2022 Wrap-Up + Road To Launch
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Dec 21, 2022 at 11:00:19 PM
Hello dear backers and supporters!
It’s already been 6 months since our latest big announcement for Sea of Stars (confirmed coming to Playstation) and it feels like a backers update is long overdue. For the past months we have been fully dialed in on concrete milestones to take this dream production home, and we're happy to report that both the team and the game are doing great!
While everyone's patience and support has been felt by all of us, we want you to rest assured that getting closer to launch also means slowly reemerging from the depths of gamedev to communicate more, starting of course with our community.
So, here’s a wrap-up of the highlights of 2022!
SEA OF STARS IS ON TRACK TO RELEASE IN 2023
While there is still a lot of work left, the path to launch is clearer than ever. The whole team is aligned and on pace to complete the production for Sea of Stars to release in 2023.
Working towards the infamous BETA milestone, technical unknowns are now behind us and all gameplay systems are locked-in. We are hard at work completing content, balancing and fine tuning the game's moment-to-moment experience.
While we cannot provide a specific release date yet, we want to reaffirm that 2023 will be the year Sea of Stars is released.
FROM TITLE SCREEN TO END CREDITS
Four years ago, a small team began work on the level design tools and renderer code that would be required to deliver the vision for Sea of Stars: unshackled traversal, dynamic lighting, and seamless turn-based combat.
As of writing this, the game's main path is fully playable from title screen to end credits. Game mechanics sing the way we were hoping they would, and the story has been finalized with all levels fully playable.
In case you don’t follow us on social media, here’s a few updates you might have missed.
First, a look at the cooking menu.
Here’s a quick stroll through Zenith Academy, with Valere and Zale as kids.
Oh, and here's a big boss just for fun!
SO, WHAT'S LEFT?
A bit of optional content, a lot of NPCs, localization, a whole lot of bug fixing, and an impossible amount of polishing. We are currently operating on a weekly build-review schedule, covering every segment of the game with the finest brush, ensuring readability of the levels, balanced combat, and properly paced cutscenes.
To reach BETA, we need every and all moments and elements of the game to be at the highest quality we can produce.
THE LAST STRETCH
Once the game reaches BETA (content complete), we will work towards the last milestone, GOLD (bug-free), making sure Sea of Stars offers the best experience for everyone, on all its supported platforms. This implies performance optimization, accessibility, compliance, localization and quality assurance.
As a reminder, the game will be available in English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese.
BACKER SURVEYS WILL BE SENT IN 2023
With almost 30,000 backers (!!) the fulfillment of the campaign is something we have been preparing for.
The backer experience remains a top priority for us, and we want to make sure everything is in place for quality customer support. As such, surveys have been delayed to 2023. Other than the platform selection, we will be collecting any information relevant to fulfillment at that time (shipping address, name for the credits, etc.)
Rest assured that there will be plenty of reminders, and that we will do everything we can to get in contact with everybody.
LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD
As 2023 approaches, it is clear that we have a big year ahead of us. For now, it is time for the team to take some well-deserved time off, recharge and spend time with loved ones before we all get back together to finish this journey at last.
Again, your support, patience and optimism means a lot to the team. It carries us in these efforts, and after all this time has never failed to mean the world to us. We can’t wait for the moment you all finally play Sea of Stars!
Until then, thank you once again for everything, and we wish everyone a happy 2023!
With love,
-SaboTeam
FOOTNOTES
As we are self-publishing, growing awareness is paramount throughout production. If you have a moment to help us even more than you already have, here are a few ways you can can do so in 30 seconds or less:
Invite a friend or internet traveler to do any of the above!
Once again, thank you for everything.
2023 Release + PlayStation Announcement
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Jul 08, 2022 at 04:29:20 AM
As we are nearing an important production milestone, the road to launch materializes and we have important updates for you! Let's jump right in.
SEA OF STARS IS COMING TO PS4 AND PS5
It was always the plan to bring Sea of Stars to as many people as possible, but as with all things, planning and timing were key. Through PlayStation's Indie Spotlight event, we are happy to confirm today that Sea of Stars will be available on both PS4 and PS5 on launch day, cross-buy.
For over a year we have been working with PlayStation dev kits to make sure it ran as smoothly as on our other target platforms. To avoid spoilers, we showcased the same content as the Nintendo Switch trailer, but still made a point to recapture everything on PS4 and PS5 directly!
(If you want to help bring more eyeballs to Sea of Stars, please RT this post!)
We can also confirm that PlayStation will be an available platform for the backer exclusive physical version published by Limited Run Games. For those who were waiting on a PlayStation confirmation, you can pre-order your copy here (Surveys for platform selection will be sent later this year).
