VERTICAL SLICE
A focused, production-quality playable piece of the Heroes & Generals Unreal Engine 5 Rebuild.
What Is a Vertical Slice?
A vertical slice is a small part of a larger game built deeply enough to show how the finished experience is intended to come together. It is not meant to contain everything. It is meant to prove that the core experience can work as one cohesive piece.
For the Heroes & Generals Unreal Engine 5 Rebuild, that means taking the movement, weapon handling, art, assets, environment work, animation, audio, and supporting gameplay systems developed and validated throughout Stage 1 and bringing them together in one focused playable experience.
Original Heroes & Generals screenshot by Reto-Moto. Shown for reference only and does not represent
current Insight Interactive development footage
Why Are We Building One?
Rebuilding all of Heroes & Generals at once would mean trying to solve movement, weapons, vehicles, environments, gameplay systems, networking, progression, and many other problems at the same time.
Our approach is to reduce that risk by validating the foundation first, then bringing those pieces together in a controlled scope.
The Vertical Slice gives us a clear target: one recognizable piece of Heroes & Generals developed deeply enough to evaluate how the rebuild feels when its systems are no longer isolated from one another.
It is intended to provide a meaningful proof point for the team, the community, creators, potential development partners, and future production planning.
The Milestone That Concludes Stage 1
Stage 1 is the foundation and validation phase of the rebuild. Its purpose is to answer individual development questions before the project expands into broader production.
The completed Vertical Slice will mark the conclusion of Stage 1 by bringing those validated pieces together into a much more complete and presentable playable experience.
Stage 1 asks whether the individual pieces can work.
The Vertical Slice asks whether they can work together.
Planned Vertical Slice Scope
The current planned scope is deliberately limited. The goal is not to represent the entire future game. The goal is to build one focused section deeply enough to prove the direction of the larger rebuild.
Factions
United States vs Germany
Map
Samrée Depot — also known as Depot Encounter, or simply Depot.
Weapons
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M1 Garand
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Thompson
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MP40
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Gewehr 43
Mobility
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One civilian truck as the planned motor vehicle.
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Bicycles available around the map for additional traversal.
Core Infantry Gameplay
Movement, weapon handling, combat, traversal, map flow, environment work, art, assets, animation, audio, and the supporting systems needed to bring the experience together.
Why Samrée Depot?
Samrée Depot gives us a recognizable Heroes & Generals environment while keeping the scope controlled enough to focus on quality.
Rather than building a large battlefield simply to demonstrate scale, Depot gives us a contained environment where movement, gunplay, traversal, art, assets, transportation, atmosphere, and map flow can all be evaluated together.
Its familiarity also makes it easier to judge whether the rebuild is capturing the identity and feel players remember from Heroes & Generals.
Original Heroes & Generals screenshot by Reto-Moto. Shown for reference only and does not represent
current Insight Interactive development footage
What the Vertical Slice Is Not
The Vertical Slice is intentionally limited in scope. It is:
Not the full game.
Not Early Access.
Not a public alpha.
Not the complete strategic war.
Not the complete progression and unlock system.
Not every faction, map, weapon, or vehicle planned for the future.
Its purpose is to build one recognizable piece of Heroes & Generals deeply enough to prove the direction of the larger rebuild.
Where Are We Now?
The full Vertical Slice has not yet entered full production. Current Stage 1 work is building and validating the systems, assets, and production foundation that will feed into it.
You have already seen parts of that foundation through our movement validation tests, MP40 animation testing, and ongoing asset development. Work continues across weapon animation and handling, art and asset development, environment and visual testing, technical preparation, and the development pipeline needed to support the next phase.
As Stage 1 continues, those individual pieces will gradually move from isolated testing toward integration. The Vertical Slice is where they are intended to become one experience.
What Happens After the Vertical Slice?
The Vertical Slice is not the finish line. It is intended to become a major proof point for what comes next.
A successful slice would give Insight Interactive a much stronger foundation for broader production planning, development partnerships, funding discussions, community feedback, and decisions about how the rebuild should expand beyond Stage 1.
The exact shape and timing of the next phase will depend on what we learn from the slice, the resources available, and the partnerships needed to move forward responsibly.
