Update #72 - Release window and Vita announcement

I am fine with this, I prefer the game to have more quality. There are still many games I have to play on Switch that I just don't have time for, and now I got some time while waiting for Bloodstained. I wish SotN would be somehow released on Switch as well.

Vita cancellation was expected and more sony's fault. I was worried about Armature Studio and their wasted time and work for the UE4 port but they seem to be fine, they helped with fortnite, lol.
My only criticism is the release window. 2019... come on. at least tell us which half. If IGA doesn't know, than bloodstained is far from finished I assume.
More details would be nice. Screenshots, anything!

Oof, this is turning into a big delay. But I'm glad serious work is being done to fix and improve. Always pick eventually good to keep learning and pushing forward.

All of this is speculation on my part, but since my speculation tends to pan out... 

They probably don't know...but I'd guess they're aiming for 1st quarter with a possibility of slipping to 2nd quarter, but don't want to commit until everything is clear, and it won't be for a few more months, probably. You won't wanna say first half, either, if there's even a remote possibility of a delay into the second half, of course. 

Also, the game is probably playable from start to finish at this point, with most, if not all of the extra features already in place...so, in a way, finished.

But, they'll want to add  some of the more common  user suggestions, especially with regards to the graphics, and that can take up quite a bit, depending on how their game engine was setup. I'll go out on a limb and say it's probably not new asset generation as much as updates to the engine to achieve the best quality possible on all available platforms and PC specifications.

And also, some of the feature suggestions, while simple, might require quite a bit of play balancing and maybe even changes to the game engine itself.

So it's probably not finishing the game as it is really polishing the game, graphics and everything.

What needs to be understood here is that it's a very small team working on a multi-platform project with a lot of  features they'd likely never implemented before. They'll likely need quite a bit of a cushion for QA, too.

So even when the finish line is close, it's still a ways off.

  

On one hand, I am extremely upset with the Vita version being cancelled and won't be buying any other version as a result. On the other hand, I am glad that you guys have finally come clean on this and offered refunds for those of us that backed the game specifically for the Vita version.

In that regard, this has been handled MUCH better than MN9 for Vita. Because of that, even though I'm still feeling very heartbroken, I can go on without holding ill-will towards Iga and everyone on the team. As sad as I am I can honestly say I wish you guys all the best regardless.

As a Vita owner, I'm sad that this version had to be dropped completely as I wanted to cross-play it with PS4. But I still have a PS4 version and a Steam one for a friend... may as well pick a second Steam copy instead of Vita's to play with my friend to test the online features and co-op, so it's not that bad I suppose (if you fix the performance issues on slower/older pc).
Plus you guys get more time and effort to focus on polishing the game for the main gaming platforms.

The delay is fine by me, take all the time you need to make it perfect.

Can't really say the Vita news is a shock, nor the delay. Only thing I'm concerned with, from the recent information, is already people are pointing out (not necessarily on the forums) MN9 stuff, yet again and complaining that 2-3yrs should've been more than enough time for this project.

I guess not many seem to understand that a multi-platform development (unsure if there's been word at all in regards to a day 1 release across all) is not a simple task, especially with a smaller team than most companies have at hand. Add the fact that game development isn't a speedy process and that for most games a cycle of at least 5yrs usually covers it.

Tbh, the lack of information since the backer demo has been a little disheartening, but not enough for me to toss in the towel or start slamming the developers who've been pretty hard at work with things. Yes, things need to pick up a little(that comes as things start finalizing and as we move forward) and yes, the delays can somehow seem like they are just taking the money and their sweet time while not working (unsure why people honestly think team IGA would do this), but I'd much much rather this game get the attention and polishing it deserves, rather than be rushed and forever complained about and compared to other failed projects that, other than KS, have jack to do with each other.

 Well, it may be frustrating, but it's probably because they don't want to announce a release date or even a window until they're absolutely sure.

 It's impossible to know how long something you've never done is going to take until you actually try and do it.
 
 This project's probably a lot of firsts for the team...they'll likely see how things are going and then decide on a firm release date.

 

My gut tells me to trust Iga. From the bird's eye view, we all seem to agree the game plays very well. Although it's understandable for everyone who is frustrated.