Hi! Stephane, Game Director on World of Anterra here.
Thanks for hanging in there while the team and I had our heads down working on the game. Although it's been a minute, I'm happy to be back with some new updates! I've been working on a bunch of content and writing in my spare time that I plan to share over the next few months. These updates will include a new type of post that I'm calling Founder's Journals.
Founder's Journals will be a true "behind the scenes" look at what it took to get WoA and 81monkeys to this point. These posts will go all the way back to when I first started this journey before our Kickstarter and continue to the point that we're at now. We will also share Feature Showcases with some meant for our Steam Page, and I'm excited to share them here first for feedback.
If you've read this far without hitting the comment section, I want to thank you. Whether you've been quietly rooting for me and the team, or actively encouraging us, you should feel proud of the difference you make for 81monkeys. This community has become more important to me than I could have imagined. Those who continue to come without judgment, with patience and understanding, even in the face of the challenges; your words of encouragement mean the world to me. I'm not sure I would have lasted this long and pushed so hard if it weren't for you and the excitement we share for World of Anterra. It turns out that money is not what I needed most, your support was.
To say this has become the journey of my life is an understatement. I've been open about most of the challenges I've faced, but something I haven't talked about much is the mental health side of things. I've gone through some dark times over the past few years. Thankfully, those times appear to be behind me now. And although it's been a tough road, I want you to know that I am also having the time of my life. I'm bringing my dream game to life, I get to work with an incredibly talented team, and I have a wonderful community of supporters. What more can I ask for? ... well, maybe a few things.
We still have to launch a demo and get to our early access, but I'm committed that both of those things will happen this year. We're finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and this is mainly due to the hard work that has gone on over the last 6 plus months.
Here are some key milestones you may have missed:
We've landed some new funding partners, who joined our in-house 81monkeys project funding program. Yes, we created our own funding program.
We've hired a veteran Producer who has taken all the project management work off my plate along with some of our business development and operations. He's a rockstar!
We've brought on a marketing partner who has begun supporting us with our social media strategy, community management, marketing, and more.
And most importantly, we shored up many systems and tools that were holding WoA back. More on this soon.
Along with these milestones, I can also share that our team’s morale and productivity never felt better than it does right now! It's starting to feel like we've hit a "golden age" (civ reference!).
Anyway, that's it for now. Stay tuned for our next round of Kickstarter updates.
As a small token of appreciation, we’ve created some new wallpapers for you to enjoy. Feel free to share them with your friends! Hope you're having a great start to your year.
Download Wallpapers here -
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ifYf4o45ptmlSdmsjteSdzd2qxtYMWIT?usp=sharing
Sincerely,
Stephane - Game Director @ 81monkeys