Abandonware - To The Devs:

[rip_rickmay_luffy #savetf2]

This "side project" of yours ended up better back then than your Rounds game now which I believe is your main project. Do you not have any plans to revive this game, or did you decide that It's better off letting a game with extreme potential (mind you, a side project that's BETTER than your main project) become abandonware?

[Botten Hanna]

Hi! The game isn't abandonware, it's a fully functioning game that turns 8 years old this year.

It also isn't a "games as a service"-game, it's a stand-alone game that got updated for a few years post-release to fix bugs and add more content etc but since it isn't subscription/microtransaction or in Early Access more updates can't really be expected.

We may make a sequel at some point but there are no plans to update the game now :)

ROUNDS was also a short-term project (5 months of development) that came out in 2021, since the Stick FIght release we've released: Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, Totally Accurate Battlegrounds, ROUNDS, Knightfall a Daring Journey and Content Warning. We're not a one-game studio and prefer to create many different games.

[rip_rickmay_luffy #savetf2]

Originally posted by Botten Hanna:

Hi! The game isn't abandonware, it's a fully functioning game that turns 8 years old this year.

It also isn't a "games as a service"-game, it's a stand-alone game that got updated for a few years post-release to fix bugs and add more content etc but since it isn't subscription/microtransaction or in Early Access more updates can't really be expected.

We may make a sequel at some point but there are no plans to update the game now :)

ROUNDS was also a short-term project (5 months of development) that came out in 2021, since the Stick FIght release we've released: Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, Totally Accurate Battlegrounds, ROUNDS, Knightfall a Daring Journey and Content Warning. We're not a one-game studio and prefer to create many different games.

If it wasn't abandonware, you wouldn't have abandoned it.
So, your main directive is to not uphold your games but to just make them and continue on? Do you not plan to support any one of your games? You just make them and thats it? Well, if you want do to that then that's completely up to you. I only thought you'd want a game to be "up and running". And also, what makes you say Stick Fight: The Game is fully functional?

[Botten Hanna]

Originally posted by heizzen.phonk:

Originally posted by Botten Hanna:

Hi! The game isn't abandonware, it's a fully functioning game that turns 8 years old this year.

It also isn't a "games as a service"-game, it's a stand-alone game that got updated for a few years post-release to fix bugs and add more content etc but since it isn't subscription/microtransaction or in Early Access more updates can't really be expected.

We may make a sequel at some point but there are no plans to update the game now :)

ROUNDS was also a short-term project (5 months of development) that came out in 2021, since the Stick FIght release we've released: Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, Totally Accurate Battlegrounds, ROUNDS, Knightfall a Daring Journey and Content Warning. We're not a one-game studio and prefer to create many different games.

If it wasn't abandonware, you wouldn't have abandoned it.
So, your main directive is to not uphold your games but to just make them and continue on? Do you not plan to support any one of your games? You just make them and thats it? Well, if you want do to that then that's completely up to you. I only thought you'd want a game to be "up and running". And also, what makes you say Stick Fight: The Game is fully functional?

Hi! Abandonware means ”computer software that is no longer distributed or supported by the developer or copyright holder.”

The game is both being distributed still and supported in the sense that we’re still helping players troubleshoot and would fix issues if the game suddenly became completely unplayable for some reason.

The game isn’t abandoned, just not getting any updates.

The game is functional and played by thousands of people every month still. We are aware that there are bugs and desync issues (usually due to the players connection) but those do not stop anyone from playing the game, especially the large local playerbase.

We investigated potential fixes to some issues years ago, but it would basically require the entire game to be rebuilt which we won’t do.

Due to some of the industry leaning towards games as a service models there is this strange notion that every game needs new content updates forever but we are not a games as a service studio and we never will be. It’s also not reasonable to expect updates for a 5$ game almost 8 years in.

[rip_rickmay_luffy #savetf2]

Originally posted by Botten Hanna:

Originally posted by heizzen.phonk:

If it wasn't abandonware, you wouldn't have abandoned it.
So, your main directive is to not uphold your games but to just make them and continue on? Do you not plan to support any one of your games? You just make them and thats it? Well, if you want do to that then that's completely up to you. I only thought you'd want a game to be "up and running". And also, what makes you say Stick Fight: The Game is fully functional?

Hi! Abandonware means ”computer software that is no longer distributed or supported by the developer or copyright holder.”

The game is both being distributed still and supported in the sense that we’re still helping players troubleshoot and would fix issues if the game suddenly became completely unplayable for some reason.

The game isn’t abandoned, just not getting any updates.

The game is functional and played by thousands of people every month still. We are aware that there are bugs and desync issues (usually due to the players connection) but those do not stop anyone from playing the game, especially the large local playerbase.

We investigated potential fixes to some issues years ago, but it would basically require the entire game to be rebuilt which we won’t do.

Due to some of the industry leaning towards games as a service models there is this strange notion that every game needs new content updates forever but we are not a games as a service studio and we never will be. It’s also not reasonable to expect updates for a 5$ game almost 8 years in.

There's an "or" in the definition of abandonware, the GAME is no longer supported, but none of this really matters, if spaghetti code is the issue then that should be enough of an excuse, thank you. Are you planning to sell your old games such as SF:TG to other Studios? This game was pretty big back in the day, maybe they'd be interested in fixing the game for themselves?

[et]

The game still has functional remote multiplayer even if there are very few or no random players. As such, it is completely reasonable to leave the steam store page untouched. If this functionality was broken then calling it abandonware is accurate and the store page should be edited to inform users. Apart from that, even if no bugs ever get fixed again or no words ever get said again, in my mind this game is still fine. As for the community, you have a point that the community is somewhat abandoned. This is completely normal for old games even in this world with 7~8 billion people.

In my opinion, the game lost its random player base because this is simply not a good game for random players. This game is most suitable for a few friends standing around a living room for local multiplayer. If you want to play with random players, then the most suitable games are ones which need separate computers and screens. If you are really desperate, then you could try making a group chat for "Stick Fight: The Game" and schedule times for players to enter random remote matches if you want to. I imagine that most players of this game migrated to games which have more difficult controls with a higher skill cap and more impressive graphics. You can blame the community for wanting new things and reaching a brief and vague limit. We hovered around that limit a few years before the updates and events stopped.

Regarding selling the game or remaking it, personally I would not buy it unless it implements enough changes and features I want. I already fully experienced this game. Based on your tone, I feel like you have grievances about missing the short window where the players had finite fun. If in the future you buy a game and see that it is not fun or playable, then I recommend getting a refund quickly.

I don't think the game reached its limit, but I can't imagine even the best development team with even an unlimited budget doing a significantly better job than "Landfall West". Let alone that, don't underestimate the competition for game development and getting money just to reinvest. It seems as more time passes, new development gets more difficult simply because there are so many finished high quality games to compete with. As a small example, I just bought Dying Light two months ago for $4.26USD. Stick Fight was so much fun, even more fun than Dying Light for me. It's just not sustainable as it is though.

[The EzraBoi]

Stick fight lives on as it is, there's no real need to add anything to it if it's already an almost perfect experience

[rip_rickmay_luffy #savetf2]

All this talk about Stick Fight being done, completed, and the main problem being the loss of the Fandom... When's the last time you played this game?? It's in an unplayable state as of now, please dont change my own point