Brawl Stars About The Update and Records Changes

It’s clear the latest update missed the mark, and some recent operational mistakes were made. This post explains how the situation developed, outlines adjustments to plans, details improvements to the current state, and highlights some exciting upcoming features.

Ultra Legendary was introduced to enhance monetization around Brawlers and to showcase a deeper, more complex Brawler design compared to the Legendary Tier. The assumption was that this new rarity and complexity justified a higher price, but that proved incorrect. This triggered a complete rethink of the Brawler release approach. The paywall for early access will be removed and replaced with a better system, which will be discussed further below.

An attempt was made to end the Mastery event early, but that decision was quickly reversed, allowing the event to conclude as scheduled. The rushed choice was recognized, and from now on, live changes to the game will be approached more cautiously, except when necessary to prevent gameplay disruption.

Goals for this Update

• Enhance the new player tutorial along with an improved Trophy Road offering better rewards and visuals.
• Introduce an achievement system (Records) to let veteran players showcase their skills.
• Bring back the Angels & Demons event with new elements to excite all players.
• Remove Masteries and redistribute its rewards to more accessible areas requiring less playtime.

While content such as Brawlers, Game modes, Hypercharges, and Skins targets the most engaged audience, feature development focuses on improving the game for all player types—new, intermediate, and veteran—to support long-term growth.

The project scope was too ambitious. Records underwent numerous design changes, resulting in a simplified version being released to meet deadlines, with many features cut and no room left for iteration. This serves as a learning experience to better plan future workloads.

Why Masteries Were Removed

Masteries were suboptimal in design. Though offering great rewards, many players—both new and experienced—found the system confusing (especially the Trophy to Mastery points scaling) and didn’t engage with it. It also encouraged grinding, which is not the most enjoyable motivation, a problem shared with some Records (see Records section for improvements). However, some key issues were overlooked when removing it, which will now be addressed:

1. Mastery rewards linked to new Brawlers were removed but will now be added to every Battle Pass as guaranteed rewards matching Legendary Brawler tiers starting next update. These will be easier and faster to earn compared to Masteries:

• 3000 Coins
• 450 Power Points
• 300 Credits

2. Credit banking or storing is discouraged since it leads to unintuitive gameplay. The main issue was the desire to unlock new Brawlers on day one after early access without letting Credits go unused. No new Brawler releases are planned for July, but Trunk will be the last IAP early access Brawler in August. The early access model will be overhauled next update by removing the IAP paywall. Everyone will be able to play Brawlers early access for free, with chances to unlock them sooner through gameplay. Additionally, Brawler release events will offer more rewards on top of the Battle Pass improvements.

Improving Records

Feedback on Records has been fully noted, with many short- and long-term improvements planned:

1. More Records and associated rewards cut from the initial release will be added over upcoming updates.
2. Record rewards are currently lower than Masteries, and comparisons are natural due to similar tasks and cosmetic rewards. However, Records are only one part of the reward replacement strategy, alongside the Trophy Road buff, the #1000Masteries event, and forthcoming Records. New players will earn rewards faster, and veteran players received many rewards during the #1000Masteries event. Despite this, the system still needs improvement.
3. The number of events will increase dramatically starting this Thursday, including a Mortis mini-community event, Unlimited Lives Challenge for a free skin, Mega Pig, Hypercharge Unleashed again, and more quests. These events will speed up reward acquisition. For instance, the upcoming Angels event will last two weeks instead of a month but offer a similar reward level.
4. Some Records, especially Win Records, remain grindy and feel less fun. These will be rebalanced, including possibly changing Win Records from “Wins” to earning Star Player status to address concerns about bot farming and the meaningfulness of Star Player. Community input will be sought for new Record ideas.
5. Longer-term system improvements under discussion include visual upgrades, better progress tracking, and reconsideration of reward types such as replacing Starr Drops.

Random vs. Deterministic Rewards

Mastery and Bling updates were highly praised and brought positivity, but they didn’t stop player decline after Boxes were removed in early 2023. Starr Drops were then introduced, reversing the decline and sparking a resurgence. Player counts are now three times higher than the same time last year. Upcoming updates promise collaborations, Brawloween, and more.

Success doesn’t require sacrificing player satisfaction, and previous examples show both can be achieved. However, trying new and sometimes unpopular approaches is necessary when previous plans fall short. The current hypothesis is that moving resources to more accessible rewards requiring less effort, like Trophy Road milestones, will retain more players longer.

Random rewards remain part of Brawl Stars because they add excitement, whether through Trophy Boxes or Sushi. However, overusing Starr Drops is not ideal. Deterministic rewards provide clear progression goals and are being increased, starting with Battle Pass buffs. Future random rewards will be introduced in more engaging ways.

TL;DR

• No more $50 early access offers; Trunk will be the last IAP early access Brawler.
• More Records and system improvements coming every update.
• Battle Pass F2P rewards will be boosted to match Legendary Brawler Masteries in the next update.
• New Brawler early access model with more F2P rewards launching soon.
• Many more events and rewards starting this Thursday.