Diode Arena pitch deck

By Ward Dehairs, September 1, 2023

What follows is a pitch deck for Diode Arena, which was originally made for GDBay

The idea of Diode Arena

Design, build and pilot vehicles with wildly varying movement abilities and weapons, then use them in online cross-platform PvP matches. Earn cash and unlock the tech tree to get new parts, build better, faster, stronger vehicles and advance through the tiers.

Vehicle construction & online combat, in the style of FPS
For PC, future console ports are possible.
Premium game, entry price of around $15
Additional monetization in the future, cosmetic items and bonuses (without direct gameplay advantages)
Nearly ready for first release, with ongoing development planned as players come
Made with Unity game engine.
Makes use of Photon Fusion networking and Playfab

Inspiration

The main source of inspiration is Robocraft:
A game based on the same concept: build vehicles, fight online matches. Robocraft was very popular in 2015 but has since then lLost a lot of audience due to questionable design decisions; many people want to relive the experience of 2015 RC. Additional problems existed in the game back then such as a shallow competitive aspect, bugs and exploits.

Game pillars

Diode Arena is designed to provides a competitive experience that is easy to learn but difficult to master, making it attractive as an e-sport
The game is built around a relatively unique concept combining creativity with skill. This is bolstered by its unique art-style and title
Provides the positive sides of an old school Robocraft experience that many players are still looking for

Core game and meta game

The game consists of 2 main loops: building and combat.
After losing a match the player has to assess;
Was there a problem in their build? -> Update the build, then continue
Did they make mistakes in the action? -> Continue with the same build
Players acquire freemium currency and vouchers, they use these to unlock new tech, buy more parts and progress through the game.
Builds are split into 6 different ‘tiers’, which act like weight classes. Game modes are linked to tiers to prevent spreading the player base too thinly

Game mechanics

Builder

Cosmetics and skins (monetization)

Part shop

Offline practice

Online combat

Art

Timeline

In development since June of 2022 (nearly 1 and a half years)
Most tricky-to-implement features are ready. Only remaining features critical to release: game backend (Playfab) and some additional maps and visuals, this will take 10-30 working days for our current team
Budget should support a 3-man dev team for a year, so at least $100.000, BUT! We need marketing to create a player base and sustain a primarily online game!
Game is set to release on Kontrol, new game platform being developed by Aquatik Studios