Update: Steam Released Postponed until Jan 21st

Hello everyone! Unfortunately, I have some not-so-great news. I need to delay the Steam release of Price of Power until January 21st, 2022. It was a very hard decision that I didn't make lightly. I'm sure you're all wondering why I would do such a thing, but I have a few good reasons for my decision.

The primary reason is that I want there to be more content for everyone to enjoy at launch. By the new release date, I will have completed another significant chunk of content (Chapter 8) which will really push the story forward. Having two months to finish all of that content and polish everything up nicely will mean you all (the players) will enjoy the release much more. As a slight teaser of what to expect, Chapter 8 will introduce two new characters and start several new plot threads with multiple important decisions that will have ramifications for the rest of the story. Chapter 8 is going to be one of the most important chapters in the game, so including it with the initial release will make that release much better.

I'm also delaying the release so that I can include built-in support for Steam achievements. Currently, I have no Steam achievement support built in. Therefore, when I do add it, it will require players to restart the game from the beginning, thus losing all their saves and progress. I know that people (myself included) hate it when their save games are suddenly rendered unusable, so I want to avoid that as much as possible. By delaying until January, I'll be able to add in all the Steam achievement support I need, as well as release with a whole slew of them. That way, anyone playing Price of Power on Steam will be able to play through from day 1 without worrying about their saves being made incompatible and will even be able to earn a few achievements along the way.

Q: "So what are you doing with all this extra time? Two months is a long time!"

A: I've been working on Chapter 8 since I finished Chapter 7, so I'll continue working on Chapter 8. This does not affect my development timeline in any way, this is just a shift from releasing Chapters 1-7 to releasing Chapters 1-8. I'm currently aiming to have Chapter 8 done by the end of the year if possible, at which point I'll be able to focus on integrating Steam achievement support and providing additional polish to the game. I've already commissioned an excellent main menu screen from a great 3D artist, for example, and I hope to make similar investments to continue improving the game.

Q: "It sounds like you just didn't have the game ready and are stalling for time - is that true?"

A: As you all know, the game actually is ready for release now, but it's just Chapters 1-7. I'm delaying because I want to make sure that I have as much content as possible for the release. I know that spending your hard-earned money on an indie AVN (whether via Patreon or Steam) isn't always the easiest financial decision, so I want to make sure you really feel like you got your money's worth. 

Q: "Is this affecting pricing in any way? Are you delaying AND jacking up prices?"

A: As a "sorry for changing the release date" gesture, I will be releasing the game with a weeklong launch discount. That's right - you will get more game for less money. I really do feel bad for delaying the Steam release, so I hope this gesture will help show that it's really just to make sure that the release is as good as possible.

Q: "Who came up with these questions? They seem kind of aggressive..."

A: The annoying little voice in my head did! (Get it? I thought it was pretty funny TBH.)