After doing fan-games for years, I thought I knew the ins and outs of Game Development pretty well... Turns out, making your own original games is a very different beast. It may seem obvious, in retrospect, but the level of obligations towards yourself, your team and people who have been looking forward to your project is quite different.
You owe to yourself to make the best possible game you can but you owe it to everyone else to eventually release it. The team owes professional and high quality work, but they also owe to themselves to not ignore their health or end up burning out. Needless to say, the original plan for BABELOMANIA's development cycle fell apart due to a combination of factors. It was still going, but it wasn't going as originally planned...
Then, literally in July 2026, while talking with one of the game's expecting fans who had been waiting for it since it was a SpookJam Entry in 2024, I said something along the lines of: "it's still going on, we're 75% of the way but it's still not 100% finished... And, I mean, it's not like I can release it in Episodes."
[pause for dramatic effect]
Yeah, you can probably see where this is going. It took me but a handful of seconds to realize that yes: episodic releases are a possibility. Especially in certain genres, like indie horror games, they're very much commonplace.
After a check-up, refinement of the code, adding graphical updates and missing content, controller support and optimizing it for Steam Deck usage, Episode 01 of BABELOMANIA was packaged, ready for building and uploading. And thus...
BABELOMANIA Episode 01, "Viva gli Sposi", will release on Steam on the 23rd of September 2026.
This has been a long and winding road, but we're finally here. The content you will find in Episode 01 will cover what you've found in the Demo and then some, introducing you fully to the second main character. Then, owing its inspiration to a legendary horror visual novel, in-between Episodes you will now be unlocking particular intermezzos.
Then, features: there are new graphics; you will be able to select the type of beeps the characters will be voiced with and an alternative font; there's a Gallery and a Music Room in the Extras; there's an universal codex that puts together what you've unlocked as both protagonists... Also, Episode 02 is done already, but it will only release after Episode 03 is finished.
And much more is coming down the line. Below, you will find an indicative -aka it's subject to change- timeline for what's next for BABELOMANIA. Me and the team are excited to, above anything else, finally share this with a wider audience.
The invitation is sent, everyone. See you at Château de Bois-le-Dumont...