INTRODUCTION

Hello hunters! This article traces the development of mo.co right up to its global launch! We’ve done our best to gather all the information we could and organised it by date! So, as you read, you’ll be able to see how the game has progressed! This is a new format for us, so please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!

THE HISTORY OF MO.СO - HOW THE GAME MADE ITS WAY TO A GLOBAL LAUNCH

October 2023

11th - Supercell has published a new blog post in which it discusses its new game, mo.co. In the post, Supercell invites US players who use Android devices to join the game’s beta test, which is set to begin in late October 2023.

25th - The beta version of mo.co is launching in the US for Android users! Later, one of the game’s developers, Max, will note that the game may run slowly if you’re playing outside the US, and that if the game appears pixelated, this is due to your device. Beta test will be available from October 25th to November 6th

31st - To mark Halloween, mo.co organised an interesting event: you had to show off your Halloween costume to receive a Google Play code granting access to the game’s beta!

In October, mo.co also introduces us to its three founders: Luna, Jax and Manny

November 2023

6-7th - The game’s beta test has ended. To mark the occasion, the developers are conducting a survey asking for everything from basic information (your age, how often you play games) to more specific details (whether you took part in the beta test, which of the company’s games you’ve played) and so on.

After this post, there will be no further news about mo.co until 6 February 2024! There will be no official posts or announcements before that date.

February 2024

6th - Max, community manager for the game, posts a lengthy thread on Reddit in which he shares the game’s future plans. Following a successful beta, the team has announced its plans for 2024: improvements to content, technology and key features-quests, skins, PvP, social features and endgame content. Players will be updated on progress at least once a month, and testers are being recruited via the game’s Discord server.

March 2024

1st - The first mo.co KPI (Key Portal Insights) is released - the first monthly development update.

Over the past month, the team has completed the most challenging milestone of the year - the Early Game & Quest System:

• New tutorial - added the “City” map, where the player fends off a monster invasion and rescues civilians. Now there is an answer to the question “why am I hunting monsters?”

  

• Quest system - main quests from the three founders of mo.co (Luna, Jax, Manny) and side quests have been added. Everything is accessible via the in-game phone, which also features chats with characters that reveal the storyline

  

• Map - quest objectives are now visible on the map and mini-map (if not too far away)

  

• Gears - a visual redesign of all equipment

  

Challenges: the quest system was reworked several times; the FTUE took longer than planned; we had to delve deeper into the game’s overall lore.

13th - mo.сo introduces us to new NPCs who will help us hunt monsters: The Support Cat, The Engineer, The Field Researcher, The Tactical Dog

25th - mo.сo announces that players can ask questions about the game. It later turns out this was necessary for the KPI, which will be released in early April.

April 2024

5th - mo.co KPI #2 - a more modest update than the first: milestone with FTUE has been delayed, so no new features have been announced yet.

What was revealed:

• Skins - there will be themed collections (dragons, cyberpunk, mechs, etc.), bonuses for completing collections, and different ways to obtain them.
• Mounts - three new ones were revealed: Shadow, Drake, Lizard.

  

• Modules - Passive Gadgets were renamed to Modules, with a new design.

Q&A highlights:

• No release date, focus on quality.
• The team has 34 members, and is growing.
• PvP and PvE will be separate; PvP is not required for progression.
• Monetization: mo.co+, skins, in-game currency, gear packs.
• PC version and controller - planned, but not soon.
• Endgame - the team's most anticipated feature, details later.

12th - mo.сo reveals a new weapon, the Staff of good Vibe. When attacking, it heals friends and attacks enemies, and every 10 attacks, it creates a large circle around itself, healing friends and attacking enemies.

17th - mo.co reveals a new weapon, the Toothpick and Shield. Take 30% less damage from all sources. Poke the Toothpick to deal damage in an area in front of you. After taking 15 hits, your next attack is an area-of-effect strike that damages and stuns monsters.

