Hello everyone,
Community manager Secundus here again! June has arrived, and with it comes unbearable heat, long days, sleepless nights... Don't know which one is worse: that or travelling with a horse days after days in a land full of madness.
Over the past month, our Discord beta testers have been diving deeper and deeper into Panda Circus and the Earth Prison. The feedback has been incredible, and we are extremely thankful! The team has been hard at work polishing, fixing, and balancing! There is still progress to be made, but each day helps us to grow Pony Island 2 into something more and more.
We think it is time to show you a few more things!
Here we descend once more into the depths beneath the Earth Prison, though this chamber feels far different from the ones we have seen before. The darkness stretches endlessly ahead, broken only by crimson light and the unsettling shapes resting in the distance. Whatever took place here, it certainly did not end well.
Fortunately, we are not entering alone this time. Louey seems to have joined the adventure in his own peculiar way! (I just want to say that I AM DYING OVER HIS CUTENESS) Whether this little plush companion is meant to comfort us, protect us, or simply stare silently into the void remains unclear. We are not entirely convinced he is harmless, though. Or maybe he is. Come on now, surely there has to be just one thing that is just innocent in this game.
And speaking of curious objects, attentive eyes may notice several familiar-looking tools resting within the inventory above.
And when we turn back...
...something is waiting for us.
The chamber itself remains silent, illuminated only by dim candlelight and the strange object resting at its center. Whatever power lies within this place, it seems important enough to be protected, or perhaps worshipped.
Perhaps some paths within the Earth Prison are not meant to be walked alone.
Do not feed the serpent.
Some mythical areas really make it difficult for me to explain what is taking place without spoiling them. Perhaps I should leave this one preeeetty much without an explanation. Though, just because some areas are familiar to you does not mean they will provide the same safety or rewards...
And as always, a soundtrack to wrap up this section! While I cannot leak much about this level, I must admit that the cultural tone, historical presentation, and the gameplay of this level will blow your mind. And the funny thing is that these are just some aspects that will be surprising. There is this major character of this act that- OOF! Alright, no spoilers!
Brrrrrrrrrr 📞 Yes, Daniel please. We got a fresh batch of questions for him.
As always, drop your burning questions below this post and we might have them answered in the next post!
Know Enqlich verry weell asks: Hi Daniel, what inspired the continued exploration of the "game-within-a-game" concept in later Steam projects following the release of Pony Island?
Daniel: It might be that some of the best creative fuel for me is other games. Game-within-a-game as a format gives me a lot of freedom to emulate the best ideas I see. I can say "I want to make one of those!" and put that into my current project rather than waiting for a new one.
kid.little.kat asks: OLD_DATA reference in panda circus or at least a hint of it?
Daniel: There will probably be some data in Panda Circus, and it's safe to say it won't be new.
KageLord1337 asks: Would you be able to tell us if the beta testing happening now points towards the full release still likely being in 2026 or not?
Daniel: I've found that a long beta testing period is quite beneficial for the final game, so I started early!
The talent of our community still spreads across our monthly updates, and we are extremely grateful for it! 🎨 If you want to have your art showcased on our posts, feel free to share them with me directly via [email protected] or fan-art channels in Discord server. You can message me directly as well!
This month's FANTASTIC cover was drawn by Devilblubl! You might remember this shot being reminiscent of a very unique scene from our reveal trailer! Devilblubl was kind enough to share not one, but two pieces of their wonderful art, and while we struggled to choose which one we should proceed with, you will get to see their other art in the next update too! Thank you again for sharing your talent with us!
This brilliant drawing by hrokkall (Tumblr) / circuitcrow (Instagram) attempted to capture some of the epic scenes from our trailer and was submitted to our first ever art contest! To this day, I am still amazed at how good it is at capturing these scenes...
The boatman would be proud of this one! p706's vision of Charon is insanely good. Lonely waters, dim lanternlight, and the quiet feeling that crossing this river may come at a terrible cost are all part of this massive experience. #WeLoveUCharon
That’s all for this month!
Thank you once again for all the incredible support, theories, bug reports, and artwork you continue to provide us. I would also like to mention that we see your comments about how you would like to see a release date and we might even get GTA 6 before Pony Island 2... However, we want to deliver the best experience possible and our team, if we were to suddenly drop a release date, would be restricted and what you might get will be lesser than what we envision Pony Island 2 to be.
We still have plenty left to reveal, and the deeper we go into summer, the stranger things seem to become. However, we might need a small break which is why there will not be a monthly update in July. Come August, we might return with some epic news. who knows?
Until next time...
Try not to trust everything you see.
Community Manager Secundus signing off!