Welcome to Skillshot City

[img src="https://i.imgur.com/ARkSHoA.gif"][/img]

Same game, new name. Gene Shift Auto has been renamed to Skillshot City!

I'll explain why below, but first want to reassure everyone that you'll keep all of your account progress. This is simply a name change, but the game itself is the same (apart from some spicy gameplay tweaks mentioned below). If you want to read why the name was changed and what it means for the future of this game, read on. Otherwise, skip to the changelog below to see the gameplay changes.

Check out the New Trailer

Why the Name Change?

The main reason for the new name is to align the name with the gameplay, and attract the right kind of players. Players who'll enjoy the high skill PvP combat that the game now features in 2025. The original name was chosen because Gene Shift Auto sounded a lot like Grand Theft Auto. This game does after all have cops, missions, cars, gangsters and more - and whenever I'd post the game online the most upvoted comment was always, without fail, something like "omg, this game looks just like GTA2!". So I took that as a good sign that GTA was the main selling point and something to base the name on.

[img src="https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/27528347/354e341632c312c0ae5858937f20676907b11f33.png"][/img]

However, after the game went F2P in 2022, this changed. Far more players started playing the game, and with these new players I got far more feedback. I got to observe what the much larger F2P playerbase actually cared about, and it wasn't the GTA stuff. The main thing players talk about now is the skills. The feedback is always about the skills. The combos, the synergies. What their skill build should be. What's broken, what needs a buff, how to improve the skill drafting system, etc.

It became clear to me that while GTA2 makes for great screenshots and gets lots of comments online, it's not what actually keeps players in the game. Cops and missions are fun, but they're not where the replayabilty lies. They are simply a source of XP for what the game is really about - the skills. It no longer make senses to attract GTA2 fans if they're going to have "seen it all" after a few matches.

[img src="https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/27528347/6f3fbf207da562f9474bae5dacf31e9ea98a7ab1.png"][/img]

Instead, we want a name that attracts high-skill PvP fans. Fans who like creating combos, getting flashy kills, mastering their build, and outplaying enemies. This is where the replayability of the game lies - not the cops and missions. This is what keeps you playing 100+ matches as you unlock and discover thousands of new and broken combos.

And so, the name is now Skillshot City! This new name clearly has strong PvP vibes it attracgt PvP gamers. It puts a focus on the skills and the flashy skillshots you often use to win!

This will attract more PvP gamers who would actually love this game, if they had only known to check it out in the first place. Now they will. We'll fill up our servers with fresh competition and get new voices in our community. Ultimately, this will get us more players, and help prepare the game for the v1.0 release.

[img src="https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/27528347/e677a6562684570c6d6ae03cb17c22b501b3f006.png"][/img]

What's Next?

The main focus now going forward is preparing for the big v1.0 release. After many years in Early Access, Skillshot City is a complete game that delivers hundreds of hours of fun for the right kind of gamer - the kind of gamer we will now be attracting. So my focus will be contacting streamers, the press, preparing marketing assets, and so on.

I want to make the game as fun as possible, and the single best way to do that now is to just get us more players. More hype, fuller servers, more voices in the community, etc. This name change is the first step towards this, but I'll be spending the next few months really ramping up the exposure of the game. So now would be a great time to hop online and get involved in this new growing community!

Happy skillshotting! bencelot.

[img src="https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/27528347/4d362f68630c6f14dd24125f4a343afd45177395.png"][/img]

Full Changelog

[GAMEPLAY CHANGES]

- Heart drops now come every 60s instead of every 30s.

- There is +1 heart drop during overtime.

- Hearts give 10/20/30xp based on the round.

- Players with high kill streaks now drop extra cash when killed. This now goes up to a 20x streak, which will drop $10,000.

- Slightly more gangsters spawn in the map.

- Gangsters now explode in a larger radius (now the same size as explosive crates).

[CLASS CHANGES]

- As a scientist, every vendor is guaranteed to sell chemicals if you don't yet own a chemical.