24th - mo.co once again shows off a new weapon - Squid Blades. Repeatedly stab a single enemy at close range. Stop attacking to fill the invisibility bar. When invisible, your next attack dashes towards the closest enemy, dealing 30x damage.

May 2024

1st - mo.co shows concepts of 4 new gears: Wasp Sword, CPU Bomb, Dummy, Bomb Cluster

10th - mo.co KPI #3 - a comprehensive update, the main theme is the skin system.

Merch Machine (skin system):

• Skins, mount skins, and emotes are now called "Merch"
• Unlocking via merch tokens - spin them like a toy machine, drop rates are displayed
• Tokens are obtained from Job Chests (daily quests) or purchased in the store

Economy - simplified:

• Premium merch tokens and mo.coins have been removed - fewer currencies
• Merch Tokens are only available through Job Chests and the store
• Chaos Cubes are now a purely premium currency for gear, no longer farmable

New content:

• New Garden City map in Dragon World - a green location with waterfalls (and monsters)

  

• New emotes and outfit concepts
• All three module slots are now available from the start
• Improved monster AI - they can retreat to heal and attack in pairs
• Targeting: Experimenting with lock-on system, but abandoned it-it turned out to be inconvenient and less dynamic.

The next milestone is End Game (decided to do it earlier than planned).

15th - mo.сo is looking for artists who can draw costumes! The rules are shown in the image below - the deadline is June 5th.

June 2024

6th - The outfit concept contest is now open. Join the game's Discord server and vote for the skin!

13th - mo.co KPI #4 - main topic: endgame (Elite Hunter Program).

How the endgame works:

• Reach the chapter's max level → unlock the Elite Hunter Program
• Chapters last a few months, each bringing new content and a higher max level
• At the end of a chapter, Elite Level, Energy Cores, and consumables reset - but you keep all your merch

  

Core Elite Hunter Program features:

• Elite Tasks - complete challenges (hunt 100 bosses, finish a dungeon in under 2 min, etc.) → earn Elite Tokens
• Elite Hunter Shop - spend tokens on exclusive cosmetics and resources
• Chaos Difficulty - harder versions of open world maps, monsters drop Chaos Resources
• Energy Cores - new gear type crafted from Chaos Resources, grants bonuses to speed, crit chance, etc.
• Smoothies - crafted in your apartment's blender, give a powerful temporary boost for 15 sec (6 min cooldown)
• Elite Leaderboard - ranking based on total Elite Tokens earned

  

Emblems - a visual level indicator that never resets, even when a new chapter begins.

Gear Score - a new gear rating system replacing raw DPS, designed to encourage diverse builds.

Break: the team is heading on vacation, next KPI drops in September.

20th - Outfit Contest results. Four outfits won, with the final two sharing third place. All outfit concepts will be included in the game when it launches globally.

The developers will stop publishing sneak peeks and other information until September. In July and August, the team will share concepts for various outfits with players!

September 2024

13th - mo.co KPI #5 - the big news: a complete overhaul of the gear upgrade system.

RIP Printer - new system:

• All materials, the printer, and resource grinding are gone
• Gear is now upgraded via Chaos Cores - dropped by chaos monsters, randomly upgrading one of your gears
• Job Chests also grant upgrades, but with a choice between two options - giving you a bit more control over the randomness

Why they removed materials:

1. Less grind → more fun
2. Monetization shifts fully to cosmetics, removing pay-to-progress
3. Simplifies the economy and gives more flexibility for Live Ops events

Everything else:

• New location The Swamps in Bug World - dark, swampy vibes

  

• World 3 teased - sneak peeks coming soon
• The whole Supercell office is playtesting the latest build
• Open positions: Community Manager, UI/UX Artist, QA Tester

Next KPI - finally, details on PvP.

20th - Feedback response to KPI #5 - the team addresses community concerns about the new gear system.

