Dearest friends, fans, and other interested parties,
The finish line is in sight. Everyone at Route 59 is absolutely busting to release Necrobarista into the world, and—good news—we're almost certain that it'll be soon. Very soon, even. Lots of wheels are in motion, and this tram ain't stopping for nobody.
First, though, here's the rundown of where we're at generally:
- Localization on all of the fourteen languages we're shipping in is on the cusp of being complete; only minor tweaks remain. Everyone involved in localization has worked incredibly hard and fast to get the job done, and we're both super impressed and very thankful for them.
- Most of us are currently focusing on diligently playtesting and addressing bugs and performance issues—as our screenshots and gameplay footage demonstrate, Necrobarista is a graphically complex game, and we're doing our best to ensure it looks great and runs smoothly on a broad range of setups. We'll be delivering further optimizations post-launch, too.
- Necrobarista has been to two different conventions in the past month: Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show! We had a wonderful reception at both, and would like to extend special thanks to our Japanese publishing partner PLAYISM for doing a great job of demoing the game at TGS (as always).
- Now we're making preparations for PAX Aus 2019! Expect new merch and a booth full of overcaffeinated game developers.
- Most importantly, even though we're working our butts off, we're making sure to take care of ourselves and not burn out in the last stage of development. It's an easy pitfall to trip into, but thankfully our producer is on the hunt for anyone working after hours. Believe me, there have been (gentle) scoldings.
- Please don't break the window. The air conditioner is on and we are listening to our favourite music. 🐕
Now, here's a list of serious and not-so-serious questions that I gathered from our Discord and Twitter:
Frequently (Recently) Asked Questions
Q: Are you still going to release Necrobarista in Q3, aka before the end of September?
A: That was the original expectation, but it's not looking likely at this point.
Q: It's still coming before Christmas, though, right?
A: At this point we cannot foresee a situation where that is not the case. We're pushing very hard to have the game out ASAP.
Q: Will there be a demo or a preorder?
A: These are both things we've put a lot of thought into. Ultimately, a polished demo would take extra development time, and we're close enough to releasing the full game that it's not a good use of our time to go back and cut bits out of it for a demo build. As for a preorder, well, it's a big logistical challenge that we'd probably want to tackle a bit earlier in the development cycle—as with the demo, we don't really think it would be worthwhile to launch a preorder so close to release.
Q: I saw your company logo in a big tech company's presentation recently.
A: This seems like less of a question and more of a comment.
Q: C'mon. ಠ_ಠ
A: We have nothing new to announce at this time. Sorry! We might have some neat things to talk about soon, though. Keep an eye on our social media. (Links at the bottom of this post!)
Q: What about that bangin' Kevin Penkin soundtrack?
A: That'll drop within a week or two of the game's Steam release, via our partners Boss Battle Records. As before, keep an eye on our social media to stay informed on where you can listen to the extremely sick beats that our audio team cooked up.
Q: Switch & PS4 ports?
A: 2020.
Looking Forward to Release
Speaking from the heart here, it's been a long journey for all of us. A good chunk of the Route 59 team has been working towards this game release for five years at this point, and I don't think any of us would have made it this far without the encouraging and gratifying groundswell of support from our little passionate fanbase. What I'm trying to say is that we appreciate you a whole lot, and every decision we make is in service of providing the best possible game for you at launch. Thank you for your patience. More soon. ❤
