# Live Service & DLC V5 is an open-world narrative universe split into cells — an Urban heist city, a three-era Period crime saga, a Frontier outlaw trail, a Hunter's monster-contract world, a Sci-Fi galactic theatre, and the cross-cutting Mind Palace deduction layer — and a universe that big is a service, not a box. It ships five launch cells and then keeps growing for years: a 90-day season every quarter, a 100-tier battle pass, weekly cold-case packs, persistent world events, a whole Steampunk-Detective DLC cell, and a Year-3 roadmap that adds four sub-cells and a new console SKU. Two pieces of machinery make that post-launch life real rather than promised. The first is the **live-service calendar service** — a NestJS package under `apps/v5` that publishes seasonal rotations, world events, and hot-fix windows over JWT-gated, ETag-cacheable feeds, mirrored by a family of `UV5_Online_*` Blueprint builders in the UE client. The second is the **DLC boundary**: every cell and mode is a GameFeature plugin discovered, classified, and build-target-gated by `V5Modes`, so a new cell drops in as a content-bearing plugin without forking the engine. This page explains how both are wired, what is real TypeScript and C++ on disk versus authored-but-uncooked content, and where the shipped code is honestly thinner than the architecture prose. The section hub is [../V5_ARCHITECTURE.md](../V5_ARCHITECTURE.md). The design choice underneath everything is the same one the rest of V5 follows, and it is the same competitive line V2 and V4 drew: **nothing sold or seasonal ever touches gameplay power**. Every calendar payload asserts `exclusiveGameplayRewards: false`, the battle pass marks gameplay-affecting rewards `never-paid-only`, store bundles are cosmetic-only, and the workshop marketplace sells data-only mods. Live service grows the world; it never sells an advantage in it. ## What ships, honestly The split is clean, and stating it up front keeps the rest of the page honest. The **calendar service is real**. `apps/v5/live-service-calendar/` is a NestJS + Fastify package (`src/main.ts`, port 4223) whose controller (`src/controller.ts`) exposes five GET routes — `/feed`, `/year1`, `/world-events/year1`, `/pro-stadium-tour`, `/year3-pipeline` — each `requiresJwt: true` and `regional: true` in `contract.json`, each delegating to `handleRealRequest` in the shared `@v5/service-shared` runtime. A 172-line `contract.test.ts` pins the endpoint set, the 21 declared capabilities, the port, and the exact shape of every feed payload, plus a success/outage/unauthorized contract-case sweep and a Docker/k8s/failover artifact check. The **UE client tier is real C++**. `V5/ue/Source/V5OnlineServices` (a 1950-line `V5OnlineServicesSystems.cpp` over a 1215-line types header, with an 809-line test) ships `UV5_Online_LiveServiceCalendarClient`, `UV5_Online_CrossCellPersistentWorld`, `UV5_Online_FactionRepClient`, and the AI highlight-reel builders as `UBlueprintFunctionLibrary` composers that build season rotations, world-event scripts, the Year-3 pipeline, and the request envelopes the HTTP client sends. The **DLC machinery is real C++**. `V5/ue/Source/V5Modes` (`V5ModeSystems.cpp`, 639 lines) classifies, discovers, and build-target-gates GameFeature plugins; **29 `V5Mode_*.uplugin` descriptors** sit under `V5/ue/Plugins/`, and **all 29 declare an enabled `GameFeatures` dependency**. The **economy domains are real**. `@v5/service-shared`'s `WorkshopDomain` (`domain/workshop.ts`) is a Postgres-backed UGC marketplace with a moderation state machine, an ML pre-screen, and an exact-to-the-cent 70/20/5/3/2 revenue split; `FactionRepDomain` (`domain/faction-rep.ts`) is a real exponential-decay retention model. The **store** is a transparent Next.js storefront under `apps/v5/web/src/app/store/`. Five honest caveats matter. **First, the shipped feed payloads are object literals.** `handleRealRequest` resolves to `evaluateServiceSpecificRule` (`runtime.ts:1818`), which returns hand-authored constants — `seasonalThemeRotations: 4`, `scriptCount: 12`, `stopCount: 6` — not rows read from a database or parsed from the manifests. **Second, a real Postgres calendar domain exists but is not on that path.** `LiveServiceCalendarDomain` (`domain/live-service-calendar.ts`) implements `ensureSchema`/`upsertEvent`/ `feedEvents`/`activeEvents` and a SHA-256 content-derived `etag`, but it is imported only by `realtime.ts` and a test — the deployed `/year1` feed does not call it. **Third, there is no `V5/store` directory**; the only store surface is the web storefront, which is presentation, not a transactional IAP backend. **Fourth, the content is uncooked**: a scan of all 29 plugins finds **zero binary `.uasset` and 62 JSON stand-ins** — V5, like V4, represents assets and levels as JSON descriptors. **Fifth, V5's GameFeature activation is thinner than V4's.