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Hey guys, it's been a while. I'm ZIMA, the lead producer of Soulmask.[/p][p][/p][p]We've seen some rumors floating around in our community about the release timeline, and I'm truly sorry it's taken this long to address them.[/p][p]We're in the final sprint of development, and to ensure Soulmask delivers its best experience for all of you,[/p][p][/p][p]
we have, after careful consideration, decided to adjust the release date for Soulmask 1.0 and the ancient Egypt DLC "Shifting Sands" to Spring 2026.[/p][p][/p][p]
We're sorry! On behalf of the entire dev team, I extend our sincerest apologies to everyone who's been waiting eagerly.[/p][p]
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[/p][p]I know you're all wondering what led to this second delay. To cut to the chase: it mainly stems from optimistic estimates of our development progress.[/p][p][/p][p]In fact, we originally planned for a 1.0 launch as early as May-June, and we'd even rolled out a few versions of our promo plans.[/p][p][/p][p]But Soulmask is our studio's first game and our debut single-player sandbox project. For 1.0 and "Shifting Sands," we have so many ideas we want to implement, but every new feature brings a bunch of issues.[/p][p][/p][p]Regarding this delay specifically, here's a quick rundown based on recent feedback from our online 1.0 and offline DLC demo tests, which highlighted several key problems we'll report to you:[/p][p][/p]
Balance Issues
[p]This is the biggest hurdle. With the addition of new tribal mechanics in 1.0 and three major modes (check out our interview for details on these new features【link】), a ton of previously unseen balance problems have surfaced:[/p]
- [p]For example, the new barbarian invasions are a hit with many players for their challenging raids, but how do we fine-tune difficulty across official servers, single-player, and private servers? How do we adapt it to players' available time? We've realized our old systems just don't cut it here.[/p][p]
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[/p] - [p]Plus, we've revamped the starting masks and added plenty of new talents, but in closed testing, their values were clearly imbalanced: Do the old talents still hold up? Can the starting mask carry you through the whole game? Figuring out these adjustments requires round after round of extensive testing.[/p][p]
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[p]This includes nitty-gritty details like the traveling merchant system and tribesmen training system, which all fall short of our quality standards for 1.0—there's no shortcut but to fix them properly.[/p][p][/p]
New Features
[p]This ties into the "Shifting Sands" DLC content. We're eager to deliver this DLC in top shape, and feedback from the WePlay demo confirmed that sandbox fans really dig a home base that can soar through the skies and delve underground.[/p][p]
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[/p][p]we discovered a rather serious issue:
We may have placed too much pressure on players.[/p][p][/p][p]Especially for newcomers unfamiliar with the base Soulmask experience—their gameplay experience still fell short of the standard we originally aimed to deliver.[/p][p][/p][p]We need a smoother, more engaging tutorial and early-game flow to let everyone jump right into the fun. That means major revisions to the opening experience.[/p][p][/p]
World Interconnectivity
[p]Yes, this is one of our ambitious goals: fully linking the rainforest world with the desert world! We've planned this for ages and invested heavily in creating a massive world portal at sea.[/p][p]
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[/p][p]However, in practice, switching between worlds poses huge performance challenges, and we're working flat out to optimize it .[/p][p]
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[/p][p]So, could we launch without these fixes?
Sure, technically.[/p][p][/p][p]
But that's not the game we want to serve up to you. We aim for Soulmask to feel like a labor of love, something crafted with genuine care.[/p][p][/p][p]I checked our update logs yesterday—since Early Access, we've pushed out
59 version updates in a year and a half. Honestly, for a buy-to-play game, factoring in this latest delay, pretending there's no real-world pressure would be a lie.[/p][p][/p][p]Not to mention the workload of dual-tracking 1.0 and DLC development—we do need the sales boost from this new content to keep the team going.[/p][p][/p][p]Of course, we knew these pressures came with making a single-player Steam game
. That's why we can't settle for releasing a half-baked product at the critical "1.0" milestone, and the same goes for "Shifting Sands"—this DLC packs innovative concepts we've long wanted to explore, and we hope it blows your expectations away.[/p][p][/p][p]Above all, we don't want to let down the players who love this game. At the WePlay event, we met die-hard fans who traveled 10 hours by train, just to try the DLC, and a 4,000-hour veteran who drove from another city, just to share their thoughts to us.[/p][p][/p][p]Some raved about the new flight masks, others were pumped for the evolved boss battles, and a few got lost for half an hour building barges. Talking to them showed me how deeply Soulmask is cherished by so many.[/p][p]
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[/p][p]That includes all of you—our 750,000+ players worldwide. You're the "original investors" who've been with us from the start, and this is our first collaborative project together. Delivering better content is the ultimate respect we can show you and ourselves.[/p][p][/p][p]
Once again, our deepest apologies. Please give us a bit more time.[/p]
