (like combat!). Those goals are big, broad, and cover a number of different milestones - so we broke down the steps we needed to complete, how much time each step would take, and what order they needed to happen.

In the same way that opening a new notebook to a blank page can feel daunting to the writer, making gameplay in a completely fresh UE5 environment can be deeply intimidating. Our Milestone 1 goals were nonetheless ambitious:
  • For Gameplay, we wanted to have the foundation of MMO combat in our game, including little details like “Respawn when dead” and “A very basic healing system.” Combat also includes “being able to move around on a map,” “Basic HUD and UX,” and “enemies to fight,” so those were on our MS1 list as well. Finally, we included a basic XP and Objective System, to test out a few different ideas for progression in our game.
  • For Red Zones and Blue Zones, our goals were again foundational: have an example of each of them. This sounds simpler than it is in practice: Red Zones are more static, so they need to be consistent, and players need to load into them at recognizable points. Our Blue Zones have some procedural elements to them, so our Blue Zone system needs to be able to generate new environments and place objects and creatures in ways that made sense.
  • And not to be outdone by our gameplay, we’re creating an entire new world and story as well - so our Worldbuilding team had Milestone goals, too. For art, the goal was to have the first version of our game’s target style - how the game is going to look and feel. In terms of narrative, without giving too much away, we aimed to end MS1 with a narrative foundation for the world of Ghost and the starting point of our game’s story.


Carl Sagan once said, “To make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” He wasn’t kidding.

 

Did we make it? Let’s find out:

So at first it was like - (December, 2023) A very early screenshot of the Prototype of Ghost - a robotic player character stares at a nondescript checkerboard area. And then we were all - (Early March, 2024) But then it was like - (Late March, 2024) The game might be in prototype but you’d better believe I’m still going to run out of mana during the boss fight.

[!] A quick note - Not only are these graphics not anywhere close to final, they’re not Ghost graphics at all. Everything from the environment to the enemies to the robotic-looking player characters are placeholder Unreal Engine marketplace assets. Similarly, the UI is a placeholder, too. We’re using these right now to make our playtests more engaging and playable as our creative teams do the big foundational work they need to do. We talk about this more below in the FAQ section if you’re interested!

   

So gameplay works!

Yes! At a very foundational level, our core combat model works.

When we playtest our game, we can:
  • Load into a standard Red Zone.
  • Fight smaller enemies to earn XP.
  • Complete objectives/missions to earn more XP.
  • Spend that XP in a very basic way to improve your character or combat experience.
  • Your XP spend and progression is saved between game sessions!
  • We have two classes (“Sword” and “Fireball”) and it’s really easy to switch between the two!
  • You can tab target between enemies!
  • We can fight THE BOSS. 
  • We can DIE. (And respawn! That seems important.)
YOU DIED Here I am, dying for the ‘gram - plus a sneak peak at one of our unfinished ranged classes that I’ve nicknamed “Fireballs but purple this time.”

Three months ago there wasn’t a game here, and now we can load in and have a multiplayer boss battle. 

 

Red and Blue Zones:

So the big question here is: “Does the Blue Zone system actually generate Blue Zones?”

And the answer is… yes.

We can run through this Red Zone portal here… And actually go to a Blue Zone!  It’s sparse right now - just a bunch of trees (and ponies!) but that’s expected. We had to be able to generate the areas before we could start to put lots of things in them. 

Okay but what’s the catch?

It’s not exactly a catch - after all, this is what prototyping is for - there’s still a lot of work to do to make Blue Zone generation fast, easy, and efficient. We also have to, y’know, put more stuff in them (like ponies!) to make them interesting - monsters, resources, objectives, mysteries, friends, quests, and maybe even treasure? But that’s for a future milestone. 

   

Worldbuilding

Remember the Apple Pie quote from earlier? Our Creative teams are deep in the throes of inventing the universe of Ghost and that is a lot of work. Here’s what Shanti, our VP of Creative, has to say about building entire worlds from scratch: 

“Developers can approach making a new IP from a ton of different angles. You can start with a core character central to your story, an inciting incident that all other events will flow from, or an ideological question you want the player to grapple with. The list of possible starting points goes on and on, but for us, we started with “what world would best support our gameplay?” Luckily, answering this question led us pretty quickly to a world premise we loved, and from there, we began to ask the other key questions about our new budding universe.” 

From the narrative and world-building side, our Creative team spent this last milestone building out the history of the world of Ghost. On the art side of things, we brought on some awesome artists to really kick off nailing down our art style and visual development. 

We’re so excited about the world and story of Ghost, but we also don’t want to reveal too much too soon. We want Ghost to feel mysterious and exciting, and to be a game of endless discovery and wonder - the kind of game people come back to for years, maybe decades. Still, we have a few sneak peeks to show that we’re excited about: Explorations into a cityscape touched by ancient divine powers long lost. "Explorations into a cityscape touched by ancient divine powers long lost." Iterations on a potential enemy encounter "Iterations on a potential enemy encounter." Early explorations into art style in Unreal 5, playing around with elements like lighting, contrast, and sky boxes. "Early explorations into art style in Unreal 5, playing around with elements like lighting, contrast, and sky boxes."

So… what did the team think of this milestone? 

I asked around the studio to see what bite-sized pieces of wisdom I could glean - and I’m happy to share them below. 

