Newsletter, January 2026

January 2026: Season 6, New Guardians, and Laying Strong Foundations

January marked the real start of our year — not just on the calendar, but in how we’re building and testing GoG moving forward.

We kicked things off with the rollout of Season 6, introduced the new summoner Guardian Deldra, and spent much of the month deep in playtests and iteration. This update is a look at what shipped, what we’ve been pressure-testing, and why January was less about flash and more about foundations.

Season 6 Is Live — Welcome, Deldra

Season 6 is now live, bringing with it Deldra, our newest Guardian.

Deldra battles for your party around a single, defining theme: death is not the end—it’s fuel. Every fallen unit strengthens her, letting her convert messy, grindy fights into overwhelming advantage through scaling power, summon volume, and a high-swing ultimate.

We’ve also been keeping a close eye on Alexander, who was released during Season 5. As with any Guardian, real insights take time to surface as players experiment, upgrade, and find the right situations to use them. Both Guardians continue to inform how we approach future designs — especially around versatility, progression pacing, and where power should feel earned.

A Month of Playtesting (and Then More Playtesting)

A major theme across January was testing before scaling.

Much of the team spent time in internal and limited playtests focused on:

• Combat feel and clarity
  
  
• Class-based skills and challenges
  
  
• Adventure difficulty and progression pacing
  
  
• AFK and dungeon economics
  
  

Rather than rushing systems out, the goal has been to gather meaningful feedback, identify friction points early, and make sure new features feel good before they reach more players.

This approach means some things take longer — but it also means fewer painful corrections later.

Progression, Rewards, and Long-Term Systems

Alongside active playtesting, January also saw steady progress on longer-term systems that shape how the game feels over weeks and months, not just single sessions.

Work this month included:

• Early design exploration for rarity and upgrade systems
  
  
• Continued development on Challenges and Achievements
  
  
• Refinement of guild progression and social systems
  
  
• Backend improvements to leaderboards and competitive tracking
  
  

These systems are closely connected, and January was about making sure they align — rewarding commitment without locking players into bad decisions or unclear paths.

Competitive & Social Play: Building It Right

We’re continuing work on competitive and social features with a strong emphasis on stability and fairness first.

This includes:

• Ongoing development and playtesting for GVG
  
  
• Updates to guild levels and progression
  
  
• Ensuring competitive systems feel solid before introducing rewards or economy layers
  
  

Our philosophy here is simple: if it’s not fun and fair without rewards, it won’t be better with them.

Looking Ahead

January was about momentum and intent. Season 6 is live, new Guardians are in players’ hands, and a lot of behind-the-scenes work is setting the stage for what’s coming next.

As always, player feedback — both loud and quiet — continues to shape where we focus next. Whether you’ve been playing daily or are just checking back in, we appreciate you being part of the journey.

More soon.

— The GoG Team

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