Happy holiday season, magical ones!

It's nearly the end of 2024, and you might be wondering: when is the next chapter of Stardander ever going to release? Will the game ever be finished? What are the developers up to? We're here to explain all that and also show off some fun progress and new art!

The quick answers are:

Chapter 5 is currently being added to the game but it will not be ready before the end of 2024. We are hoping to release it by February.

The game WILL be finished! We don't have a confirmed full release date but we are aiming for fall 2025.

Why so slow?

This year, we had to come to terms with the fact that, financially at least, Stardander will never be successful. From a purely business perspective, the smart thing to do would be to drop Stardander altogether, and that was a pretty disheartening realization for us as game developers. Aground Zero - the other game we are working on - seems to have much more financial potential to keep us afloat as a small indie studio. However, we decided that we will definitely finish Stardander as well as Aground Zero. We are making Stardander for reasons beyond just money and we want to see the game to completion - for the few hundred players who are already playing the Early Access version - and ourselves as well. We can't pour all the time we'd like to into Stardander, but we will finish the race eventually.

With this decision, we've been taking it a little easier with Stardander development and we've also been more free with our design decisions, which may ultimately lead to a more fresh and unique game. It might never get wildly popular, but at least it will be really special to us and the few people who are aware of its existence.

Meanwhile, all the art pieces for the older versions of the characters have been completed, and we're really pleased with how they came out! This includes new base sprites for the main characters, revised expressions, many new outfit variations, and new poses. Here is a sneak peek at some of the older looks:
We also recorded some footage of the art process of creating Freya's older cloak, which you can see in the video below.
If you know anyone who would enjoy Stardander, please share - the game is currently 20% off!

Thank you for your patience as we work hard to finish this very special game - and thank you for sharing this journey with us! Wishing you all the best as we near the end of 2024!