Before it decided to milk (no pun intended) its Goat Simulator franchise, Coffee Stained Studios had a different reputation – it was known for Sanctum, a tower defense game that actually contained first person shooter elements. Sanctum 2 was the developer’s last stab at the series and it’s currently available on the Humble Bundle Store for free. Better hurry though as the deal expires by November 25th.

In Sanctum 2, players can choose form four different characters, each with their abilities and weapons to choose from. Players can choose different weapons, unlock perks for different advantages, select their own towers and ultimately decide how to deploy them against waves of enemies.

This all in an effort to protect the ever so-valuable core but watch out – the enemy has its own special unit types and bosses to stop you. Along with a meaty campaign, Sanctum 2 also support four player co-op. If you’ve never tried it before, then now is as good a time as any.

Though it’s been more in the news lately for Goat Simulator, Coffee Stained Studios’ Sanctum 2 – a tower defense first person shooter hybrid – was a stand-out title in 2013. While the game was successful on PC, it didn’t do as well on consoles and as one developer from the studio Johannes Aspeby says on Gamasutra, ultimately ended up putting pressure on the studio.

“In retrospect the console ports were a bad idea — we’ve made about 95 percent of our revenue from PC, so having a day 1 port is not something we want to do again. We’re still unsure of why we sold so much more on Steam than on consoles, but if we’d take a guess we’d say that it could be because visibility is much easier to get on Steam with daily deals, free weekends, etc, compared to consoles, where we got pretty much no visibility at all.

Aspeby said the returns from the console versions as “hasn’t been anywhere near the work” that was put into it and that the low sales were “very demoralizing” the studio.

“One of our arguments for continuing working on the DLC was that we already had done so much work for it. Before we knew sales we had started setting everything up for DLC since we thought we were going to strike gold. Or at least find a silver vein. In retrospect we should just have looked at the figures and seen that the work wasn’t going to pay off and killed our darling with a hatchet.”

Hopefully, if a Sanctum 3 happens, Coffee Stained Studios will concentrate all their efforts on the PC version above all.

Sanctum 2, Coffee Stain Studio’s unique first person shooter/tower defense hybrid, is getting the third of its four planned DLC expansion packs, The Pursuit, on Steam today. The Pursuit picks up the story from where Ruins of Brightholme left off, new weapons, tower options, perks, and a slew of new features.

The new additions include four new maps, two new weapons (the grenade launcher and the drone launcher), Towers of Power (two new towers power-up the available defensive options.  The Friendship Laser fires a single-shot laser and will also channel laser power to neighboring Friendship Laser towers, amplifying damage against monsters, while the Mind Control Spire changes enemies into allies that attack other monsters for a few seconds) as well as significantly beefed up enemies.

The Pursuit is available for $3.99 on Steam, or for free to players who bought the $11.99 Season Pack. To celebrate its release, The Sanctum will be available for 75% off on Steam.

Anton Westberg, CEO of Coffee Stain Studios, stated that, “We had a lot of fun developing this segment of the Sanctum 2 storyline. With The Pursuit, we wanted to make it even more action oriented as players chase down an arch enemy. I think the thrilling hunt combined with the cool new options make this one of the more entertaining DLC updates.”

New weapons this time include the Grenade Launcher, which fires bouncing explosives and cluster grenades, and the Drone Launcher, which can either send drones to attack enemies or simply crash into them for explosion purposes. The two new towers include the Friendship Laser and Mind Control Spire, along with seven new perks including the Zeus Module. You’ll also come across tougher enemies including the Heavy Pup and flying Bliskeblaske which will transform depending on the amount of damage it’s taken. Finally, there will be four new maps.

Sanctum 2: The Pursuit will retail for $4.99 on PC, with a release date still pending.

In other words, a license for pandemonium.

PR Manager & Game Designer for Coffee Stain Studios Armin Ibrisagic stated that, “We continually want to improve our game based on feedback we get from our community. Sanctum 2 is our biggest project yet, so we want to make it as great as possible with help from our player base. It’s our way of thanking players for supporting us!”

Sanctum 2 is currently available for $14.99 on PC, with the DLC season pass retailing for $11.99.

Road to Elysion adds on to the already wealthy campaign of Sanctum 2 with four new maps, the new Range Spire and the Slow Field Dispenser turrents that allow you to strengthen your tactics further, more powerful enemies that can mutate in the middle of battle along with a new flying boss, a new playable character with TSYGAN – who packs a Ballista – and of course, six new perks.

Pick up the Road to Elysion on Steam today – it’s only $3.99 – or purchase the Season Pass which gives you access to all four DLC packs at a reduced rate.

Lead Designer Oscar Jilsen stated that, “The DLCs for Sanctum 2 will be much more substantial and larger compared to the DLCs for the first Sanctum. You will see new maps, enemies, perks, weapons, towers, and even a new playable character once in a while. Our goal with the DLCs for Sanctum 2 is to add more replayability and more mind-blowing madness for our biggest fans!”

Road to Elysion will feature TSYGAN, a new playable character with a dark backstory; new weapons, including the Gatling Laser; New Towers, such as the Range Spire for increasing range of all nearby offensive towers; four new maps; new more powerful enemies that can mutate the horde; a new flying boss; and six new perks including a robot companion that will fight alongside the hero.

CEO Anton Westberg stated, “We built Sanctum 2 from the ground up, creating stunning visuals while keeping everything that players loved from the original. We then added more characters, more enemies, more bosses, more levels, more weapons and more towers to make Sanctum 2 bigger, better and badder than we ever imagined.”

Sanctum 2 features 16 new maps in four worlds along with three new playable characters – Haigen, Sweet, and SiMo – joining previous defender Skye. The game also features new customization and progression systems along with four player co-op, perks and new “Feats of Strength”.

While the PSN version is still due to come out, eager gamers can net Sanctum 2 for $14.99 on PC and 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live.

The original game ran on Unreal Engine 3 so it’s a given that Sanctum 2 will as well. Announced last year itself, Sanctum 2 will be hitting PCs and Mac OS X this Summer. Stay tuned for more details.

The game features 4 player co-op and deep customization. It will be available on Steam, XBLA and PSN later this year.

It’s a tower defense game you have to construct and upgrade defensive structures. The game will be published by Reverb Publishing.

“We’re always searching for great games from passionate developers, particularly studios that have innovative ideas that get us excited to play them,” said Ted Lange, executive producer, Reverb Publishing.

“We all have logged quite a few hours with Sanctum and can definitively say that what Coffee Stain has in store for Sanctum 2 will blow the minds of Sanctum fans and new gamers alike.”

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