** `V5Modes` ships discovery, classification, a static roster, and per-target gating; it does not ship V4's `UGameFeatureAction` subclass that drives `UAssetManager` async streaming on activation. The DLC _boundary_ is real; the runtime asset-streaming seam is a recorded step, not a call. ## Live-service architecture: the calendar spine Post-launch content reaches players through one service and three representations of the same numbers, kept consistent by tests rather than by a single source of truth. The service is the calendar; the representations are the authored JSON manifests, the NestJS literals, and the UE C++ builders. ```mermaid flowchart TD subgraph Authored["Design source of truth"] JSON[V5/live-service/*.json
season-1 · year-1 · year-3 manifests] end subgraph Service["apps/v5/live-service-calendar (NestJS + Fastify :4223)"] Ctl[controller.ts
5 JWT-gated GET routes] --> HRR[handleRealRequest →
evaluateServiceSpecificRule
authored literal payloads] Dom[(LiveServiceCalendarDomain
Postgres + SHA-256 ETag
real, not on the feed path)] end subgraph Client["V5/ue/Source/V5OnlineServices (C++)"] Build[UV5_Online_LiveServiceCalendarClient
BuildYear1Calendar · Year3 · WorldEvents] Http[UV5_Online HTTP client] end JSON -. authors .-> HRR JSON -. authors .-> Build Build --> Http Http -->|Bearer JWT| Ctl HRR -->|ETag feed| Http HRR -->|/api/public/season-calendar| Web[apps/v5/web public calendar + store] subgraph DLC["V5/ue/Source/V5Modes (C++)"] Plug[29× V5Mode_*.uplugin
GameFeatures dependency] --> Disc[DiscoverGameFeaturePlugins] Disc --> Gate[GateKnownMode
per build target] end ``` `V5LiveServiceCalendarController` is a thin router: each method stamps a `requestType`/`feed` pair onto the query and calls `V5LiveServiceCalendarService.handle`, which builds a `ServiceRequest` and runs `handleRealRequest(slug, request, now)`. `resolveEndpointPath` (`runtime.ts:1233`) maps `year1-calendar` → `/v5/live-service-calendar/year1`, `year1-world-events` → `/world-events/year1`, and so on, so the response carries the canonical path back. Every route is JWT-gated and regional, every payload carries `clientCacheEtagRequired: true` and `orderedWindows: true`, and the `failover` block declares `regional-active-active` across `iad/fra/sin` primaries with `pdx/dublin/syd` fallbacks. This is a genuine deployable service with a genuine contract; what it is not, yet, is a database query — `evaluateServiceSpecificRule` returns the authored constants directly, and the contract test asserts exactly those constants (`calendarId: 'calendar.year1.live-service'`, `seasonalThemeRotations: 4`). The Postgres `LiveServiceCalendarDomain` is the shape that path is specified to grow into; today it is real code one wiring step removed from the feed. ### Seasons, battle pass & the persistent calendar Season One is authored in `V5/live-service/season-1-live-service-manifest.json`: _Fracture Signals_, a 90-day window (2027-03-01 → 2027-05-30) opened by a 30-day _Continuum Signal_ day-one event. Its battle pass is 100 tiers at a 6–8 hours-per-week target, with an explicit `tierSkipPolicy` — skips are purchasable (`purchaseEnabled: true`, `maxSkipsPerSeason: 20`) but `gameplayAffectingRewards: "never-paid-only"`, the monetization line drawn in the data itself. Reward families are per-cell cosmetics, battle-pass XP, creator spotlights, and Mind Palace case stamps — never frame data or stats. The manifest also names its `sourceServices` (the calendar, faction-rep, balance-ledger, and workshop contracts), so the design doc points back at the code that serves it. The UE side builds the same data in C++. `UV5_Online_LiveServiceCalendarClient` (`V5OnlineServicesSystems.h:260`) exposes `BuildYear1Calendar`, `BuildYear1SeasonalRotations`, `BuildYear1SpecialEvents`, and the predicate `EvaluateCalendarEventState` over constants `Year1SeasonDays = 90` and `Year1SeasonCount = 4` (`V5OnlineServicesSystems.cpp:20`). `SeasonalRotation` (`:106`) computes each season's start as `Year1CalendarStartUtc() + (n-1)·90 days` and attaches per-cell themes from `BuildCellThemesForSeason` — real date arithmetic, not a flag. The `/year1` feed literal mirrors it: four seasonal-theme rotations plus the Bureau Founding Day anniversary, the Shelter Signal charity event, and the Platform Circuit console tie-in, all with `gameplayProgressionGated: false`. **Persistent world events** are their own