- Map Maker rework won’t be available anytime soon in Brawl Stars.
- Buffies will continue to evolve with more plans ahead.
- The team is rethinking about progression systems like Records and Mega Pig.
After a long delay, Brawl Stars is back with their beloved “Time to Explain” podcast, where players and content creators from the community can ask any questions about the game and the devs addresses them. They’ve now released a new one, following the September 2024 one, covering topics such as Buffies, and more.
We have highlighted the key points from this podcast to help you grasp what you can expect in the future and the game developer’s insight on the current state of the game, and more.
Addressing Buffies and their long term cost
The devs explained that Buffies were never designed in isolation, and they also shared some graphs to showcase increased playtime, retention, and also a low churn rate. This gave them confidence that Buffies are reviving the game and they admitted that these acts as chase items, something Gears couldn’t be despite being more balanced and cheap.
They also emphasized that the pricing wasn’t just random but they planned it out keeping the next three years in mind. The goal is to bring more Buffies in future along with new features and events. I mean, they know what they’re doing, and I believe in their long-term vision. Check our Buffies article for more idea.
The future of Mega Pig and club engagement
According to them, Mega Pig was introduced to fix the low engagement of Club League by making the rewards more accessible to casual players. While this system saw success, the team also admitted that the novelty has worn off and the rewards don’t feel unique, especially with the new Sushi, Chaos Drops, and more.
They also clarified that the Club League rewards were spread across Starr Drops instead of just removing them. This did inflate the economy for casuals, though the impact was less on us hardcore players’ progression. Honestly, though the rewards not available in one single place, they are still super cool.
Records did not land as the team expected
It was nice to see the team admitting that Records didn’t perform well and even they weren’t happy about it like us fans. Their internal data revealed that Records failed to increase playtime and retention as they expected, and it underperformed just like Masteries which it replaced.
The issue is that Masteries only targeted the dedicated players who keeps playing without the thought of leaving the game. And, Records also followed a similar path, while also locking the rewards behind the system which was also pretty lackluster. The good thing is the team is working on a new approach.
Claw Machine relying on RNG and plans for improvements
So, when they tried removing all random rewards back in 2022, there was a serious drop in players’ retention which almost ended the game. And it’s totally understandable as they bring the surprise factor to the table, although most of their value is same as the normal rewards. This is why they’ve even added it in the Claw Machine.
That said, they also agree that the machine is currently too random, which is why they revealed plans for a lucky pull mechanic during the podcast. Thanks to this, every once in a while you can directly choose a Buffie you want. You can check our December 2025 Brawl Talk for more idea on Claw Machine.
It’s 2026 and Map Maker rework is still uncertain
Unfortunately, although they’ve properly discusses about the Map Maker, they’ve not yet landed on a design they think is worth fully committing on. While it is still very popular, the team do believe it has more potential than what it is. They just think it’s not the right time to take a big risk, but the rework will definitely happen.
Why voice chat is still a sensitive topic in Brawl Stars
I love the voice chat features in games I play, and I want it in Brawl Stars too. But that’s not the case for the team. They’ve internally discussed it many times but its the serious safety concerns that’s holding them. To keep the game as a safe space, they’ll need to add various new systems, and not just the a simple voice chat function.
So, the podcast was quite lengthy, and they also touched more topics like reason for introducing new monetization features in Updates, release plan for Buffies, and more. I suggest you go through the podcast if you’re interested in any of the topics discussed.
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