Important announcement August 08, 2018
Hello everyone,
We have another significant update on the development of Scorn. There is a lot of info we need to disclose so we are going to cut straight to the point. We have a good/bad situation on our hands, predominantly good.
The Good
We managed to sign an excellent deal with the great investment fund and acquire additional funds for the development of Scorn.
The fund in question is very hands-off regarding creative elements of the game, and that was the primary reason why we decided to go through with the deal. Creative freedom is the most important aspect for us as a studio. From the very beginning of the project we wanted to create a game without too many compromises, and that indeed isn't an easy task.
With this new deal, we are in an excellent position to create much better quality, fully realized game.
A single compromise we did make was to split the game into two parts. Cynical people were saying we are just doing that to make more money, but it couldn't be further from the truth.It was a necessity if we wanted to finish the game with this kind of high fidelity, scope, and modest budget, which partly came from our backers.
The newly acquired resources will enable us to develop Scorn as intended from start to finish, the whole experience, not just the first part.
There's been a lot of debate recently with many "not-so-positive" stories about the quality of indie games, especially those funded through the Kickstarter. It's somewhat understandable why these kinds of things happen, as game development takes a lot of dedication, perseverance and stamina. Since we started this project our top priority was to create the best game possible. During this time, we have faced many hardships, but our goal remained the same. We have never faltered, and we will stick to our motto, making the best game possible. We will never release something subpar and call it a day.
The Bad
Making the whole game is going to take more time. Scorn Part 1 of 2: Dasein will not be released this year.
We know that some of you are going to be understandably disappointed as you were eagerly awaiting Scorn Part 1 of 2: Dasein in October 2018. And although we understand that, we still think that this new deal is the best course of action for us and ultimately the players as it will enable us to develop a better game. The upside is that you won’t be left waiting on a cliffhanger for part 2.
Now you will experience the game from start to finish, as intended, but at a later date that is yet to be announced.
For Our Backers
As we genuinely appreciate the constant support that we received from each and every one of you Kickstarter and Brightlocker backers we decided the following:
All backers will receive the FULL game and, depending on the reward tiers they opted for, the whole soundtrack and expanded art book, respectively. That means twice more content and more value than you initially pledge for, affecting both digital and physical rewards.
However, we also realize that some of you will not be satisfied with this development and feel that this is not what you signed up for. For everyone who wants to cancel their pledge and get their money back, we are offering a full refund at any time during the development. That is the least we can do. You can receive a refund directly to the same credit card you pledged on KS, if that card hasn't expired. If the card expired, you will need to provide us with a Pay Pal account. Please understand that these rules are set by KS and we can’t change them. We will process refunds as soon as possible, but please allow two to four weeks before the refunds reach your accounts.
We will continue keeping you updated, you can expect the next update sometime in October when we will disclose more information about the future. We realize that you may have additional questions and we will do our best to answer every single message that reaches us through Kickstarter, Brightlocker, Facebook, Twitter, Steam, and email.
Once again, thank you for sticking with us this far. We will give our best to make your wait worthwhile and create a great game.
In these troubled days where ugly earlyaccessian monsters in disguise are crowding the market, waiting more for a polished product and free from the ghetto episodic formula definitely sounds like a good outcome.
We've already suffered enough with Agony...a redemption for the sub-genre is needed
This update was delayed as we had an important internal milestone to hit in July, and we worked long hours to get it done. The good news is that we managed to complete it successfully and we’re taking a small breather before pushing forward.
The bad news is that we can now say for sure that the game won’t be released this year. We still have work to do on the content, the environment is not 100% complete, animation and sound still have a way to go, and we’re doing a lot of work improving the game’s systems. There’s a lot of work still waiting to be done so that we can deliver a polished experience, and yes, it will take more time.
Another issue we want to address is the closure of Brightlocker, a video game crowdfunding platform that some of our backers used to support us. Prior to shutting down, the Brightlocker team have sent us all the relevant data we need to contact our backers and send out rewards. So, there is no need to worry, we will honor all pledges made through the Brightlocker, as soon as the game is ready to be shipped.
Over the past couple of months, we have received a lot of messages from people and a lot of those had a common theme: what are we doing with the game? What’s the content, what’s in the game, what’s so important that we can’t take time to make an update. That’s why we decided to discuss our in-game systems a bit more in this update.
We made general improvements to the game’s in-game inventory and save game systems. We also fully implemented the healing system for the main character and various animation systems to improve the full body awareness, an important feature we use for storytelling. All existing levels have been manually inspected for holes, errors, and places where characters can get stuck. We developed three more huge puzzle systems, some spanning the entire levels.
We added new AI characters and expanded the character behavior of existing NPCs. They can now work in groups against the player. We did a lot of AI testing and implemented some balance changes and bug fixes. Less exciting but equally important are walkable surface tester and custom world browser that we have developed for our own development purposes.
There are heaps of smaller tasks that were finished in the last couple of months, mostly environment assets, new level layouts and so on.
I hope it's just a specific introductory/wip section of some sort because the mechanics indeed don't quite give the impression of being as inspired as the art-style (although it does look more polished, *it's something*). My expectations are safely set to low anyway, it is the only reasonable approach these days.
A press release announcing developer-owned publishing group Kepler Interactive indicates that Scorn has been delayed. The survival horror FPS was initially slated for a Fall 2021 release on Xbox Series X|S and PC.
According to a press release from the newly formed Kepler Interactive, Scorn developer Ebb Software has officially partnered with six other studios to form a first-of-its-kind publisher, one that is “co-owned and run by developers.” Along with discussions of first-round funding and overall vision, the publisher referenced Scorn in its list of upcoming “original IP” set to launch in 2022, which implies that the game has been delayed.
Though Ebb Software has not officially confirmed Scorn’s delay out of Fall 2021, there hasn’t been a major update on its release since Xbox announced it as a day-one Game Pass title during its E3 2021 showcase. The studio’s relative silence since then indicates that the delay is likely real.
could be an all time classic if they made it a SS2 clone... i mean its not like the shooting is incredible in SS2, yet its a game that is still great and very, very playable because it's an atmospheric shooter/RPG, and those are actually rare.
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