Hello everyone!
This month, we're diving deep into the launch of End of Lines and its aftermath.
End of Lines is OUT!
Our latest interactive graphic novel was released on May 25th, 2023, just a few days after Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and at the very moment the press was receiving advance copies of Street Fighter 6 and Diablo 4 with only a few days for them to complete their reviews before their embargo was lifted (spoiler alert: it didn't go well for us).
But let's start with the good news: we've had some very good feedback. We'd like to thank everyone who has supported us despite all the big releases coming one right after another this year.
Here are a few samples of the reviews the game received over the web and in the press:
- "If you like visual novel-style games, don't pass up End of Lines. It's really great!", yunicia.fr (18/20),[/*]
- "Moving play of impressions, sublime in its sense of detail.", Les Inrockuptibles,[/*]
- "End of Lines is an experience that dares to carry a difficult theme perfectly suited to the visual novel theme.", Canard PC (8/10),[/*]
- “I enjoyed End of Lines’ take on the consequences of neglecting the climate crisis, as shown via the intimate stories and daily struggles of individuals living those very consequences in the future. It’s a warning!”, Switchaboo (7/10),[/*]
- “End of Lines gets down to the nitty-gritty, naming those responsible for a coming catastrophe and showing the ecological and human consequences in the clearest terms. The result leaves nobody unscathed, and is as unsettling for its climatic anxieties as for its human dramas.”, The Pixel Post,[/*]
- "End of Lines is a remarkable game both in terms of storytelling and direction, taking on all the strengths of the developers' previous games.", Loutre Perfide for veuillezparlapresente.com,[/*]
- “End of Lines brings us a new visual novel in which we get a glimpse at a potential future that can hit us if we don’t act on the effects of climate change and global warming before it’s too late.”, PS4blog.net (9/10).[/*]
A big "thanks" too to the content creators who helped give our humble creation greater visibility.
OK, shall we move on to the bad news?
Despite the good feedback, as you can imagine, the release of End of Lines was a bit of a disaster for the studio. The game was practically invisible on release and, as a result, to be honest, sales are clearly not up to expectations.
For example, the steam page has reached a plateau of 28 reviews over the past few weeks, which is very low. Even if the majority are positive, this is unfortunately not enough to sustain an indie game.
As a result, we've had to scale back our ambitions for future projects. We also had to (sadly) part ways with Julie, the wonderful artist who produced most of the backgrounds for End of Lines.
If you'd like to help us out, you can continue to spread the word about the game and share your opinion on the Steam page if you haven't already done so.
Naturally, we haven't given up at all. We're continuing to do our best to give End of Lines more visibility.
Our launch event at the Librairie du Basilic bookshop gave us the opportunity to unveil the game with a glorious public reading by our partner Alix, co-author and proofreader of End of Lines.
We hope to continue our collaboration with booksellers, thanks to a little booklet we've produced that we can leave on the shelves.
If you are a bookseller, or know any booksellers who might be interested in this project, please write to us.
On the technical side, a patch is on its way to correct a few bugs and rebalance variables. We've noticed that certain junctions are rarer than they should be.
Social Media
For reasons we won't go into here, but I'm sure you'll understand, we've decided to stop using the social network formerly known as Twitter for our studio communications. It's a difficult decision, as for several years this platform was our main tool for talking about our productions and for engaging with our community.
As a result, we'll be publishing our newsletters much more regularly. We'd be very grateful if you could pass on the subscription link to those who might be interested in our news.
To interact with us, you can find us here:
- on Mastodon: @novabox@mastodon.gamedev.place[/*]
- or on Bluesky (the account is handled by Geoffroy): @nova-box.com[/*]
- and why not my personal toot box? @Nicofouque@mastodon.art[/*]
What have we been up to?
While we're going through the trials and tribulations of releasing End of Lines, we've started to work on at least two projects that we're sure to announce shortly. In the meantime, here's a mysterious concept for one of them (we're keeping the other one exclusive to the subscribers of this newsletter — so, please subscribe!).
That’s all for now, and see you next month! (we really mean it this time).
And in the meantime, Seers Isle, Along the Edge, and Across the Grooves and End of Lines are available here on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/15195/Novabox_Collection/
If you want to subscribe to our mailing list, you can register here:
http://www.nova-box.com/signup
You'll get extra-fresh updates about our projects and our whereabouts once a month, nestled in the coziness of your own inbox (we'll never send spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime).
Best,
Nico,
on behalf of the team.
