Hi everybody, This is not an easy thing to write, so well cut right to the chase: After being in development on and off for almost seven years, we had to decide to postpone Escape the Loop's development indefinitely. We realize many of you will be upset, and we get that. This was not an easy decision, and its even more difficult because we know so many of you were looking forward to Escape the Loop. Youll have lots of questions, so well try our best to answer them: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What does postponed indefinitely mean? Is it canceled?

For all intents and purposes, yes. It wouldnt be fair to you to say otherwise. We may revisit it in the future. We still have everything we produced in the past years, and we still own the trademark for the name. But for now, its stuck in development hell and theres no telling when or if that may change.

Why did you cancel the game?

The simple truth is: We didnt find a publisher. This was our most ambitious project, and in turn, our most expensive one too. Most of the development so far was funded by a combination of grants and our own cash. We hoped to develop a prototype that would convince a publisher to sign with us. In the end, that didnt happen.

Why did no publisher sign the game?

Theres no way to answer this for sure, but we assume our prototype just wasnt convincing. Developing an open-world game is hard, especially one that is as experimental as ETL. In game development, you usually create whats called a Vertical Slice, a small portion of the game that looks and feels as finished as it can. This could be a single level in Super Mario, for example. Because ETL wouldve been so thoroughly non-linear, we failed to do that and had hoped publishers could look past it with enough imagination. They couldnt, and we dont blame them.

Why not go for crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding would be an obvious next step for some, but we feel its not for us. Most importantly, our budget needs are far higher than we feel we could realistically ask from the community.

What happens next?

Over the next week, well be monitoring ETLs Steam forums to answer any questions you may have. After that, the forums will be shut down. If you have any questions after that point, feel free to get in touch on Twitter, or via email.

Whats your plan now?

Were heartbroken about this decision, but life must go on. Some of you may have already heard on social media that we already have a new project lined up, and its true. Were currently working on ChromaGun 2, the sequel to our first game. Its an adventure puzzle game about color, redemption, and the multiverse. If you want to find out more, you can check it out on Steam once the page goes live in a few days. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pulling the plug after almost seven years is hard, and we all wish this couldve panned out differently. If youre looking for a way to patch that ETL-shaped hole in your heart, we recommend you try out these games:

• Outer Wilds
• Twelve Minutes
• The Forgotten City
• The Sexy Brutale
• Oxenfree

So thats it. Were truly grateful for your support over these past years, and we truly wish this couldve gone a different way. Hopefully, well get to return to ETL someday. As mentioned, if you have any questions at all, dont hesitate to ask. All the best, The Pixel Maniacs team

[ 2022-07-06 14:48:23 CET ] [ Original post ]