Hello everyone,
The Black Cube series followed its path during 8 years. It all started in 2012 with the creation of ASA: A Space Adventure, then its arrival for the first time on Steam with ASA: Remastered Edition! Year after year, I worked hard and often alone at home, and here you could discover Catyph: The Kunci Experiment, Myha: Return to the Lost Island in cooperation with Denis Martin, and this year Boïnihi: The K'i Codex. This series allowed me to meet great people, both gamers from all over the world and developers, and some of them became real friends. The road has been punctuated with sorrows and difficulties, but also with joys, such as the success of the Kickstarter in 2017, or discovering the reviews in some magazines. 4/5 in Adventure Gamers for all these games, and even better: 4.5/5 for Myha with a 'Silver Aggie' last year!
I want to continue, I have the scenario for a 5th episode and I'm motivated. I'm also learning Unity so that I can make even more ambitious projects.
But unfortunately it's getting very complicated for me to make a new Black Cube game in the current conditions.
In 8 years the series has had a hard time finding its audience, I have never hidden it. I've never been very good at marketing it, I worked hard on that, but despite all my efforts and all the advice I was given, it didn't work and the major influencers ignored the series. I haven't been able to make my work pay off. The 4 games together were activated and played by less than 3000 people (if I interpret the statistics correctly), and on average once the taxes and royalties were removed, I had to live with 300€ per month in total for all these years. Each new episode, created with passion but without budget, was made for the fans, but also for the newcomers (each game can be played separately, without having played the previous ones). Alas, I have to admit that only the fans of the first hour (ASA) really continued the series. Boïnihi, which I consider the most accessible episode, and which received good reviews, was the worst launch to date.
I don't blame anyone, there's no one to blame.
However, the covid crisis is not helping.
I am therefore putting the production of any new episode on hold indefinitely. The Black Cube is no longer part of my main production schedule.
The series is not totally abandoned and will obviously not be deleted, you can continue to play it, to put the games in your wishlist and buy the episodes you don't have yet. The Black Cube Bundle at -15% all year long will remain available: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/617/The_Black_Cube_series/
I will continue to participate in the Steam sales, so don't miss the Christmas sales!
You can always write to me with questions, or let me know if you encounter a problem that prevents you from completing your adventure. You can do this on the official website https://www.theblackcube.fr/ in the Contacts page.
All this may not be definitive, I don't know how my situation will evolve in the months and years to come, nor what opportunities will present themselves. I'm also studying the possibility of porting existing games to other platforms, and I don't rule out the idea of reviving some unfinished Black Cube games with the external help of other creators (ATOS, Kel Leda...).
I remain motivated and passionate, and I won't stop working as an independent developer for the moment, but I will try in 2021 to focus on lighter or more mainstream games. Don't hesitate to follow me on social networks (https://twitter.com/Simon_ASA) to stay informed about what I'm doing next, and to encourage me!
Before I leave you, I really want to thank all the people who played these games, who loved them, and who supported me during all these years, knowing very well that I was struggling with all my strength to release each new episode. It was with a heavy heart that I made this decision, because the Black Cube series really represents a whole page in my life. Those who have completed all 4 episodes know that, put together, these hundred hours of gameplay bring their share of poetry, varied settings, texts and touching moments, while rewarding their intelligence and logic. It is with them in mind that I write these last lines <3 <3 <3
Also don't miss this free Digital Artbook (7 years of the Black Cube series) that I have recently published for everyone to download and enjoy: https://bit.ly/3nmC7Sn
Thank you for reading, and see you soon I hope!
Simon