Ghosts of Tabor

Launched in App Lab in March 2023, Combat Waffle Studios and Beyond Frames Entertainment’s Ghosts of Tabor has since grown to become one of the hottest First-Person Shooter (FPS) games in the Meta Horizon Store. Immersing players in tactical, extraction-based combat, Ghosts of Tabor incorporates a mix of player-versus-environment (PVE) and player-versus-player (PVP) combat to bring a fresh perspective on a classic genre.

As a result of intentional and strategic community building, the studio’s user base skyrocketed while fostering a vibrant user community where players interact with each other and the game’s developers on a variety of channels.

Combat Waffle brought in testers early in the development cycle to better understand areas for improvement and share Ghosts of Tabor’s development journey with players. CPU and GPU bottlenecks presented pain points and were the biggest challenges in delivering high-fidelity graphics that would hold up during times of intense action and player interactions. To overcome performance hurdles, the team relied on RenderDoc (PC | MAC) to attain in-depth rendering data that allowed them to pinpoint and address changes that were causing issues as new features were added. By sharing early versions of the game with a wide audience, the team was able to scale iteration on the go and make measured progress while forming a foundation of highly engaged fans whose inputs would be directly reflected in the finished product.

To connect more deeply with its community and engage players on their favorite social platforms, Combat Waffle launched a consistent, multi-channel strategy centered on active participation in its Discord server. This allowed players to interact directly with the game’s developers, creating a fast-paced feedback loop that enabled quicker updates and kept a tight pulse on user sentiment.

Consistent use of platforms like TikTok, X and Instagram offered new players an exciting glimpse into the thrilling, competitive and often hilarious interactions they could experience in the game. Encouraging players to share their own gameplay ignited a flood of game content, rapidly expanding the audience and showcasing what makes Ghosts of Tabor truly special. Combat Waffle’s grassroots approach to content creation involved working with in-house team members rather than outsourcing, which in turn allowed them to utilize insights from their community and ensure the content being produced aligned with their vision and expectations from the player community.