Clash of Clans UX Lead Admits Hero Journey Rollout Error

Rafael “Rafa” Lima, the user-experience designer for Clash of Clans, acknowledged the team “dropped the ball” on the Hero Journey rollout and confirmed the feature was meant to help newer and returning players access Epic Equipment. He spoke during the first episode of a developer interview series, following a recent blog post that outlined the migration and a patch for a rewards bug.

Lima outlined the problem the update aimed to address. Internal data showed roughly 30% of players at Town Hall 8 and above did not own any Epic Equipment, while about 0.5% of the overall player base had maxed Heroes. Hero Journey was built primarily as a catch-up mechanic to give those accounts a clearer path to unlocking and using Epic Equipment.

Lima acknowledged shortcomings in how the feature was rolled out. Communication around the migration was limited, and a temporary reward storage system created pressure for some players to use items within 24 hours. He said parts of the implementation could have been handled better and that the team will try to share information about future systems earlier so players can understand and prepare.

Supercell has already applied a fix for the rewards bug and published a blog post explaining how the migration works. The studio does not plan to reverse the migration, Lima confirmed, but described Hero Journey as the first phase in a broader plan for Hero progression and the ore economy.

On future changes, Lima said additional ore-economy improvements are already in development. He declined to provide firm dates or a full feature list but outlined several lines of work under consideration: adding more opportunities to earn ores through gameplay, increasing ore rewards in events, and creating more cost-effective acquisition methods without erasing progress for long-time players. He also suggested Ore Chests could be introduced to other parts of the game over time, similar to how regular Chests were later made available through more activities.

Lima indicated more developer interviews are scheduled in the coming weeks, during which the studio expects to discuss other gameplay systems and roadmap details. The interview and the earlier blog post are part of Supercell’s response to community questions about the update; both materials present the studio’s rationale for Hero Journey and note that further tweaks to the ore economy and Hero progression are planned.