Rising Storm is a very awesome game. Sadly, it is also a very dead game. Just like Red Orchestra 2 before it, it struggles finding its market, and because the developers are so slow in bringing out new content, even the hardcore fans eventually move on to new battlefields.

Luckily, though the developers can't seem to bother making much official content beyond that one map they released back in September 2013, they've launched a map-making contest, where the best map-creators in the community are awarded for their efforts. The contest was announced way back in July last year. It has now finally reached its conclusion and the winners have been announced.

According to a press statement from Tripwire, five map makers were awarded for their efforts, with another four being given honorable mentions. The list goes as follows:

1st Place/Grand Prize ($10,000) - Maik Dokter (Phosphate Plant)

2nd Place ($7,500) - Maik Dokter (Myshkova River)

3rd Place ($5,000) - Will Bullen (Kobura)

4th Place ($2,500) - John Chalabi (Otori Shima)

5th Place ($1,000) - Elliot Burgess (Kita Jima)

Honorable Mentions go out to:
Johan van Pelt (Bataan)
Elliot Burgess (Streets of Stalingrad)
Maik Dokter (Tula Outskirts)
Martin Palko (Sub Base)

Sounds pretty sweet! While some maps are made for Rising Storm, some also take players back to the eastern European front of WW2, so there's plenty here for everyone. It's a good thing that the community are properly awarded for their work, and recognizing any game's community is a smart move on the developer's part.

...but if you're one of those wondering why Rising Storm hasn't gotten a content patch making these maps officially part of the maplist yet, that's because Tripwire haven't done it. The maps are available in the Steam Workshop, but as any RO2/RS player will tell you, no servers in the entire server browser run custom, non-official maps. So if you're one of those dying to try out some new maps with 63 other players...tough luck. So far, Tripwire are looking to make SOME of the maps official "sometime in the future". But hey, we can wait another few months? It's not like the game is dying or anything.

Well, in case you still want to know what these maps are like, we have an image gallery of screenshots taken from several of them that you can check out below.