Hello everyone, my name is Konstantine Lisetskiy, and I am the co-founder and CTO of Farom Studio.
In this post, I would like to update you on the current status of Lost Region's development, when it will be available, the plans for Lost Region, and the studio's long-term vision.
Firstly, Lost Region is still in active development, and we have not stopped working on the game for a single day. It's a ambitious project that requires significant capital and time investment, and while we have already invested a lot, we still need time for version 1.0. We want to avoid releasing incomplete patches, and we are reevaluating some aspects and mechanics planned for the game. As a result, it is not ready for a wide audience showcase at the moment.
Secondly, we plan to have a closed beta for those who have already purchased the game, but it will be when the beta reaches version 0.9, which is still far away, and it won't last long. The beta is crucial for stress testing servers, the game's economy system, and determining the optimal player capacity on one server. After the initial setback, where we received 19% positive reviews due to a lack of QA at the start, relying on the community, we have decided to move away from using volunteers for testing. Our fault lies in not thoroughly checking and possibly trusting the wrong individuals. However, our optimism regarding the project remains, and we still believe in it.
In our plans, we aim to make the game free, as we want to see many players in the world of Lost Region and support the game with updates for many years. There will be a premium account in the game, and for those who purchased the game before version 1.0, this account will be granted for life. When players hear about a free version, they often think about monetization. We assure you that the emphasis will be on industry-standard customization of characters, bases, and transport. We do not plan to introduce any imbalance through purchases, as it would harm the game in its early days.
And the final point, regarding the studio's plans. Since the early access release of LR, our team has grown from 5 to almost 60 people. Our studio actively engages in outsourcing other projects to fund the development of Lost Region. Next year, we plan to showcase our second game, which is already in the production stage and will bring in additional funds to invest in Lost Region's development. In the past year, we received the Epic Megagrant and the Amazon AWS grant for servers. Both grants assist us in the project's development, but it's still not enough to cover all our needs.
Keep an eye on the studio's updates; we will keep you informed as new information comes in. Happy New Year!
Konstantine Lisetskiy
Farom Studio CTO