when the legend of bum-bo launched on steam last year it was instantly apparent that it was the messiest launch of my career.. James worked non stop for days to fix bugs and update the game after months of crunch. he was able to get the game in a stable and playable state within a few weeks, the holidays were upon us and we had started planning a free mini dlc to make up for our launch issues, i updated many times... but then, radio silence.
First off I'd like to apologize for lack of transparency and seemingly abandoning the project, I assure you this isn't at all the case but I still feel a huge sense of responsibility and regret for how I dealt with the aftermath of Bum-bo's launch. Me and James are both in a place where I think we can finally breathe a little so i felt like it was time to explain.
Shortly after the final bum-bo update James fell into a deep pit of depression and simply couldn't continue his work on the project. As someone who has also suffered from depression and anxiety I felt helpless seeing him in this situation, but I could do nothing to help him outside of pulling back and trying to figure out another way to continue dev without him as lead programmer. As the months went by James would rise and fall, there were times where dev was back on and things were looking up.. then covid started and as you all know isolation doesn't usually help these types of situations.
After going through a few different publishers we finally decided to bite the bullet and just work with another small team to not only help finish the mini dlc but also start porting the game to console, this team is composed of Simon and Adrian who also both worked on Rebirth.
then my second daughter was born and the cali fires forced us to evacuate and eventually sell our home in santa cruz to stay safe... and that brings us to now, i'm setup in a small rental with my family, everyone is safe, James is doing much better and the new team is hard at work on the free dlc.
So what is this dlc? well our goal is to get in a few new alt bosses, new items, a few features that were on your most wanted list and a new playable character, Bum-bo the Lost! (i'll do a more in-depth post on him closer to release)
so there you have it, my relationship with bum-bo was very bitter sweet.. but i really hope that once this dlc launches next year and it eventually comes to consoles it will be in a place we are all very happy with.
A big thanks to everyone who has been understanding during this difficult year. I'm very sorry for my lack of communication about bum-bo on steam, I hope this post helps with understanding the situation.. please take care of yourself during these holidays, and if you find yourself in a dark place seriously reach out to someone and don't just deal with it alone.
I'll do another post when we are far enough in dev to start posting stuff! till next time
-Edmund