tl;dr: We’re kicking off the new year with a 10-day playtest from January 10 to January 19. Then catch us at Steam Next Fest in February, followed by OPEN BETA (aka Early Access) in March! For open beta, we’re working on base upgrades, a new Seeker, cosmetics, and more. Read on for more details and first looks.
Hello Seekers! As 2024 comes to an end, we want to take a minute to reflect on the journey so far, then turn our eyes to the future. We’ve got some juicy updates to share, including details on our longest playtest yet in January, plans for open beta, and a preview of what’s cookin’ 👩🍳🍲
Let’s kick things off with a trip down memory lane.
Cruising down memory lane ☀️
FIRST STOP: JULY 2023
Our very first pre-alpha playtest for Seekers. This was back when we were still known as “Project Skies,” and it was the playtest that showed us we were on to something, albeit something a lil rough around the edges.
Highlights include… Games were 25 minutes, it took over a minute to defeat any pack, Creature Den was the only region available, and you could only find teammates by sharing your lobby name outside of the game (and it’d be some random sh#t like “Angry Seagull”). Also Lily, Kumu, Joon, Zuraya, and Neri were the only Seekers available.
UP NEXT: OCTOBER 2023
We leave the depths of pre-alpha and announce we’re making Seekers of Skyveil to the world. (Throwback to when the community guessed the name via hangman.)
On the route to closed alpha, we introduced…
- Blooming Grove, Grasslands, and Heart of the Forest
- The tunnels and an in-game map
- An actual lobby
- Consumables, which started as just health pots
- Aric, who completely changed how movement works in Seekers (previously you weren’t able to walk and basic attack at the same time)
BUCKLE UP: MARCH 2024
Sayonara NDA! It’s time to share what we’re making with the world and invite more people to join the community and playtest (on Steam!) with us.
Since last October, we’ve added…
- Gems, sockets, and more consumables
- Speed altars, perma-altars, and events
- Resurrection
- Leaderboards
- Our wind mage Alice, who’s now named Cira
- Vendors! Welcome Taro, Mumshroom, Bijou, and Bort.
IN THE REARVIEW: September 2024
Welcome to closed beta baby! This is when we started feeling like our core gameplay loop was pretty solid, so we started focusing on adding more depth and content.
Since March, we introduced…
- The Blooming Grove map
- Legendary items, item insurance, and item passives
- Quests
- Finishers, crouching, and footstep indicators
- A mini-map
- Four new Seekers! Tallis, Strix, Rhei’a, and Rynn.
Which brings us to today! Since closed beta started, we’ve added a friend’s list, Discord integration, extractor cores and keys, updates to the ability system, and an item system overhaul.
AND NOW…
HIT THE GAS: Q1 2025
Open beta, here we come! 🌞🚗💨
Announcing open beta, coming this March!
Hold onto your backpacks because we’re gearing up for open beta in March 2025! This means we’re going to ramp up playtests in the new year as we prepare to open servers 24/7 for Early Access on Steam.
It all starts with a TEN DAY playtest in January. This will give y’all more time to get into the weeds, ruminate on how things feel, and share feedback on what’s working and what needs to be better for longer play sessions. And it’ll help us understand how the game feels across multiple days, which is how Seekers is meant to be played, especially since you make progress across matches–not just within them.
📅🖊 MARK YOUR CALENDARS: This playtest will start on Friday, January 10 and run until Sunday, January 19. Servers will be on for ~6 hours a day and will be located in North America. We’ll also have exclusive rewards for playing.
UP NEXT… We’ll run another small playtest or two, then we’ll be joining Steam Next Fest, which runs from February 24 to March 3. During this event, we’ll keep our servers on 24/7 for over a week 🎉 This playtest is important because it’ll help us stress test our servers and confirm we’re ready for that always-on life, especially when it comes to all the technical capabilities required.
FINALLY… Within a month of Steam Next Fest wrapping, we’ll officially move into OPEN BETA (aka Early Access on Steam), which means North America servers will be on 24/7 🥂🎊
Moving into open beta is an important step in development for us because it creates the right environment to start tuning and building the game for the long-term. Running single-day playtests for a game where you’re really meant to progress over time is starting to limit our ability to get good feedback and tune things properly, and this shift should help us focus on the right things as we continue through beta development.
A note on regional support
You might’ve noticed all the playtests coming in Q1 are on North America servers. This is because we’ll be supporting North America servers only during this initial launch. We would love to be in Europe (truly, some of our most dedicated players are there), but we just aren’t ready to dual-launch regions.
To all EU friends… Thanks for being a part of this journey and for your patience. We look forward to the day we can officially bring Seekers across the seas 💙
What’s cooking for January? 🍳
Our primary focus is on making sure things are stable for the multi-day playtest, which means we’ll be focusing on things like bug squashing, performance improvements, and tuning.
You can expect to see things like…
- Further iterations on extractor keys (thanks for your continued feedback)
- Tuning and adjustments to the item system
- Party Finder improvements
- General UI/UX improvements
- Improvements to power progression to make progressing between and within maps feel better
- A placeholder version of the “high tier” map, AKA Ancient Veil with a CR minimum
We talked in the past about working on a high-tier map where veteran players can go to prove their game prowess. That map is still planned, but in the meantime, we want to create a space for veterans to compete against other experienced players.
