Greetings octo-pundits, Octopus City Blues is now scheduled for an early 2024 release. We tried our best to meet the 2023 deadline we'd originally set for ourselves, but things got in the way (shocking!). The extra time will help us further polish the simulation, while also giving us the space to promote the project ahead of the release. [previewyoutube=S0qtMezQt08;full][/previewyoutube] We also decided to participate in the October edition of the Steam Next Fest event instead of this month's. With that said, we're currently inviting people to test a new build that will serve as the basis for the eventual public demo. If you want to give it a spin and help us test it, join us on Discord. Much was done in the last five months: wrapping up quests, working on the cowboy dreams, fixing numerous bugs, bundling the simulation's data in one big archive, introducing in-game awards, and acting on December's play testing feedback. We also paid more attention to marketing, producing a new teaser trailer, and posting more often on social media (including a post on reddit).
As for the delay, the personal circumstances of more than one team member have changed considerably in the last few months. You can imagine how big the impact of temporarily losing one member of a tiny team would be, and the well-being of the team is more important than any deadline. Thankfully, everyone is starting to get back to their usual pace. In January our plan allowed for a release in October or November. As the delays accumulated we tried simplifying future work and cutting content, but you can only do that to a certain point. One option under consideration is to get outside help for the final push, but these discussions take time as well.
I mentioned marketing, something we've neglected over the years. While getting Octopus City Blues done is still our priority, we want people to find out about it as well. That involves talks with several potential partners, engaging with social media, and participating in events. Questions such as the possibility and timing of console releases, achievements, and integration with storefronts are also being discussed. All that to say that the closer we get to release, the more there is to do, including marketing, QA, events, localization, and of course actually finishing up the thing! Testing is particularly tricky when dealing with a branching narrative experience like Octopus City Blues. That's why we'd really appreciate it if you can join us on Discord and test our new build. [previewyoutube=JWOmlCf4cXo;full][/previewyoutube] I'm still very happy with the work we're doing so far. Playing the latest build, the world feels rich and fully realized; there's so much to explore and do in the city, to the point that it still surprises me whenever I completely forget that you also have the option of doing X instead of Y or Z. I hope you and all the players will appreciate all the love that's been poured into our little monstrosity over the years. To conclude, we're aiming for early 2024 at the moment. If all goes according to plan, there will be a new release date trailer in time for the October Steam Next Fest. Stay tuned, and thanks for your understanding and support!