Hi, Clash Community. This post is on the more serious side, but one we felt was absolutely warranted to finally address in an official capacity some of what has been happening behind the scenes over the last month or so. On June 16th, 2025, Corporate Clash took a Development Pause, an unprecedented move for the crew in which we took time away from creating new content and working on the game in order to re-evaluate many aspects of the project and the structure of the team surrounding it. To clarify, crew members were allowed to continue to work on things if they wanted to during the Development Pause, but the break heavily suggested that we needed a stronger emphasis on restructuring and re-evaluating. Restructuring was already happening internally long before the pause, but we gave a big push to move progress in discussions if not towards conclusions, at least a large distance forward. The v1.11.6 update came out less than a week after the Development Pause was over, and we want to make sure the players know that we weren't rushing this out after this period was over. Crew members who worked on this update during the pause did so in order to, in a small way, give to the community a means to signify our way forward, as we seek a path forward that would be best for the team and the community at large. As of July 16th, the Development Pause has ended, and we've been getting back into the swing of things in full force. Much has changed and continues to do so, and we'd like to take the time to discuss the outcome of this pause, as well as what you can look forward to in the future both near and far!

Reshaping How We Lead

First and foremost, we need to address a major elephant in the room: Team Leadership. A major driving force behind the Development Pause was the recognition that our existing leadership structure had contributed towards an unhealthy environment. Decision making didn't always include everyone who should be involved in the discussion. Overall, cracks began to show in our culture both internally and externally, inhibiting our ability to move forward. The pause gave us the proper opportunity to not only acknowledge these issues, but take the time that was needed to begin repair. During this time, we discussed team-wide about who was in what roles, how these roles functioned, and what would best be needed for the team to have a cohesive vision. With several gaps needing to be filled around this time as well, we ultimately brought in many new individuals to Team Leadership, carefully chosen not just for their skills, but alignment with the values we aim to push forward the most for Corporate Clash going forward.

New Leadership has been formed from members across the team, including longtime contributors and those newer to the team, resulting in a structure that is balanced and more representative. The idea behind new leadership wasn't just to patch holes, but rather to lay new foundations. For Corporate Clash, we want to emphasize collaboration, communication, and respect across all parties. One of the most significant shifts that has occurred has been the re-introduction of a Co-Lead strategy across most departments, including Community, Technical, Moderation, and more. This approach encourages diversity of thought while also distributing responsibility in a much more sustainable way. We don't want to over rely on one key individual in any capacity, and are actively taking measures against repeating this mistake. Instead, we hope that shared ownership will increase our resilience and open the team to new opportunities. 

Even with the pause now over, change will continue to occur over the weeks and months to come. We don’t have all of the answers yet, but are confident in the changes that have been implemented thus far being an excellent jumping off point for our goals into the future. We are striving for a healthier work environment and community setting, with a leadership model that aids itself towards reflecting the values we believe in, which includes collaboration, communication, respect, and transparency. This continues to be a team-wide effort and something we are 100% all-in on. A distance had been created due to a lack of transparency,  and we hope to rebuild that and our trust within the crew and the community at large.

New Era, New Methods

Corporate Clash as a project is massive in scale, between the team, game, community, and beyond - as such a lot of people, parts, and systems make up what it is, with many longstanding methods and practices that have gotten us to where we are today. We have realized, however, that despite certain strategies having become ingrained as “the way things should be done”, we have learned that what may have worked at one point isn’t necessarily future-proof for the evolving needs of the community or the game. 

We recognized during the Development Pause that these established ways were not only sometimes no longer serving their purpose, but hindering progress. We lost sense of what makes Corporate Clash what it can be. At the same time, too much pressure was being put in certain areas, while others were left to stagnate. The opportunity to take a break to truly analyze our framework allowed us to recognize these issues and more in key areas, as we have (and continue!) to discuss as a team. In the past, team hierarchy often relied too much around one Team Lead or a smaller group of individuals to drive most of the major decisions. While this worked in some instances, more often than not it led to poor communication on key issues, and decision making that wasn’t aligned with the full team’s vision, and an issue to address across all departments. Beyond this, we have also been analyzing structure and considering where additional help and crew members may be needed to avoid strain and bring about proper attention. It’s crucial that everyone is heard, and that includes the community. The strength of Corporate Clash lies not only in its development but in the voices and contributions of everyone involved. When approaching future updates, we want to find a balance between content that has a strong emphasis on what is good for the overall health of the game and a level of high motivation to be worked on by developers on the crew, while also factoring in player feedback. We’ve also revisited our leaking policy, to one that’s handled more on a case-by-case basis. Malicious leaks will still be treated with full seriousness, but we recognize the old policy left many crew members afraid to speak publicly, even over harmless mistakes. This change aims to allow us to continue to protect the integrity of our work while enabling more direct and open communication by individual crew members. 

The Future and The Road Ahead

With everything that’s been said, there is a path forward for Corporate Clash, and a bright future in store. This is not an immediate adjustment, and much work still lies on the road ahead. We are more motivated than ever, and already in this short time have made great strides towards a healthier, more collaborative environment for both the team and the community. The changes we’ve implemented are just the beginning, and as we continue to rebuild and refine our approach, we’re confident that Corporate Clash will emerge stronger, more inclusive, and better-equipped. We will propel ourselves to new heights, putting ourselves in a healthier spot that may in turn lead to more consistent content releases and community initiatives!

As always, stay TOONed for more from here, but for now we’re getting back to work on everything we’ve discussed and more! Be on the look out as well for another blogpost soon that will dive deeper into the status of gameplay updates to come. Community feedback will also play a larger role going forward, and we have some surveys to send out soon in regards to that.

We’ll be keeping an eye on all of our social channels and Discord for any comments or feedback, or you can contact us directly via support@corporateclash.net!