confirmed on itch.io: SPOOKWARE development stopped after episodes 1 & 2

[starshipwaters]

update at end of post following dev/publisher's may 8, 2024 "State of the Game" announcement

i wanted to make this thread because it seems that the majority of forum posts since the last SPOOKWARE update (september 16, 2022) have been about various game bugs/softlocks that have not been addressed or questions as to whether the game is still in active development. seeing the devs have now publicly posted about their new game in development, i thought there may be some confirmation somewhere that SPOOKWARE is indeed dead (pun intended?).


sure enough, on the SPOOKWARE itch.io page[papercookies.itch.io] you can find this blurb: "(please note: development on the game is currently halted, episode 1 & 2 are available but there are currently no plans to release the remaining episodes.)" it looks like that page was updated about a month ago, so this may have been posted then.


with this in mind, the steam page for SPOOKWARE is still advertising itself as something it is not. i suspect this is on the publisher to address and update the information, but leaving it as it is now is very dishonest and sells a game framed to be twice as big as the one we have.

comparing a few parts of the itch.io and the SPOOKWARE steam pages-

from the steam page:

"Spanning across 4 episodes released separately, each containing 3 chapters with their own area, microgames, mechanics, and story!"

updated info from the itch.io page

"Spanning across 4 episodes released separately 2 episodes, each containing 3 chapters with their own area, microgames, mechanics, and story!"

from the steam page:

- "200+ hand-crafted, blood-pumping, horror-inspired microgames.
- 4 episodes featuring over a dozen beautiful areas to explore in the land of the dead.
- Play as 3 adorable skeleton brothers Lefti, Midi, and Righti.
- Unique mechanics for every area, from rhythm to puzzle games.
- Remix all your unlocked microgames for the ultimate challenge.
- At least 7 skeleton puns."

updated info from the itch.io page

- "200+ ~100 hand-crafted, blood-pumping, horror-inspired microgames.
- 4 episodes featuring over a dozen Five exciting and beautiful areas to explore in the land of the dead.
- Play as 3 adorable skeleton brothers Lefti, Midi, and Righti.
- Unique mechanics for every area, from rhythm to puzzle games.
- Remix all your unlocked microgames for the ultimate challenge.
- At least 7 skeleton puns."


all that being said, i had my issues with how this game was being sold/advertised while it was still in development (no early access label, and on release there was no information on the steam page indicating that the episodes were being released separately or at a later date and that the game was not content complete), but i probably wouldn't care this much if i didn't enjoy the game and think the developers are talented people. i'm not interested in pointing fingers at dev/publisher/whomever at this point, but largely want both current SPOOKWARE owners and prospective SPOOKWARE buyers to know what is actually in the game and how complete it is versus how it is being advertised, and to again ask that the steam store description be updated to accurately reflect the halted development and to stop selling the game with a false/inaccurate description.

_____
added 05/08/2024

like i said in my updated review of SPOOKWARE, the new dev/publisher announcement confirms there will be no further development on the title and the game is in its final state, as-is. this clarification was needed, but since the game being left "as-is" means that a good number of bugs are being left in the game- from minor annoyance to potentially game-breaking- i still will be unable to recommend SPOOKWARE. a lot of these bugs have been reported for almost 2 years and i just wish the game would get a final patch to address even just the major bugs.

[Duz]

Agreed.
I picked up the game last year under the impression that chapter 3 would be finished and released soon, judging by the distance between previous updates. When I played it on Halloween and saw how abrupt the ending was, and that the last half of the game was marked as "DLC" in the level select, I was pretty upset. I don't have any issue with shorter games, but selling a complete story, halting development, and continuing to sell the game as a finished project just doesn't sit right with me.

[Ersbon]

Thank you so much for the post on this. For what it's worth, I'm going to change my review until the store page is properly changed to address this.

[TheHat]

Thanks for confirming this; I’m updating my review. A real shame

[syrupypancakehydra]

Truly thank you for this update! So glad I saw the red blaring Mostly Negative, peaked my interest and wowie .... Truly sad this game has just been abandoned.

[REPULSUM]

as sad as this whole thing is, i got the feeling it wasnt in control with the devs, papercookies responded to a comment in the itch.io page that "it wasnt their decision and it was up to the publishers" (Dread X).

it is also worth noting that their next game, no players online is going to be self published so something tells me that dread x are the ones responsible for this

[starshipwaters]

Originally posted by REPULSUM:

as sad as this whole thing is, i got the feeling it wasnt in control with the devs, papercookies responded to a comment in the itch.io page that "it wasnt their decision and it was up to the publishers" (Dread X).

it is also worth noting that their next game, no players online is going to be self published so something tells me that dread x are the ones responsible for this

yep, i am 100% with you. i have refrained from speculation or direct accusations in my posts to the best of my ability, but the information i have and my conclusions seem to be the same as yours. i, too, am happy to see 'no players online' is being self-published by BEESWAX GAMES and wish the team the best in the future.

that said, i personally have had a lot of technical issues with SPOOKWARE, and based on those experiences it would be hard for me to recommend the game to others with it left in the current "as-is" state (even if i think it is a good game for the right person who is willing to gamble with some bugs). i was really hoping we could get a patch before the door was officially closed on SPOOKWARE