Mini-Shadow-News

French Shadow news (16/01/2020) English version

Today, Shadow news is brought to you by Victor (Marketing) and Yannis (Product), French office. The following subjects were addressed:

  • Bug fixes
  • Mobile apps
  • Battle For Hardware

1) Bug fixes

Very recently, a big update was pushed to production (official version of the launcher) with two main goals: improving the way your Shadow updates (Ocapture, Ocontroller etc.) and improved display management (automatic resolution and refresh rate adaptation). Along this update came some bugs: Black screen, infinite update loop, freezing issues…

Most of these issues were fixed (around 90%) in production through a patch that was released today (16/01/2020), Shadow Box and Shadow Ghost should get the fix beginning of next week.

However, a significant sound bug still remains. The dev team is still trying to replicate it so they can properly identify and then fix it.


2) Mobile apps

The new mobile app was released yesterday (15/01/2020) and feedback are highly positive. The Android version is one step ahead with the incorporation of Windows shortcuts (Alt+F4, Task manager etc.) within the official version (nb : the Beta version of the iOS app got this on friday the 17th of January). Please, give as much feedback as you can about it (Discord, Reddit etc.)

The mobile simplified game interface
windows shortcuts on mobile apps (Closing windows/Start menu/hiding and showing/Multi task/Screenshot/Esc Key)

The Apple TV version is still under development. The Shadow and Apple teams have exchanged a lot about it to give you the best experience possible!

Several improvements should be coming shortly:

  • The mobile game launcher will be able to detect Xbox Game Pass games, meaning you’ll be able to launch them through the simplified interface. Give as much feedback as you can!
  • Real time data usage will be displayed within the app. Moreover, while choosing your bandwidth, you’ll get an estimate of data usage according to your choice (ex: 2.2 GB if you choose 5 Mbps bandwidth)
  • New virtual joysticks will be coming soon on top of the current one (which is emulating an Xbox controller)

3) Battle for Hardware (BFH)

  • 650 new people will be joining BFH (instead of 600 as previously announced)
  • Part of the current BFH testers will get to stay (around 25%) after January 20th

3 teams will be participating for Three weeks (one on the Infinite, the other two on the Ultra each week). Here is the order in which the teams will be testing the Infinite:

1st week: Tea Drinking warlords
2nd Weeks: Pasta gang master
3rd week: Deter-jean

A public roadmap was released late 2019 and let’s face it, quite some deadlines have been passed. Regardless, the dev team has made significant progress (and keep doing so) on a lot of features:

  • Improved display management
  • Extended controller support (currently in alpha, should be pushed to beta next week, some work needs to be done to fully support controllers’ vibrations). Besides, you’ll be able to choose how a controller is detected (ex: choosing for a PS4 controller to be detected as an Xbox controller)

A public roadmap will be released in 2020 in a much ergonomic way:

  • No dates
  • What the devs are working on
  • What will be released
  • What was released

Lately, with the Shadow box and Shadow Ghost both going through some instabilities after the recent updates, a huge effort will be put into how updates are brought to them (more consistent, more stable etc. = better experience)


Q&A

Q : When will the news tiers starts being activated?
A : No dates yet, but Six (shadow employee) should be coming in one of the next shadow news

Q: When will shadow be available in Canada?
A: We’ve been thinking about it for this year, but nothing official yet.

Q: Have the green screen issue been fixed?
A: Right now, the devs are trying to replicate it so they can efficiently push a fix

Q: Is Shadow data center near Paris?
A: Yes, close to Orly (around 18 kilometers from Paris)

Q: What about VR and Shadow?
A: We’ll have more information at the end of the month

Q: Any news about hiring?
A: No, not yet.

Q: Will we be able to change data center on the go in the near future?
A: We’ve been thinking about it for a while now, it’s in our internal roadmap though not a priority right now.

Q: Any news on HDR,5.1 and 4:4:4 coming to Shadow?
A: No, not yet.

Q: Will we be able to change from Tier to Tier?
A: Yes, absolutely.

Q: Is there a list of all 2K 144Hz screens somewhere?
A: I don’t know, but please tell us if you need it so we can make it.

Q: Is the issue with Origins games and mobile apps fixed?
A: The issue is not with Origins games, but with games included within the EA access offer. It should already be fixed on alpha or beta, in any case it will be fixed very soon.

Q: Do we get to keep our additional storage after the new tiers have been activated?
A: Yes, absolutely.

Q: Is the quick menu coming soon on the Shadow Ghost and Box?
A: We’re working on it but it won’t be released for a few months.

Q: What about improved display management on Android?
A: We’re still working on how to make it work, development should start with a month and a half.

Q: Are data center eco-friendly?
A: Yes, they are! It’s an everyday thinking process and effort to make them even more eco-friendly!