About the addition, new project and plans.
A patch will be released in a couple of days, in which some small things will change, in particular, the level of monsters will no longer exceed 23. This was done in order to prevent the fights being too long. There will also be a new version of Chinese localization for the DLC.
Work on the Last Stand DLC addition is underway. It will touch on the stories of three characters in the game. I can't promise big endings for all these characters, but you'll definitely see Kilena, Londa, Fiona, and possibly another girl.
We're not expecting anything special from this update since enough time has already passed to look at the results. Here's what we have:
- We've recouped our investment.
- We've made some money for the future.
- Only about 10 % of owners of the second episode bought the DLC.
Overall, the DLC was profitable, but I'm very glad I didn't take the risk of creating a full-scale episode.
Episode 2 scores have risen to 80%, which seems more fair than previous scores for the game. Thank you, it feels good.
Regarding the new project.
The second episode was an expensive, over-budget and long-development process. After its release, the question was whether to continue or stop. It was scary to continue. The release didn’t give us the financial reserve we needed to be sure we could develop the project further for a year or a year and a half. Plus, the constant threat of not being able to receive any money due to sanctions. So even if it was possible to find workarounds for Patreon, the Steam payment system doesn't allow you to do that.
And then the decision was made to make a Patreon-oriented project. Nobody wanted to do it, but we decided that we would do something "popular", make money quickly and finish VC.
Basically, everyone agreed that it was better than taking additional risks, because the third episode could have raised even less money and that would have been fatal. And that’s probably what would have happened. As I said, the DLC sold a small number of copies, but there was relatively small amount of money invested in it, plus it revitalized the sales of other products, on top of other big seasonal Steam sales.
Originally, we were going to make this new project on a new Patreon page, so that we could work in peace and avoid the possible negatives of it. Firstly, there would be those who would understandably hate us for stopping the work on VC, and secondly, there would be those who would berate us for the chosen genre.
As for the new game, I won't reveal what it is until just before its release. Not because I'm afraid of anything, I've been in this business too long and I’m used to everything. I just don't want to. Once the release is ready, everybody will see for themselves.
We'll be working on it on our current Patreon, though I'd be interested in how this game would be received from a new developer.
Either way, it will be a game with an interesting story and good-quality graphics. As always, though.