The situation:

• Mixed reactions across the board - both internally (Supercell-wide playtest) and in the community
• External creators and a small player research group are also giving feedback
• No final verdict yet, but the team is actively listening

Main concerns acknowledged:

• Player agency - the new system feels too random, not enough control
• Repeatability - no specific monsters to farm = less reason to revisit content, fewer organic player interactions

What they're planning:

• Gear Chests - let you choose which gear to upgrade (details still WIP)
• More events, daily missions, bounties tied to hunting specific monsters
• Goal: keep randomness as the base, but layer player agency on top

Their reasoning:

• Old system was 100% player-driven but caused casual players to easily "play the wrong way" and stop progressing - leading to churn
• New system helps casual players progress naturally, but currently swings too far in that direction
• They want a balance that works for both casual and hardcore players

Bottom line: if feedback and playtests come back negative, they'll revert to the old system without hesitation. If mostly positive, they'll keep refining. Either way, they're not sitting on it for years - they want to get the game out.

October 2024

25th - mo.co KPI #6 - playtest results and a big PvP reveal.

Playtest results:

The new meta stays, but with improvements. What worked: art, music, combat mechanics, co-op. What they're fixing:

• Lack of agency → more Gear Chests with more upgrade options
• Repetitiveness → new open world events: Boss Hunts (chase a boss around the map), van defense mode (protect your van from waves of chaos monsters)
• Progression → "rested" XP system (multiplies XP at the start of each day), some gears and map unlocks now tied to level
• Endgame → improved Elite Hunter Mode, small permanent progress carrying over between chapters

Monetization: cosmetics only - and the team is fully committed to making it work.

PvP - four modes:

• Lone Ranger - 20 players, 3 minutes, collect shards from monsters, steal shards from other players
• Double Trouble - same, but 10 teams of 2
• Four Fighters - 2 teams of 4, smaller map, faster spawns, there's a boss
• Group Hunt - 10v10, pure chaos

  

Gear is capped to each mode's level limit, no amplifiers allowed.

The big one: the next test is for the community - Q1 2025. And yes, you'll keep your progress this time.

December 2024

7th - The Final KPI - year-end wrap-up and a look at what's coming in Q1 2025.

What the team has been working on:

• Events → limited-time events with community goals and free rewards; two new passes: Events Pass (cosmetics, XP, Gear Chests) and Elite Hunter Pass (exclusive shop items)
• Merch → hundreds of cosmetics in the pipeline; added Collection Level and Titles system
• Meta → Elite Hunters now earn small permanent power buffs that carry over between chapters; meta has been feeling solid after 3+ months of internal testing
• Social → more communication and teaming tools; new Cool Zone - a social hub to hang out, show off gear, and test DPS on dummies
• In-game surveys → immersive feedback system built directly into the game
• Servers, support, planning → all being prepped for launch

RIP KPIs:

KPIs are done as a format, but transparency isn't going anywhere. Once the game launches, communication shifts to a new format - more community content, Q&As, Reddit/Discord engagement.

New social handles: everything moves to @joinmoco across YouTube, X, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit (r/joinmoco).

Bottom line: one final internal playtest over the holidays, then straight into Q1 2025 - and you'll get to play.

That's it! It's important to note that there was virtually no official news before the game's release in March. The only thing worth noting is that on February 24, 2025, dataminers leaked the mo.co date-March 18-along with a mention that the game would be available in the Supercell Store.

March 2025

4th - Max announces that he is leaving his position as the game's community manager and also hints that the game will be released in the first quarter of the year.

13th - A new community manager has been found - Joao Freitas, who remains the manager to this day.

14th - Official youtubers received the final version of mo.co. The final build of the game began being sent to official YouTubers to prepare a video for the mo.co release announcement.

17th - KairosTime confirmed that mo.co is going GLOBAL on March 18, 2025

18th - mo.co became GLOBAL for everyone

This is the story of Mo.Ko before its global release. Tell us in the comments which event during this period surprised you the most! The next major update for the game will be released 14 months after the global release - on May 21, 2026.