The way forward...
Added 2020-05-02 16:48:40 +0000 UTC Dear VoidBounders,
With the advent of May, it's time to once again pen down an obligatory update for our valued supporters. There is much to say so lets get on with it.
Some of the eagle-eyed among you might have noticed the dissimilarity in the trend already. We generally post monthly updates on our website, but this month we have decided to deviate from the norm and take to Patreon and our Discord as well. What we
are about to say doesn't concern just VoidBound. In fact, a major chunk of it revolves around Cursed Atelier and the tenuous circumstances that surround it.
Chances are that you're well aware of the pandemic happening worldwide. Health obviously remains top priority, but one cannot deny the economic fallout that has also taken its toll on the general public. Even a virtual studio like ours, where the core staff was already working from their homes, was spared the brunt of it but the ripples this virus caused still managed to rock our boat.
There is no easy or right way to say it, so we will put it bluntly. We had to take some very hard decisions this month for the sake of keeping the company afloat. We had no choice but to let a few valued members go and those that remained took a steep pay cut. The reason? You guessed it.
The timing of this virus couldn't have been any worse when it came to VoidBound. As we had mentioned before, Cursed Atelier is a self-funded venture or at least that is how it began. But near demo completion we realized that self-funding would only take us so far. The rate at which progress was made just wasn't fast enough. We had to bring more hands onboard, and around that time we chose to go for public backing to supplement our self- financing. Unfortunately, even though we had or shall we say still have your support behind us, the expected financial aid curve has flattened out considerably.
Don't get us wrong. This is not a plea for donations or any guilt riddled texts to make anyone feel bad. On the contrary, this is a big Thank You to everyone that stuck with us and consider our little project worth their valuable dime, especially in these trying times. But, you all deserve to know how these unexpected circumstances will affect our progress and how it will change our future plans.
- For starters, we lost some critical members. No cause for panic though for important departments remain adequately staffed and in good hands. However, the rate at which we anticipated new updates to come out, has now been revised. Our initial goal of a new patch within two months is now anticipated to happen every two to three months.
- The extra bonus activities like streams, cosplay crossover art, special requests, etc. will be taking a back seat for the foreseeable future. Resources will be primarily focused on the game itself. Our priority, without a doubt, remains VoidBound. Still, please do not assume that we are killing these fun events for good. Whenever possible, we will bring our attention back to these side bonuses.
We truly wish and hope from the bottom of our hearts that you all remain safe and sound during these troubled times. Though it's challenging, we still promise you all that we will not gently go into the good night. We will fight to survive and if any of you folks wish to help us out better, please do us a little favor and share the game and the demo around among your friends and contacts. Every little bit of support from anyone will go a long way and no matter how you decide to help us, know that we appreciate it immensely.
On that note, thank you for your time and accept our sincerest apologies for any inconveniences caused.
Kind Regards,
Cursed-Atelier