feed. `BuildYear1PersistentWorldEvents` and `BuildYear1WorldEventScripts` (`V5OnlineServicesSystems.h:311`) compose the twelve one-week scripts authored in `year-1-persistent-world-events.json` — Gang War Week first — and the `/world-events/year1` literal pins `scriptCount: 12`, `gangWarWeek: 'world-event.year1.01.gang-war-week'`, `persistentWorldState: true`, `settlementSnapshots: 12`, and crucially `exclusiveGameplayRewards: false`: a player who misses Gang War Week loses no power, only a moment. The **Year-3 pipeline** (`BuildYear3LiveServicePipeline`, `BuildYear3SubCellPlans` with a `DlcGate` per sub-cell, `BuildYear3CrossCellCoopMissionPlans`, `BuildYear3ConsoleSkuPlan`) plans four sub-cells, eight cross-cell co-op missions (`Year3CrossCellCoopMissionCount = 8`, `…Minutes = 240`), and one `sku.year3.console.switch2-native-complete` SKU with a first-party cert track and reduced-install budgets — a roadmap feed, honestly labelled `contentLock: year-3-planning`. Each builder also returns a `Get…ManifestPath()` string so the companion app and the `/api/public/season-calendar` web surface can resolve the same authored JSON the C++ encodes. ### Faction-rep decay, highlight reels & retention Retention has real domain logic behind it. `FactionRepDomain` (`domain/faction-rep.ts`) relaxes reputation toward a neutral floor while a player is inactive: `decayedRep(rep0, daysInactive)` returns `REP_FLOOR + (rep0 − REP_FLOOR)·exp(−ln2/halfLife · effectiveDays)` with `REP_FLOOR = 0`, `REP_CEILING = 1000`, `DEFAULT_HALF_LIFE_DAYS = 30`, and a `DEFAULT_GRACE_DAYS = 14` window below which nothing decays. The surplus over the floor halves every 30 idle days; a weekly `runDecay(nowUnix)` journals every decrement into an append-only ledger. The file's own header records that this _"replaces the prior `simulatedDecay: true`"_ handler — a real de-fabrication, not a flag pretending to be a model. The `UV5_Online_FactionRepClient::BuildYear1DecayPolicy` builder surfaces the same policy to the client, and `year-1-faction-reputation-decay.json` authors the five restoration mission arcs that let a lapsed player climb back. The **AI highlight reel** (`BuildYear1AIHighlightReel`, `BuildTop10HighlightClips`, `HighlightSignal`) ranks replay clips into an optional commentator track; its manifest id `v5.year1.ai-generated-highlight-reel` and the `/v5/replays/commentary/tts/year1` route both require synthetic-content indicators and source-replay verification. ## DLC delivery: the GameFeature boundary A new cell, a new mode, a new DLC expansion — in V5 these are all the same thing: a `V5Mode_*` GameFeature plugin. The boundary is enforced in `V5Modes`, and it is real engine-integration C++. `IsV5GameFeaturePlugin` (`V5ModeSystems.cpp:86`) accepts a plugin only if its name starts with `V5Mode_` **and** its descriptor references the engine `GameFeatures` plugin with `bEnabled` — a two-part predicate, not a name match. `DiscoverGameFeaturePlugins` (`:102`) walks `IPluginManager`'s discovered or enabled plugin set, filters through that predicate, de-duplicates with `AddUnique`, and sorts by `FNameLexicalLess` so discovery is deterministic across machines. The static roster `MakeMode` (`:41`) binds each plugin name to an `EV5Cell`, an `EV5ModeNetworkModel`, a HUD surface, a max-player count, and dedicated/listen-server flags — the 29 modes spanning every launch cell plus the Steampunk DLC cell, the editors, and the online/co-op variants. The DLC cell itself is `V5Mode_Steampunk_Detective.uplugin`: its descriptor reads `"EnabledByDefault": false`, `"CanContainContent": true`, `"BuiltInInitialFeatureState": "Installed"`, an enabled `GameFeatures` dependency, and the description _"Content-bearing GameFeature root for the Brave New World Steampunk Detective DLC cell."_ `EV5Cell::SteampunkDetective` (`V5ModeTypes.h:41`) is a first-class cell, and `MakeMode("V5Mode_Steampunk_Detective", …, EV5Cell::Steampunk, …)` registers it alongside the launch roster — so the DLC cell is structurally identical to a shipped cell, gated off by default until entitled. What turns the roster into a per-build catalogue is `GateKnownMode` (`:129`), a real build-target predicate over `EV5ModeBuildTarget`. A `DedicatedServer` build enables only `bSupportsDedicatedServer` rulesets; a `LANOffline` build refuses any mode with `bRequiresOnlineServices` or a `CompetitivePvP`/`SocialLobby` net model; `ArcadeCabinet` cooks only the curated local co-op roster (`IsArcadeCabinetMode`); `Editor` previews everything non-exclusive. This is the fail-closed seam between content and platform: a DLC cell that needs online services will not enable itself in an