THE STORY SO FAR
Exactly three months ago we released our game Sunset. Sunset was our first attempt to design a game to appeal to people accustomed to playing games. Contrary to our hopes and expectations, Sunset did not find a bigger audience than we usually reach with our releases. And exactly 1 month after release we admitted defeat and decided that we would not rely on the commercial market for our future productions.
We were rather desperate at that point because we had some debts that we had hoped to pay from the revenue of sales and that didn’t look likely. But thanks to a combination of discounts, bundles and the overwhelming response to our announcement of failure, we were able to collect just enough money to break even (at least if we include art grants and crowdsourcing).
In 3 months, 17,000 copies of Sunset have changed hands. This includes copies in a Humble bundle and those for the Kickstarter backers. This has allowed us to pay our debts and save our company. Tale of Tales is safe now but we haven’t changed our mind about moving away from commerce.
A NEW TALE
Liberating ourselves from the demands of commercial production and conceiving new creations that are much further removed from videogames than anything we’ve dared to dreamed of has been a wonderful experience. A new creative world is opening up for us and we want to explore it, so we can make now work without compromising any of its artistic potential.
Our financial situation is still precarious but we are hopeful that a combination of grants, crowdfunding, donations and patronage will enable us to create things that will inspire people and maybe make life on this planet a little more bearable.
Of note in this context is the enthusiastic support of The Endless Forest community. It’s a free game but many players donate monthly, and some even ad hoc and rather generously, to pay for the server required to keep the multiplayer game running. So we’re very thankful to those crazy magical deer! What would we be without our beautiful forest?
Another important pillar is our campaigns on Patreon. We’re immensely grateful for the commitment of our patrons to support our creative efforts. And we invite you to join them: Auriea creates and reports on art and Michaël shares what’s going on in his mind and on his desk. It’s also a fun and personal way to keep in touch that we really appreciate.
We find ourselves moving closer again to our 2006 Realtime Art Manifesto, published before we started to commercially engage with games. Maybe this whole “indie game development” thing has just been a distraction from our real artistic goals. With your help, we are getting back on track. Thank you!
If you haven’t played Sunset yet, you can get it on itch.io.