What did we learn?
  • “I learned how to work and communicate with everyone on the team. There were several challenges such as how to be efficient working with team members in the other side of the world (i.e. China and Australia), or understanding what a good balance would be with sync vs async communications given that we're a fully remote studio. Communication is one of the keys to success of our studio!” - Peter, Engineering
  • “We learned a LOT about how to get the best out of working together. Other people have talked about communication, and that’s true, but we also learned a lot about our team structure and process. During MS1 we switched from 2-week to 3-week sprints (which are a little less standard)  because it suited the nature of our exploratory work better, and we merged two working groups that seemed pretty different but actually needed to know a lot about what the other was setting up in engine. We achieved a lot during MS1 despite this beneficial flux, but I think we’re all really excited about what we can do now that we’ve gotten some of those distractions out of the way.” - Lisa, Production

  What surprised us?
  • “We were pleasantly surprised by the capability of our team to build features quickly. Our prototype goals were so aggressive that honestly most devs considered them aspirational. But as we got closer towards the deadline we all started looking at each other and asking "wait, everything is on track?". We hit every one of our engineering goals and delivered a cohesive Milestone playtest experience that was actually pretty fun! Cam, our CTO, gave us the challenge of building a hacky but operational version of the full Blue Zone pipeline, with the goal of building something and then iteratively making it better. "If every day we make it 1% better, then eventually we'll have a great game". That's the spirit with which we've approached development, and so far it's been a resounding success.” - James, Engineering
  • “The sheer amount of applicants we received for some of our open roles, and how much time we had to spend building the right team with the right people. We are so lucky to have been given the opportunity to select from so many extremely talented game developers, but I definitely underestimated the number of hours that would take.” - Candace, Design

  What made us laugh?
  • “How competitive everyone was.” - Greg, Studio Head
  • “Physics bugs are the best. Bears flying away, the player uncontrollably sliding out of the world, or infinite logs falling from the sky.” - Graham, Design

  What mistakes did we make?
  • “One mistake is that it felt like it was tricky to figure out exactly where to jump into designs for the game, and it felt like that is something we could've tackled better. When you're starting from scratch, it's really uncomfortable to put stakes in the ground. Should combat work this way? Well what if this other system ends up working like that? Then it won't make sense. But I think you have to push past that discomfort and really just say "For now, we're doing the camera like this and if we have to change it later that's fine." - Ed, Design

  What are we excited about?
  • “When we started the milestone, I told the team that I felt like we were a little behind. Now that we've finished it, I feel a little ahead. Game dev can be like that, where you see little progress for a week and then exponential progress overnight.” - Greg, Studio Head
  • “I’m excited about the game, but I’m even more excited about this team. We haven’t had to overcome anything crazy yet since our first milestone went so well, but there are many green flags. We’re able to talk about tough challenges authentically, and we’re not ignoring any issues when they arise by putting them off or taking the easy way out. While I hope our development process is (relatively) easy, I believe this team can do really hard things together.” - Lisa, Production
  • “I think we have a lot of the really basic building blocks in the game that we need, and we have the beginnings of blue zone generation tools. From here I think the opportunity is really to start building our core innovations which is going to be huuugely satisfying and also scary. So I'm excited about that.” - Ed, Design

 

FAQs

Why are you using Unreal Store assets and not your own art?
  • Aha, this highlights an important part of the development process. Our art style - including what people, animals, and monsters are going to look like - is just as early in development as the rest of our game. Even though we’ve made a lot of progress, it’s not ready to go into the game yet.
  • We needed to start playtesting our combat system right away to make sure we had something that worked and was fun to try. In the past, game prototypes would use gray or brown boxes to represent everything, which isn’t visually compelling. 
  • One of the benefits of using Unreal is that we can bring in these stock assets to help us visualize what something might look like (instead of having gray boxes everywhere) without having to wait on, or put a ton of pressure on, our creative team. 
  • This also lets us get some interesting design notes to our creative team - maybe they can start thinking about how to incorporate certain combat styles into the art, too.
  • The goal here is to design alongside each other, which so far is working pretty well!

  Relatedly, are you going to keep the giant stone frogs in that screenshot? 
  • The giant frogs come from the ZenScape environment by TonyTheng-Art that’s available to use in the Unreal Engine marketplace. We’re not going to keep these frogs, even though they’re pretty great.
  • That said though if you like frogs in general let us know and maybe we can encourage the creative team to add more frogs to Ghost.

  Where is the Discord server you mentioned last time?
  • Jon (our VP of all things Business) mentioned this over at his twitter - here’s what he said. 
    • “We’re going to need more time to do that than we’d initially guessed. We want to create that server for interested players to make communicating with you easier, but we don’t want to open it up until we are set up to manage it well.”

Is it okay if I would rather come back to check out Ghost in the future, when it’s closer to being done?”
  • Yep, absolutely. We’re excited to share our development journey with the world, but we also know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. We’ll make sure you know when our art and design are near final, and Ghost is ready for large-scale playtesting - just keep an eye on our website for updates.


We want to hear from you!

Thoughts? Questions? Inspiration? Memes you want to share? We’re on Twitter/X as @FPCStudio and we would love to chat.

You can also tune into our monthly Podcast, Word on the Street, where we dive into more focused topics about Ghost and game development with our amazing host Scott Johnson. 

In the meantime, we’re diving back into development for our next milestone, and we’ll be sure to tell you all about it and any other updates we might have right here on our website. Until next time!

Thanks for joining us!