You see, when we embarked on this upside down / inside out journey to create a layer full of lies and non-euclidean portal technology - we underestimated just how much work would go into not only getting all of these things to simply work, but also rewriting every enemy to be able to use the portals, making sound and light and reflections travel through the portals, and so on and so forth. It's been a challenge to say the least.
In fact, since the ULTRA_REVAMP update we've moved three members of the New Blood programming team over to the ULTRAKILL team and hired another additional programmer specifically to assist with this update. It's been a long road to get here - but rest assured, it's nearly there now (we're working on 8-4) and it's every bit as fucking cool as you think it is.
As we head into 2026, New Blood has become a full blown development studio made up of nearly 50 designers, programmers, 2D and 3D artists, animators, musicians, VFX / SFX wizards, QA testers, video editors and more - so to call us a publisher not only does a disservice to the studio, but to Hakita and his core team of devs as well.
The pressure should not be on them alone, it's on all of us to continue to deliver the best game we can for all of you.
We have no investors, no shareholders, no publishers and no limits other than our own capabilities.
We are only beholden to ourselves and to you, our players.
We do everything ourselves, we don't outsource anything, not even our console ports.
Running New Blood for me is a constant balancing act between what we are trying to accomplish, how we can accomplish it and how long it'll take to accomplish it.
That's compounded upon by a near endless string of variables including our developer's mental and physical health.
Sometimes a dev gets sick, sometimes they have a death in the family, sometimes that family is a cat, sometimes they've gone through a breakup and are just too heartbroken to get any work done, and sometimes they're just fuckin' depressed and need some time to do something other than work.
And that's okay with us.
Sometimes our core devs have a change in their artistic vision - and I'm not sure many publishers would say YES when a developer says they want to take an extra year in the middle of development to essentially remaster their entire game, but that's why New Blood is much more than just a publisher.
I'm not going to say something lame like "we're a family" because we're not - but we're friends. And that goes a long way.
While most publishers or investors would see a product that needs to be finished and sold, I view ULTRAKILL (and the rest of our games) as a work of art. A statue that needs to be chiseled away at and iterated upon until it can become as close to the artist's vision as possible.
Then - and only then - once they're happy with it and I'm happy that they're happy - do we start even talking about releasing it.
And this goes for everything we do! From full game launches down to our silly YouTube shorts. Nothing is taken for granted. Everything has to be perfect, or else it's not New Blood. It's not WORTHY.
Sure, this approach to developing games has surely cost us untold millions of dollars. And surely so has dumping all the ULTRAKILL revenue right back into projects like Gloomwood - but if it's not abundantly clear by now - we really do hate money!
I'm always surprised to see games like DUSK and FAITH selling more copies than ever before, but knowing that's on account of our continued support to our players and our clear consistent branding.
Let's face it, if you like one New Blood game - you'll probably like the rest.
I started this company with my friends back in 2014 with nothing but a cool logo and a desire to make the dopest shit. It wasn't even a full time job for me until 2022 when I realized I didn't have to work another job anymore thanks to our success.
These days I hardly have time to play games other than our own, and in fact writing these Steam announcements is one of my last few creative endeavors - which is probably why I spend so long writing them :)
Reviewing builds and paying bills - that's the life of a professional video game development studio CEO.
And I am nothing if not a mother fucking professional at all times. ːbigjohnː
But this isn't about me, this is about YOU.
When can you expect ULTRAKILL Layer 8: Fraud?!
Early next year.
How early? Very early.
If I say January, it'll end up being February, if I say February it'll end up being March.
So in order to not set a curse upon us, we'll just let you know when it's coming and then when it's out.
But it won't be that much longer now. Promise.
And if you've managed to read any of what I've said above then hopefully you know it'll be worth it!
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