offline cabinet build. The honest limit, stated above, is that V5 stops at _discovery + gating + a roster_. It does not ship V4's `UV4GameFeatureAction_ActivateModeAssets` that issues a real `RequestAsyncLoad` on activation — and with zero cooked `.uasset` on disk, the soft content paths resolve to nothing at runtime. The plugin scaffolding, dependency wiring, classification, and build-target logic are real and test-pinned; the streaming activation is a documented gap, not a claimed feature. The DLC _catalogue_ the architecture enumerates rides this boundary: 20 weekly Cold Cases Mind Palace packs (`V5Mode_Detective_ColdCases`), Frontier bounty and naturalist drops (`V5Mode_Frontier_OutlawTrail`), and the full-vision expansion cells — Polynesian and Pirate Frontier, Egyptian and Cyberpunk-2087 sub-cells, the Cosmic-Horror Hunter, and the Steampunk Detective cell — each a plugin-shaped, JSON-manifested content drop owned by its mode, never a binary client patch. ### The store & the workshop marketplace The retail store is a transparent web surface, not a dark-pattern funnel. `apps/v5/web/src/app/store/page.tsx` and `store/[slug]/page.tsx` render `storeEntries` from `lib/publicContent.ts`: exactly two entries — the **Continuum Edition** base game ($69.99, "all five launch cells and cross-progression", a nine-platform entitlement map) and the **Founders Field Kit** ($19.99, "cosmetic-only … profile frames, camp props, and ship decals", tagged "No power"). The store copy's stated job is to _"separate gameplay access from cosmetics … without pressure tactics"_ and keep "balance-affecting rewards out of paid bundles" — the same player-protective constraint expressed as content rather than as a checkout flow. The transactional economy with real backend logic is the **workshop marketplace**. `WorkshopDomain` (`domain/workshop.ts`) persists UGC items through a moderation state machine: a publish runs `prescreenRisk(reportCount, flaggedTerms)` and `moderationFromRisk` to set an initial state, a human `moderate` call overrides it, and `revenueShareSplit` computes an exact-to-the-cent payout from `REVENUE_SHARE` basis points — **7000 creator (70%)**, 2000 platform, 500 creator fund, 300 chargeback reserve, 200 tax — with a 48-hour `REFUND_WINDOW_HOURS`. The marketplace endpoints (`/v5/workshop/marketplace/{listings,purchase,revenue-share,payouts}`, `runtime.ts:1220`) are the paid data-only mod marketplace the architecture flags as `[P3]`, and they are the closest thing in V5 to a real store ledger — a creator economy, not a loot box. ## The honest line: no pay-to-win, no binary hot-patch Two invariants run through every system on this page. **No gameplay power is sold or seasonal-gated.** It is asserted in the calendar literals (`exclusiveGameplayRewards: false`, `gameplayProgressionGated: false`), in the battle-pass manifest (`gameplayAffectingRewards: "never-paid-only"`), in the store copy ("No power"), and in the cosmetic-only reward families — the same hard competitive-integrity line V2's player-protective store and V4's sim-isolated cosmetics draw. **And hot-fixes are data, not binaries.** The architecture's "balance + UI strings via CDN-served data files; no binary patch" is expressed as the calendar's `hotfix-window` capability and `hotfix-windows` feed, paired with the append-only `balance-ledger` service whose every entry is telemetry-evidence-linked. A balance change ships as a calendar-scheduled data window and a ledgered tuning record, never as a forced client rebuild — which is also why a DLC cell can be `EnabledByDefault: false` and simply flip on when entitled. ## Where this connects - **The backbone underneath:** [Persistence, Online Services & Cross-Play](./persistence-online-and-crossplay.md) — the 16-service `V5OnlineServices` client catalog, the `@v5/service-shared` NestJS tier, and the Bureau account/XP/cosmetic ledgers that the seasonal calendar, world events, workshop payouts, and faction-rep decay all read from and write to. - **The guardrails around it:** [Accessibility, Security & Compliance](./accessibility-security-and-compliance.md) — the JWT auth, spend-limit and store-compliance posture, synthetic-content indicators on AI highlight reels, and the moderation/DSAR path behind the workshop marketplace. - **Platform foundations:** [Oshun Domain Libraries](../../platform/oshun-domain-libraries.html) — the shared economy, governance, and content substrates the V5 store, workshop, and live-ops services are specified to compose rather than reinvent. - **The catalogue index** for the whole V5 architecture set is [../V5_ARCHITECTURE.md](../V5_ARCHITECTURE.md).