- Scavenger's copy coin no longer duplicates Syringes.

[SKILL BUFFS]

- Asssassinate slightly prioritizes players with high bounties.

- The skill duration tag now applies to Combo Killer's mutation, allowing for even longer infinite shifting.

- Mirror Image's clone health is now a percentage of your max health, ranging from 20 to 34%.

- Shift Attack's mutation now restores more ammo per shift, ranging from 8 to 32% instead of 6 to 24%.

- Frenzy cooldown is 1s faster.

- Automatic Armor recharges every 10 instead of 12 seconds.

- Smoke Bomb's mutation doesn't throw health kits quite as far away, making them easier for the owner to collect.

- Shift Supply mutation reworked. It no longer restores shifts when you touch jump pads or XP Pools. Instead: Shift Supply now boosts your move speed for 1s after shifting, by +8/16/24/32%

- Beefcake now gives 10 to 90 max hp instead of 8 to 72 max hp, but it makes you even larger.

- Falling Inferno molotov duration boost is now +3/6/9/12 instead of +2/4/6/8.

- Force Field's mutation now gives +12/24/36/48 damage instead of +10/20/30/40.

- Gunslinger's reload speed is now +20-90% instead of +10-45%.

- Manic Mechanic now also gives +10-45 xp per car destroyed

- Flying Dagger now has +6 range and speed

[SKILL NERFS]

- Blade Fury slashing DPS now scales based on level, ranging from 50 to 120 (instead of fixed at 100 hp/s).

- Venom Shot mutation healing now ranges from 20 to 80% instead of 25 to 100%.

- Clip Magnet now takes 6s longer to fully charge up a clip (the mutation however is unaffected).

- Energy Vortex cooldown is 1s slower.

- Mana Shield duration after casting skills is now 2.5 instead of 3.0s.

- Toxic Blood's mutation now ranges from 8 to 32 hp/s instead of 10 to 40hp/s.

- Flaming Bullets no longer has the duration tag on it (just gets too busted especially with the mutation).

- Proxmity Rounds now deal +7 instead of +8 damage per shot.

- Laser Scope's extra range is now 2/4/6/8 instead of 3/6/9/12.

- Phase Drifting's healing mutation is now 8-32 instead of 10-40 hp/s.

- Shockwave cooldown is now 2s longer.

[MODIFIER CHANGES]

- Skill Reloader modifier has been replaced with a new modifier called: Drug Stash. Capturing gangster loot has a 50% chance to give +1 bonus syringe.

- Healing Pools now restores 50 instead of 40 hp/s inside XP pools

- Impact Zone now gives +40% instead of +33% blast size to explosives

- Mega Missions now gives 4x instead of 3x for the first mission of the match

- Shell Shot now gives shotguns +70% instead of +50% range

- Air Supplies drops even more loot

- Bob Boxman has a 50% chance to spawn civs inside crates

- Bombflation drops 5 instead of 3 of that grenade type for killing a cop

- Cluster Cars fires out 6 instead of 4 bazookas when destroying cars

- Broken Barrier changed slightly. Players now respawn with 40% barrier, but they don't regenerate.

- King of the Pool has even fewer XP Pools

- Rest & Reload now gives +100% reload speed when standing still instead of +50%

- Skill Scan reveals enemies for 10s instead of 5s after using a skill

- Augmentation gives +5 instead of +4% gun DMG when buying upgrades

- Bomb Rush boosts your move speed for 15s instead of 10s

- Chemical Chaos spawns 2x more chemicals in the map

- Damage Drops now makes vendors drop 2 instead of 1 double damage loot

- Life Guards now spawn a gangster next to EVERY XP pool instead of only half of them

- Shield Steal now restores 35% instead of 30% of damage done to enemies

- 360 No Scopes now gives +36 instead of +25 damage per shot

- Hide & Heal gives 3s instead of 2s of invisibility

- Open Wounds now slows now regen above 50% instead of 60% health

- Sonic Boom makes you travel 10x instead of 6x further when shifting