SEA OF STARS WILL RELEASE IN 2023
You might have already seen the 2023 announcement last week on our social media; to avoid spam we were waiting on the PlayStation announcement to bundle everything into one Kickstarter update.
Emphasizing our two main priorities (quality of the finished game, and a healthy work-life balance for the team), production remains a road where the unexpected occurs a lot even if the destination is set. Where there is a wall we tear it down, where there is a tree we walk around it, and where there is a gem we pick it up. The vision remains clear, but seeing the response and hype we made the conscious decision to make sure to leave no gems on the floor. Something special is happening here, and we are committed to making the most of it.
We also want to make sure Sea of Stars is the best experience possible for everyone, which implies considerable efforts in terms of performance optimization, accessibility, localization, QA and porting.
A precise release date will be announced as soon as we pass the Beta milestone.
Once again, thank you all for your overwhelming positivity and patience.
IN THE STUDIO, AT LAST
As a quick side note, after more than two years of remote work and short-lived comeback attempts, the team is officially back in the studio! It’s a huge morale boost to reconnect with the energy of the production floor. We’re feeling blessed to finally be reunited as we undertake the final stretch of development.
NEXT STEPS
With virtually all technical risks already tackled, the team is focused on finalizing the game's content.
We’re also getting ready for the final phases of fulfillment for the Kickstarter campaign. The surveys to gather shipping information and platform choices for both digital and physical versions of Sea of Stars will be sent later this year via Backerkit. We will do multiple announcements on all channels when we’re ready, to make sure everyone has plenty of time to fill them.
In closing, we want to once again thank you for your patience. It’s a long ride, and your overwhelming support goes a long way in keeping the team's motivation high. We feel truly blessed, and can’t wait for you to experience Sea of Stars in its final form.
With love,
-SaboTeam
FOOTNOTES
As we are self-publishing, growing awareness is paramount throughout production. If you have a moment to help us even more than you already have, here are a few ways you can can do so in 30 seconds or less:
Invite a friend or internet traveler to do any of the above!
Once again, thank you for everything.
Production Update + Spring Q&A Stream
almost 4 years ago
– Fri, May 13, 2022 at 06:43:56 AM
Q&A + WIZARD LAB DUNGEON PREVIEW ON TWITCH THIS FRIDAY MAY 13TH, AT 2PM EST / 11AM PST / 8PM CET
Back in February, around 20 minutes of new content from Sea of Stars was shown to a selected few media outlets. This preview included an updated look on many systems and a quest involving pirates, the port town of Brisk and mysterious arcane ruins known as the “Abandoned Wizard’s Lab”.
Polish has gone a long way since our last stream, so we wanted to share this segment of Sea of Stars with our community. Make sure to tune in on Twitch this Friday May 13th, at 2PM EST / 11AM PST / 8PM CET!
The second half of the stream is reserved for Q&A. Join us if you are curious about the behind the scenes, or have a question of your own! We opened a #qna channel on Discord to drop your questions ahead of time.
Rest assured that this preview won’t reveal critical story beats or spoil anything other than lower-stakes events from the game.
QUICK DEV UPDATES
In other news, here are a few spoiler-free dev updates you might have missed on social media. Most of these are low risk items we were saving for later in production. It's pretty exciting to be at a point where we are tackling these kinds of things!
First, we’ve been asked many times over the last 2 years whether the full battle party would be seen running around outside of combat.
Yes, of course!
And here’s an updated look at sailing.
The combat hud also got a revamp! While not quite final, this new version offers more breathing space and readability.
DEVELOPMENT IS GOING GREAT, BUT WE DON’T HAVE A RELEASE DATE YET
Production's velocity is at full throttle, with every part of the game gradually falling into place. While the road to a gold master has many more miles in store for us, it is quite thrilling to be at the front seat of Sea of Stars growing into its final form.
We're not ready to set a release date just yet, but the pace is good, and the team is committed to achieving the complete vision with no compromises. Remaining platforms and storefronts announcements will be coming soon, after which we will send the survey for the final phase of fulfillment (platform choices for physical and digital copies, civic address for shipping, name for the credits, etc.)
Stay tuned! And as always, we thank you for your patience and overwhelming support
All the love,
- SaboTeam
FOOTNOTES
As we are self-publishing, growing awareness is paramount throughout production. If you have a moment to help us even more than you already have, here are a few ways you can can do so in 30 seconds or less:
Invite a friend or internet traveler to do any of the above!
Once again, thank you for everything.
Hands-Off Press Demo Impressions
about 4 years ago
– Sun, Mar 06, 2022 at 05:07:34 AM
Last week we showed a new dungeon to journalists while answering their questions about Sea of Stars.
Many media outlets answered our call to attend the hands-off preview presented by Thierry, and we’re thrilled to finally share their impressions with the community.
