Heatwave Interactive has released a Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising State of the Republic Address. Executive Producer Anthony Castoro goes over, in depth, where G&H is in the development process and what's to come leading up to the launch of the game.

G&H is currently in closed beta. The process has unearthed a well of knowledge for the game's developers. Once the beta was ramped up back in November, the team began stress testing. This led to servers now supporting twice as many simultaneous players as they once did, and they are far more stable. This is an area where the game will continue to improve even beyond launch.

The team also learned that minions are buggy and don’t live up to their expectations:

"We love the minion concept, but because of the state they are in, and the competitive products that have shipped with similar systems, it was clear that the minion system needs improvement to make it truly fun."

Read more about the future of Gods & Heroes after the jump.

Castoro thinks that the game has the bones of a subscription-based service, not free-to-play. Although in the future they may adapt the game to provide free-to-play options.

Going forward, there are plans to increase the Gods & Heroes development team size significantly. Keep an eye out for job postings on www.godsandheroes.com and www.heatwave.com next week. They will be looking for additional programmers, artists and game designers.

Regarding the closed beta, Castoro also says:

"We’re going to be transitioning our Closed Beta Test from an 'always available' service to a 'punctuated' schedule. While our most committed and active Beta Testers will still have continuous access, we will be inviting the larger CBT community to join us every few weeks for specific test cycles that will last about a week."

There is also a list of definitive changes coming to help the game secure a sound launch. Some of these items include making combat more fun, improving the fast travel system, having 30 complete levels, more 'mature' content, working on the auction house and crafting systems, and planning for a retail box full of goodies as well as digital distribution.

The team has a way to go, but as the ancient proverb goes: Rome wasn't built in a day. For more details on what's to come for Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising check out the full State of the Republic.