Elo Hell Split DLC Update
Hey! Good news and bad news, everyone. Bad news is that Elo Hell is not selling as well as expected. We are having a visibility issue. The people we can get to play the game are enjoying it, but we aren't getting enough people downloading the game to even begin understanding wher
Hey! Good news and bad news, everyone.
Bad news is that Elo Hell is not selling as well as expected. We are having a visibility issue. The people we can get to play the game are enjoying it, but we aren't getting enough people downloading the game to even begin understanding where we sit in this space. Personally, I think we're just too niche. I truly believe our game is awesome and one-of-a-kind, but it's very different and we need time to find our audience.
Because of this slowness, we have to slow down Elo Hell's release schedule and wait for people to discover it. Episodes 6-10 are on an indefinite hiatus until we can hit sales goals.
Good news is Elo Hell is not dead and we will be releasing episodes 1-5 this month. Episode 1 will remain free and episodes 2-5 will cost $15. Episodes 6-10 will not come out until we can afford to come back to it, but every sale made is going into a piggy bank to be used for if/when that time comes. All existing season pass owners will have the option to refund the game no matter how far you are.
So please know that coming into this, you can access what we have for $15 and that is contributing to the future of Elo Hell. Episodes 3-5 will have some minor rough edges compared to 1 and 2, but they will still be very strong. If we hit our goals, those episodes will get their final polish pass.
In the meantime, we'll be working on other, smaller projects. We may or may not return to Guncraft. We'll see ;).
We are 100% commited to Elo Hell. It's our baby, the product of 4.5 years of work, and a huge passion project, but at the same time, we need to see some interest in the game or else we are just burning money. This is a business at the end of the day and we have lots of bills to pay.
So if you want to see Elo Hell come back, please use the hashtag #SaveEloHell to spread the word. It'll be a slow return, but I'm optimistic that given enough time, we'll find our home.
GLHF,
John "Darknuke" Getty
Executive Producer
Exato Games
Original post 
Episode 2 is out now as well and it's all about the weird places esports are popping up. It is our most intricate episode this season. There are rides, minigames, and shenanigans. Lizzy is on the hunt for that chair. Think you'll win it? You'll be able to play if you have purchased the Season Pass. The pass will also include all future episodes in season 1, which there will be 10 of.
We even made ourselves a heckin' ridiculous fair commercial based on some of the county fairs we researched. You'll see.
Elo Hell may be about esports, at its core, but it's also a journey through games themselves and the culture we've built around them. Each episode pays homage to some of the greatest and most interesting game design mechanics ever built and that does not only include video games.
We believe this is a one-of-a-kind experience and if you'd give us a chance, we believe you'll fall in love with the game. But you know, we are an indie studio and we have bills to pay. If this is something you think you'll enjoy, pick it up now. There's always the refund tool.
Echo Star is finally ready to be released into the wild! It is an RTS-inspired, turn-based strategy game. We've taken the essence of games like Starcraft and Age of Empires and turn-based it to reduce stress and increase accessibility for us plebs who can't mash a keyboard at 300 actions per minute.
We've just released our final test build (work out the last remaining kinks), complete with an entertaining, meta-breaking tutorial, on Early Access RIGHT NOW!
Elo Hell is on tour! Come check us out at these three upcoming conventions to see our premiere first episode in action. And yes, that is TwitchCon BERLIN! We're coming for you, Germany!
Episode 1: Butts in Chairs is a goofy episode about chair culture in esports with multiple minigames and potential endings. It will go live on Early Access PAX East weekend!
Episode 1: Name a More Iconic Duo (that duo being Butts in Chairs), is in production right now and is nearing completion. That will be launched in a month or two and will be our first premiere episode. That episode is a bit about chair culture in esports and we got DXRacer to help us out with a sponsorship!
As for production, we are finding ourselves sitting in a good spot for getting episodes done. We learned a lot about our production schedule through finishing the Halloween episode and applied that to the iconic duo episode, to create an even more streamlined and purposeful pipeline.
Stay tuned for more info and in the long-term, we'll be showcasing some significant Echo Star changes around the first of the year (most likely). We're mega excited about those and will be itching to get them out. Until then:
GLHF!
-Darknuke
This is the deal: When you buy the game, you are getting a heavy $10 discount in exchange for banking early on us, being a part of our community, and helping us fine tune aspects of the game. Eventually, this game will be extremely content rich and you will be coming way out on top. There won't be a discount like this until probably the end-ish of season 1 in 2020. I kid you not. Until then, feel free to enjoy the game as much as you can and come back when we make big updates.
We have zero intention of quitting. We have the budget, drive, and production schedule to get us to launch. We're here to develop a grass roots core community. That's it.
Oh, and if you do decide to buy in and play, don't skim over the Echo Star tutorial. We are noticing a lot of people are and then are confused about what to do. We intend to add a voiced over tutorial in the future, but for now, you gotta read. We're also sorry if you can't find anyone to play with. Our AI programmer is hard at work on singleplayer AI for you to play against that isn't bad.
I hope this info helps. If this works for you, we openly and gladly welcome you aboard. If not, maybe we'll see you at launch for full MSRP.
GLHF
-Darknuke
Executive Producer & Lead Game Designer
We made it to Early Access. Whew. Phase 1 complete!
This is a first step into a much larger journey for the game. We are ready to showcase some of the features and let you all get a glimpse into the great journey of Elo Hell's main character, Chance Betzinger.
We love the game as it is, but know it needs work. We are absolutely dedicated to turning this into an awesome experience unlike any narrative game you've played before, all wrapped around the glory that is the esports industry.
We invite you to join us on the journey and help guide the game in a way that is beneficial for all of us. We can't do this without you and can't wait to build this game with all of you.
GLHF!
We are officially ready to launch! I know we said July 31st, but due to the way Steam's partner system works, we were told that our earliest launch date was "August 4th." That caused us to have to shift all our marketing plans to next week to keep everything together. When we were approved today, we found out we could release today, on time, and that the "earliest launch date" was basically nothing and we didn't have to listen to it /facepalm.
It would take us a lot to get all our partners ready for launch today, so we're going to take the extra week to clean stuff up and make next week's launch that much better. Nothing will hold us back now, so get ready! For next Wednesday, we ride!
-Darknuke