Hello Everyone!

Did “Final Update” grab your attention? :)

It’s true. With Outsider’s release about 6 weeks away, this is my final progress report. If all goes well, the next email will be the game’s release announcement. I’m aiming for November 6th, but realistically, it could happen anytime from that date to November 15th. The game is almost complete, but there are still a few last-minute tasks to finish, so I’m giving myself some room to maneuver.

Firstly, the big news: the story is in place, including all endings! I still need to finish a few branches and the multiple epilogues, but we’re talking about around 5,000 words out of the current 102,441! This means that 90% of the writing work is complete, leaving around 2-3 weeks left before I can really call it a day. Writing it has been so incredibly difficult that I’m very relieved to be almost out of the tunnel. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the journey, but it has been so mentally demanding and exhausting that I really need to wrap this up. At the same time, seeing the whole story come to life has been uniquely rewarding, giving me the boost I needed to push this through to the finish line. I’m so energized that I plan to work every day, including Saturdays and Sundays, until the release.

The wishlist numbers are healthy for the genre, and Outsider will enter SteamFest in a couple of weeks. Usually, games see their numbers double during the Fest, as Steam provides them with their last free advertisement boost. If that happens, it could set Outsider up for success by the standards of its niche. It won’t have the numbers needed for the history books, but I still hope it will find its audience, which, based on wishlists, mainly lives in the US, Brazil and Europe.

Speaking of audience, most commercial games target well-defined genres, interest groups and demographics. Outsider is different: the only people I had in mind throughout development were my friend Nando and me. Now that the story is “on paper”, I can step back to examine what I’ve built. This game is all over the place, but in the way I wanted. One playtester said it’s a combination that can only exist in my mind, which I still need to determine whether it’s a good or bad thing! It combines science, philosophy, religion, retro gaming, copyright law, computing, history, romance and a ton of other stuff I couldn’t remember!

Who will want to read this?? I have no idea, but I will find out soon enough. I’ll let you know when the game is out for the world to see!