Status Update: New leadership, steps moving forward, future of SnaccPop. (Patreon)
Content
Hello there everyone! We are here to give a very deserved update that, admittedly, came later than it should have. We are extremely sorry about the delay, but now that the dust has settled on some of the rougher details and our path moving forward has become clearer we want to drop some much-needed information on our decisions.
First of all, this is NOT Sauce typing this announcement, it's Biscuit! You may know me from different devlogs detailing the development of the game story as I am the narrative designer for it! But now I've taken charge of being the head of operations over here at SnaccPop Studios.
This means that I'll be in charge of directing the game, taking charge of those working on it, and overall accomplishing the goals that have been set for the game not only here, but on Kickstarter as well. Although with that being said the question remains.
Where is Sauce?
Put simply, Sauce will no longer be taking a management role at SnaccPop anymore, instead, they will take a much necessary backstep to focus solely on creating art and supporting the studio through their continuous work. This decision was not taken lightly and was discussed over multiple days among studio staff, but we've come to the conclusion that this is the best decision we could take moving forward.
Again, Sauce is going nowhere! They are just taking a break to gather themselves after the stress of managing the studio in order to go back to enjoying what they like to do more, creating and making things for the fans.
Alternatively, we also want to emphasize our commitment to developer health as the project moves forward into a new era.
New Studio Structure
That being said, I will not be the only one managing things from here on out. The studio has me as its front-facing figure, but I will be helped out by Perrie (Our current Voice Acting director), Nana (Our current Art director), and other individuals who are key to keeping the content going smoothly at a decent pace. With this new three-man lead we will be able to keep our focus entirely on the areas that need prioritizing in order to get the game out quickly and efficiently, all while guaranteeing as much of a high-quality product as we can and as you all deserve.
We will also be parting ways with Project Enso as the publisher for our games moving forward.
Our New Focus
Our focus is entirely focused on one thing as we resume management of the project.
Finish Sunny Day Jack, and make it as good of a game as it can be.
One of the sacrifices we will have to make in order to achieve this goal will be to announce that the game will NOT be coming out in November of 2024 as this objective is simply unrealistic. While trying to accomplish this goal the studio put itself under a very stressful moment, with many of the people working on the game (including myself) crunching multiple hours at a time to meet deadlines that affected the quality of our work, which is something we will not compromise or put at jeopardy under any circumstances.
Keep in mind that this does not mean that usual rewards like audio dramas, extra art or other games like Sleepy Time Jack will be out of the picture, just that we will be focusing most of our resources on the main show.
Community Involvement
We consider everyone who follows the Patreon, interacts with our social media accounts, or just in general interacts with our products valuable, each and every one of you, which is why we will be moving forward in development with the goal in mind to engage with the community that makes this even possible in the first place as much as possible. We will be doing more regular updates with everyone at the studio about their work to be as transparent as we can about the work we do and how we do it, as well as implementing more moderation staff to keep our wonderful discord server as amazing of a time as it has always been.
New Plan for Development.
We may have canceled the deadline we had originally planned, but this is not one of those "Delayed indefinitely" situations you may have seen many times before.
We will be moving on to Episodic Releases from now on. With Acts 1, 2, 3, and 4 being released each at their own time. This, of course, has been met with concerns from the fans which I will attempt to answer to.
- The game's story has already been outlined in full. Most, if not all of the main story documents were laid out by Sauce, and then made into an outline approved by them as well, keeping their creative vision intact. This means that the story is not being kept as an afterthought or being altered following reception from Acts that we release, meaning that it will keep on moving forward without any unforeseen changes to the story.
- An episodic release does not mean we are developing the game in chunks. It is merely just the way we will be releasing the content itself. This means that the project will keep on moving continuously rather than suddenly stopping after the release of every chapter, making it easier for us to make every act as good as it can be on day 1. Naturally, this will also serve as a great way to take in the community's feedback so that we can implement it into future acts to make them even better.
In short, we fully believe that this is the best way moving forward to show our commitment to showing results. Fans will be able to see continuous improvement and progress, while we'll be able to narrow the scope of development so we can focus on the thing that matters most, writing great stories.
Conclusion
Things over here at SnaccPop Studios may have changed a lot, but that hasn't changed the fact that the team is still willing to keep working to deliver a great product. We will be as transparent as possible and will be focusing on that which matters most. I want to thank you all for staying by our side through thick and thin, and from part of the studio, I hope that you'll keep supporting us as we keep producing these stories.
Thanks once again, and expect an update real soon! <3
- Biscuit