Behind the Scenes: Development, Q&A, and Upcoming Update

Hi everyone!
Just a short info post today. I did a Q&A recently, and some questions came up more than once, so I thought it’d be good to answer them here. I also want to say a few words about production, future plans, and give a small update about what’s coming in October/November. If you’re only here for the 5.0 update and pictures, scroll down to the last section. :D

First, I’ve seen some strange posts lately accusing me of not keeping promises, not focusing on the project, and even lying about the full release being planned for 2026. Honestly, it feels weird to explain myself, but I think I should.

Yes, two years ago after the first release I wrote that small updates would come every month and big ones every two months. Back then, a “small update” meant around 5 short scenes, 300–400 renders, and about 5k words. Now, a small update (like episode 4.2 for example) had over 1,400 renders, almost 20k words, better animations, and higher-quality visuals. So the scope of content has grown a lot.

The plan hasn’t changed — we still aim for a full release in 2026. I can’t promise 100% we’ll make that deadline, but we’re not going to cut content just to rush things. Since the start, we’ve had a full vision of the game and we’re building it step by step. We even added some extra scenes for big supporters, which weren’t in the original plan but I feel like they fit nicely into the story.

About the DLC coming in two months — it was planned a long time ago, even last year. So yes, it’s possible we won’t finish the full game by the end of 2026, but we’re working every single day to deliver the best content we can. A lot has changed in my personal life too (like my wedding), which caused some delays. Hard to estimate everything 3 years ahead, especially with so little experience I had, but nothing changed to my approach to the project and I still take it seriously.

Now, the most common questions:

• Recruitment: We tested many people, but it was more trouble than help. In the end, we hired one full-time artist (thanks, Alex!) who’s been a huge help. I hoped to hire 2–3 more, but so far no one matched our style. Recruitment is still open, but passively — I’m not spending more time searching right now, because instead of testing people I could create much more renders myself.

• Future projects: We’re not planning a direct sequel to SoD. Maybe a DLC with a separate story, or maybe something new — but for now, SoD is the focus.

• How I started: I first worked for other devs (can’t say much because of NDAs), but I learned a lot and then decided to make my own game. Comparing the early renders to now, I can say I’ve learned even more. I try to improve every day, fixing old mistakes and pushing quality forward.

• Characters/assets: I can’t share assets or spoil content. About Riley — she isn’t based on anyone, I just created a character I personally liked.

If you have more questions (or complaints about what I wrote earlier), feel free to leave comments on Patreon or Steam. I don’t reply to everything, but I do read all of them.

About the next update: it’s coming in early November. You’ll get 9 large scenes and over 2,000 new renders. In mid-October, I’ll share the full changelog and detailed info about the DLC (coming one month after episode 5.0, in December). It’s been a long wait for episode 5.0, but the DLC will make up for it and prove we’ve been working hard.

Finally, here are a few random renders. Feel free to ask more questions, and if you haven’t left a Steam review yet — please do it now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2649970/Steps_of_Debauchery/