It was truly humbling to see them express in their own words what essentially boils down to what our vision has been all along. Nothing can feel more special for our team than seeing such a reaction from fresh eyes looking at our game, especially as we buckle up for the final year of production.
All the articles are linked down below!
THE PRESS DEMO FEATURED A NEW DUNGEON: THE WIZARD LAB
Journalists were shown around 20 minutes of gameplay from a quest and a new dungeon involving pirates, the port town of Brisk and mysterious arcane ruins known as the "Abandoned Wizard's Lab" which included puzzles, illusions, enchanted enemies, and fishing.
Even though it didn't reveal critical story beats that would spoil later events in the game, we will be keeping most of the demo's content under wraps, as we know a lot of you would rather experience the game with as little knowledge as possible beforehand. Some of the articles do go in full detail about the preview though, so feel free to read or skip them at your convenience.
Otherwise, on a true spoiler-free note, it was revealed that Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda will contribute around 10 tracks to the game!
Here are a few screenshots taken from the preview:
Big thanks to all the journalists who took the time to hear our pitch and write about Sea of Stars, we truly appreciate it.
THE REMAINING PLATFORMS AND STOREFRONTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN SPRING 2022
That's it for now!
Here's a quick reminder that the target is to announce the remaining platforms and storefronts during the Spring of 2022. Once the launch platforms are all confirmed, we will send the survey for the final phase of fulfillment (platform choices for physical and digital copies, civic address for shipping, name for the credits, etc.)
Stay tuned! And as always, thank you for the overwhelming support <3
- SaboTeam
Nintendo Switch Announcement + New Trailer
about 4 years ago
– Wed, Dec 15, 2021 at 11:57:14 PM
We’re thrilled to step out of the production submarine to finally confirm that Sea of Stars is coming to Nintendo Switch!
Here’s the brand new announcement trailer, which premiered during Indie World earlier today:
(If you want to help bring more eyeballs to Sea of Stars, please RT this post!)
Since the very beginning, the plan was to release Sea of Stars on Switch. Considering where the game's main inspirations were played, it naturally follows that it should live on a Nintendo console.
While we were waiting for the proper announcement timing, porting work has been going on for a long time. With quality and polish in mind, we have been proactively optimizing performance on all fronts, making sure the game runs smoothly everywhere. In fact, all footage from the trailer was captured directly on Switch!
Oh, by the way, Sea of Stars also now has a page on the eShop!
THE TRAILER IS MEANT TO BE SPOILER FREE
As always, deciding where to draw the line in how much to show is a challenge we take very seriously. If it was up to us, nothing would be shown to preserve the entirety of the experience. In reality, there has to be some give for people to be aware of the game, especially given the self-publishing indie studio need to build a community.
If you are mindful of spoilers, rest assured that only a small portion of the game was shown at this point, and that each shot was hand-picked to convey a mandatory portion of the promise without giving too much away.
HOLIDAY 2022 IS THE TARGET, BUT WE WON’T RUSH THE GAME.
To clear all the potential confusion that could arise from different interpretations of the Winter 2022 / Holiday 2022 messaging, the target is to launch Sea of Stars roughly a year from now.
The exact date will be announced sometime next year once we have a clear view of when the game will be as good as we can make it. As always, the only thing we will not compromise on is quality.
THE REMAINING PLATFORMS AND STOREFRONTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN SPRING 2022
The target is to announce the remaining platforms and storefronts during the Spring of 2022. Once the launch platforms are all confirmed, we will send the survey for the final phase of fulfillment (platform choices for physical and digital copies, civic address for shipping, name for the credits, etc.)
Once again, rest assured that we will be where the players are.
WE WILL BE WORKING WITH KAKEHASHI GAMES TO BRING SEA OF STARS IN JAPAN
The same partner that handled localization, certification and promotion for our first game The Messenger in Japan and South Korea, Kakehashi Games, is back for Sea of Stars!
The team over at Kakehashi earned our trust with The Messenger Japanese and Korean versions, which received much praise for capturing the spirit of the source material. They will also help with promotion as well as pursuing other opportunities to help Sea of Stars become as big in Japan as possible.
2021 was a big year of production for us, and we are happy to report that Sea of Stars is emerging as something that exceeds our expectations, mostly due to the overwhelmingly positive response and additional talent joining the team.
For 2022, production remains the top priority, but we will also be talking about the game a lot more as we get closer to release, with many more announcements and promotion activities already planned.
But for now, it is time for the team to rest. We want to thank you for the unbelievable support, and wish you all happy holidays. See you next year!
-SaboTeam
(On a side note, the studio will be closed from December 23rd to January 3rd. Any messages sent to us during that period will be answered on January 4th. The team will be spending time with loved ones and recharging for the year to come. )
