Hey everyone-
We wanted to give you an update on the version 1.0 release, and the future of DwarfHeim.
We had huge plans for DwarfHeim and wanted to do something new and exciting in the RTS genre. Doing something new inherently comes with risk, but instead of doing something tried and tested we really wanted to try and blaze a new path.
We put everything into DwarfHeim but the sad reality we have had to face is that the early access launch did not take off in the way the team had hoped it would. We’ve always listened to and actioned community feedback and worked that into some of the fantastic updates we have made to the game during early access.
With community feedback, we added player rewards for online matches, improved Thane leveling system, new tutorials, local hosting, queuing for different game types simultaneously, and a range of other small updates alongside regular bug fixes and balancing. It has been wonderful to work so closely with the community during early access to make numerous great updates to the game, as we head towards the end of early access with an even more robust experience than we entered it.
Merge Games has been an incredibly supportive partner and believed in the vision of DwarfHeim along with us. Together with Merge, we worked hard side-by-side to try and bring in new players and deliver a great game for the existing community, but unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out as planned.
So despite the positives and the efforts we have made to drive the game, ultimately, sales didn’t meet our expectations and we haven’t been able to increase or sustain the DwarfHeim player base. We always had a long term plan to continue delivering content based on community input but we are very sorry to tell you that due to the low sales, lack of players, and consequently, not enough revenue to sustain the project, it is now no longer possible for us to stick to that plan. There are several previously planned updates, shaped by community feedback, that we are still planning to implement into the game to form the version 1.0 full release of DwarfHeim.
We are sorry that we are unable to deliver to you the original vision that we had for the future of DwarfHeim and the community around it. We know that when you took the early access plunge with us that this wasn’t what you signed up for. We hope that you have enjoyed the many improvements made during early access and the final version of DwarfHeim will always be a unique and fun co-op RTS experience. We hope to see the community enjoying the results of the early access launch into the future.
We did everything in our power to remain in a position where it was viable to continue working on DwarfHeim, and we are sorry that ultimately, we let you down.
Thank you for placing your trust in us, and thank you for being part of this wonderful community.
There will be a FAQ posted in the next few days, if you have any further questions please DM @Domina on our Discord, or post here in the steam forums and we'll try to answer as best we can.
With love,
Aech