Thank you for 190,000 wishlists! Everything has gone better than I could have possibly imagined, and it's all thanks to you.
Me and Elise just got back from the Tokyo Game Show, and Japan is officially my new favorite place. I really miss eating breakfast at 7-11 and meeting people at the show. I even met Gronkh! A big reason my game is doing well is because of content creators. Thanks to everyone who's uploaded content about the game, I owe you everything.
I do have an important update for We Harvest Shadows (WHS), and I like being transparent, but I don't want to ramble or bore people too much, so...
Here's the TL;DR first:
WHS will get made! I feel like I need a publisher's help to make the game live up to the enormous hype. Even though I hope to get a publishing deal eventually, I am out of savings now, so instead of doing a Kickstarter, I'm asking you to consider buying a seat to my online school, Game Dev Unlocked, or buy one of my older games. This money will help support my family and get the game finished ASAP. Thank you so much!
The Long Version:
In less than 2 months, WHS has become one of the top most wishlisted games in the world. It's what every indie dev dreams of, and it has been a dream come true! Every prestigious publisher has come knocking, and I've been talking to everyone and figuring out what will help the game the most. I seriously considered doing it all alone and possibly doing a Kickstarter, but now I'm 90% sure I want a trusted team at a good publisher.
Let me explain. I have overcome the most dreaded problem most indies face: the marketing problem. WHS is likely to succeed and be a hit, BUT ONLY if the final product is actually good. The marketing problem has been solved, but the "good game" problem remains. The critical bugs in the demo have taken a significant toll on me. I spent literally a dozen hours just trying to diagnose one of the worst ones, which causes the save data to corrupt and prevents the game from even starting up. I have no clue why it's happening. The performance is bad, even with some optimization tricks I've tried. I need help. I don't think I can make a game this big by myself anymore.
I've always felt that I've bitten off more than I can chew, but I don't have any regrets because I think that's why people like the demo so much, and why so many of you are wishlisting it. It has potential to be a great game! But only if I can finish it, fix all the bugs, and optimize performance. I'm also happy I did the demo by myself because now I have leverage: I have proof that the game will do well, which helps my negotiating terms tremendously. A great publisher can act as a multiplier on a game's success, AND it will save my sanity AND make the game better! I now think I would regret trying to finish the game by myself.
I've also been talking to investors who can give me straight cash with no publishing support. I've even been offered interest-free loans from multiple influencers! How crazy is that? But that still leaves me with the problem of finding competent people I can trust, which takes time away from actually finishing the game. It's just too many hats to wear, because the game is too big and ambitious. I've discovered I'm not good at recruiting people, due to some bad experiences in the past.
I could do a Kickstarter, even though fulfilling rewards also takes time away from making the game good, but there's something important you should know about KS: a redeemed Steam key (as a backer reward) does nothing to help the Steam algorithm, and can actually damage your launch momentum significantly. I've seen so many devs have a horrible launch due to their Kickstarter reward keys. I have all these amazing fans who can't wait to buy the game or back it on KS, but honestly I would rather funnel that excitement towards launch day where it matters most! An immediate purchase and a review on Steam is by far the greatest thing you can do to support We Harvest Shadows.
So if Kickstarter is not ideal, and a money-only investment isn't ideal either, that leaves me with finding a well-respected publisher with a built-in development team. And the good news is there are several great ones that I'm talking to! People that could truly make the game as good as it should be, and give you a gaming experience unlike anything else. AND I don't lose my sanity! It's sounding like a pretty good deal. Now all I need is to find the right people. And that's what I'm doing now, and the potential partnerships are truly exciting. I'm talking to people I've admired for decades, and it sounds like they want to help!
It will still take time though, and we are literally at the end of our savings. I read through all your amazing comments in the previous announcement (over 700 comments!), and about 99% of you said NOT to liquidate my retirement. You're all very kind. So I was wondering if I could ask you for a very optional favor: would you consider buying a seat to my online school, Game Dev Unlocked?
After I published The First Tree on consoles, I spoke at the Game Developer's Conference about the things I learned, and it became one of their most popular talks! It inspired me to take everything I had learned about game development, and put it into a detailed, all-encompassing learning resource. I spent years on it, and my students have truly loved it. It's for total beginners, and goes over every step on how to make your first game. However, it hasn't sold as much as I would've hoped.
So if you have some extra cash and would like to optionally support me with We Harvest Shadow's development, then please consider buying Game Dev Unlocked. I've set it to its steepest discount ever at 80% off, and it's a one-time fee for unlimited access. You can learn more about the features and lessons here at this website. It also gives you exclusive access to the only official Discord channel for We Harvest Shadows.
If it's a bit too costly, that is totally fine, I think it will work out regardless, and as an emergency, I will liquidate a (small) amount of my retirement. If you still want to support me but don't want to buy the course, then please consider buying one of my older games. That would help a lot too. Thank you so much!
I think that's the whole story. I'm working hard, and talking to lots of publishers, and trying to find the right partner for this game. I wasn't sure if I could make an excellent game with very few bugs, but now I'm extremely confident that WHS is going to be something really special. I told the full story outline (including the ending) to a publisher I really respect, and this person's reaction was super positive and full of excitement. People see the potential in this game. I can't wait to share the full game with you and take you on a journey you'll never forget. Your support has made this all possible. Thank you so much again, I'm in your debt.
Sincerely,
David