"of the Devil" is now rated Overwhelmingly Positive!
Thank you to all of our players since launch - your support means everything to us. We wanted to provide a quick "State of the Game" to commemorate this milestone, answer some FAQs, and provide some insight on the path forward for "of the Devil"!
"Who is nTh Circle Studios?"
We are a totally self-funded, self-published studio of only 4 people - including just a single writer and a single illustrator. Most of the team is part-time!
We have adopted an episodic model as the fastest way to get content to our players given our team structure. Each episode will be roughly the same playlength as Episode 1, and playable as a standalone story while advancing the overall plotline.
"When can we expect the remaining episodes to release?"
In short - as soon as we can!
We can tell you that Episodes 2, 3, 4 and 5 are fully written- each of them with a word count greater than Episode 1. And while you can expect variations on the mechanics introduced so far, all core programming and UI elements are already complete.
"So what's left to do?"
Assets! The team has a ton of work ahead to craft character sprites and CGs, background scenes, 3D models and miscellaneous illustrations. This is our focus at the moment!
Scripting! Directorial and gameplay scripting is an enormous part of the player experience.
Playtesting & Polish! Even at our studio's size we are absolutely determined to deliver a smooth and performant gameplay experience to our players. This includes supporting Steam Deck and controller support and further performance tuning beyond patch 1.05.
Episode 2 is on track for a release this year (2025).
"Will you be producing merchandise?"
Yes! While Episode 2 is our foremost priority, we’d like to offer merch soon. To help us in narrowing down what you'd be interested in, please take a moment to fill out our two-question survey here.
"Can we expect an OST release?"
You can definitely expect to see new tracks introduced over the course of the game. As our music assets are a combination of custom-crafted material and purchased tracks, formalizing a soundtrack to share outside the game, while something we're pursuing, is a bit tricky. At a minimum, we expect to have a music player mode in-game in future episodes!
"Will you be releasing to other platforms?"
Depending on what we hear from our fans and potential players, we're definitely interested in pursuing this, backseat to actual episode production. If you have an opinion, please let us know. For the foreseeable future, however, Steam will be the only way to purchase “of the Devil.”
"Will you be translating the game into language?"
We'd love to share our game with a broader audience. Our game's voice and tone is also a large part of what we think makes it special. We have the groundwork laid for translation, but will need additional funding and market research before pursuing it further.
"Are you evaluating voice acting?"
At the moment, we're focused on core asset creation. Similar to translation, additional resources are needed before voice acting could be in reach for our studio.
Closeout
Again, thank you for playing, reviewing, and sharing your love for our game. As an independent studio, word-of-mouth is our strongest tool. Please continue to support us as we work to deliver future episodes in a timely fashion!
Wishlist Episode 2 Here.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3124590/of_the_Devil__Episode_2/