Let's get the crucial part out first. We will not hit the Q1 launch date with SacriFire for PC, but hopefully the reasoning for that will alleviate at least some of the pain. Sorry guys. The wait will be longer, and we hope that the effort put into the game will result in SacriFire being remembered for years to come, and not just played at launch.
Work on the game is happening at a steady although slower pace than originally anticipated. We are not where we aimed to be last year, and the scope of the game we arrived at makes putting a date on the calendar at this stage not fair. Therefore - we will be shifting the date to a later one. We should be able to confirm the goal date by the end of May this year.
Now for the reasoning. With as little blown up PR speak as possible.
Please note we wanted to prepare a statement and share the information below as soon as we can, even if specific dates and details are yet not set.
For the past 18 months we have been busy meeting, talking to, and narrowing down the list of partners to support the proper global launch plan we are striving for with SacriFire.
So far, SacriFire has walked the self-publishing line while looking for the right team that could support ambitious plans of having all the players - PC and console - experience Ezekiel’s journey at the same time.
We have been approached by over a hundred potential partners that wanted to discuss collaboration on the game, and we actually pursued 57 of those.That includes both platform holders, publishers, agencies, intermediaries, funds, start-ups, and developers-turned-publishers.
We talked, zoomed, and teamsed throughout the better part of last year, trying to narrow down the list of those that would allow SacriFire to not only successfully launch but - if we get the game right - become a cornerstone of something bigger.
SacriFire is fueled by the passion and work of the whole talented team taking up a significantly more ambitious and higher-quality project than originally anticipated and it is financed through a combination of backer funding, private funds and European and local grants. The partner that we envisioned would help build long-term success, not simply take part in it.
And we managed to find that partner. One that gives us a unique chance to support SacriFire’s vision we have today. We will be able to share the specifics of that collaboration and what it actually means - in the coming weeks.
What’s more important is that our current goal and the work happening is geared so that everyone who wants to enter Erebus can do so, regardless of platform.
You can expect a busy schedule of announcements in the near future. Our initial goal was to have a 100 000 wishlists at launch and we arrived at that number based on organic efforts concentrated around social media, digital events and media outreach. The current wishlist count is nearly twice the initial goal with the aim to only grow as time goes on.
The second important announcement is that the playtest originally intended for the beginning of this year will be pushed back - and we will communicate the date soon. The extra time will allow us to provide a better experience than originally intended and be even closer to the final game than the version we aimed for months ago.
Thirdly, we are also welcoming back the Day with SacriFire tradition so that you have more visibility of the daily happenings on the game.
And on an ending note - the “sorry” part is genuine. We know you are eagerly awaiting the launch of SacriFire, and it sucks we missed the dates we set out for ourselves. Still, we know the only way is forward, and we will not launch until we feel it’s right.
- Pixelated Milk Team