To that, we will be testing a placeholder version of a third map tier in January. This map will be very similar to Ancient Veil, but with a CR minimum to enter, stronger Unique creatures, and better loot drops. If this test goes well, we’ll add some more diversity to the placeholder map in the upcoming patches.
Seekers of Skyveil is designed to be played with all three maps available at all times because each map plays a part in your overall journey. To that, our goal is to keep all three maps open for the duration of the January playtest, with the exception of perhaps a warm-up period where people are still unlocking the more advanced maps. This way, you can choose the map that’s right for you based on your goals, stash, and vibes.
We’re also going to be opening the doors to more new players this week, so please help by giving them a friendly welcome and spreading the word! And keep your eyes open for a new trailer in January 👀
What’s cooking for open beta, aka Early Access? 🍽️
In addition to the usual tuning and adjustments, here’s what’s on deck for Steam Next Fest in February, which is (basically) the start of open beta.
Base Upgrades
We’re rolling out the prototype for base upgrades! There will still be work to do when it comes to the UX/UI and overall experience, but we’re excited to add base progression to Seekers.
In this first iteration, you’ll be able to upgrade your vendors using gold. We’re still working out some of the details, but upgrading your vendor might do things like unlock special wares, discount prices, or other perks. Base upgrades should give you another way to make progress across your games, and we’re looking forward to hearing where you’d like to see ‘em go in the future.
New Seeker
🐸
Power Progression Improvements
We want it to feel more clear and meaningful when you make progress within and between Blooming Grove, Ancient Veil, and the veteran’s map. Much of this will come from item adjustments, but we’ve also got a few other things in the works.
No More Triple Lily
We’ll be adjusting matchmaking rules to require three unique Seekers on each team. This will apply to pre-mades and solo queue teams.
Final models for Rhei’a and Rynn
That muscle definition, yeeeesh 🔥
24/7 Support for Live Servers
We’re building our infrastructure to support an always-on game. This includes things like being able to spot live service issues at all hours, the right processes to solve these issues, and player support.
Cosmetics, event passes, and more
When we enter open beta in March, we’re going to start selling cosmetics and other in-game things so we can continue developing Seekers. Sometimes monetization and games can feel weird to talk about, but it’s just part of video games–devs gotta eat.
Since we haven’t really talked much about our plans for monetization, let’s jump in now.
What can you buy with real dollars in Seekers?
Open beta in March will be the first time anyone can spend real money in Seekers, which directly supports our team as we continue building the game.
When it comes to monetization, our goal is for you to feel good about spending before, during, and after your purchase. This means that spending should never feel like something you have to do, but rather something you want to do. Most of our monetization will focus on things like cosmetics for your Seekers and optional Adventure Passes, in addition to Seeker unlocks.
Once open beta officially begins in March, you’ll need to unlock your Seeker roster. You’ll be able to unlock one Seeker of your choice when you finish the New Recruit Pass (the free pass you see in game now). Additional Seekers can be unlocked using Auranite Essence (paid currency) or Auranite Dust, in-game currency you earn by playing. There will also be a rotating roster of free Seekers that changes ~each patch.
Additionally, we’re working on seasonal Adventure Passes with a free and paid track. The free track will grant you things like crafting resources, Auranite Dust, cosmetics, and some Auranite Essence. The paid track will get you access to all of this, plus additional rewards and exclusive cosmetics. These seasonal passes are in addition to the New Recruit Pass, which is free and never expires (these are the quests you see in game now).
We’re also making more cosmetics for Seekers, including some you’ve seen before and others that are brand new. You can purchase and equip cosmetics in three different slots–your head, weapon, and body piece–so you’ll be able to mix-and-match to your heart’s desires. This means if you want the weapon from one set and the hat from another, you can pick up just those pieces!
There will also be one-off cosmetics that aren’t part of a full outfit (like Zuraya’s frog hat), and you can unlock some of these singleton pieces with in-game currency too.
FINALLY… As a special during open beta, we’re working on three Founder’s Packs with a bunch of different rewards, including Seekers, exclusive cosmetics, starter gear packs, Auranite Essence, and more. If you’re having fun with Seekers and wanna invest more, these packs will give you the best bang for your buck.
What happens after March? 🍴🍲
We just keep cookin’! Our plan is to keep updating the game every three weeks during open beta. This will include everything from new Seekers, to cosmetics, to new gameplay features. And of course all of the tuning and iteration we do with the help of your thoughts and feedback.
Once we see how things are going in the longer playtests, we’ll lock in what comes next. Keep an eye out for a roadmap towards the end of Q1 next year.
See you next year! 🥳
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably helped make Seekers of Skyveil better. Whether you’ve left us feedback in Discord, filled out the surveys, or invited new friends to play, thank you. Having people care about your game enough to read a 937987 word blog is a privilege, and we can’t wait to start this next chapter alongside you all <3
Wishing you all safe and happy holidays, and see you in the new year!
