What's happening? When is episode 4 coming out? IS THE GAME DEAD?!
Valid questions! Yes! We hear them a lot. And the answer is:
NO. The game is NOT dead!
It is complicated, though. First of all, we'd like to apologize for the long radio silence. 2020 has taken its toll on us, like for many others, and also on the development of Episode 4: Permutation. So let's start with the TLDR: development of episode 4 is currently put on hold and will continue in March 2021. I will explain why in the following.
Code 7 has been an ongoing project for us since 2015. That's five years. That's a long time. We have gotten to a point of creative fatigue that made it harder and harder to work productively on it and with having a grand finale with multiple storylines, it was difficult not to think that it wasn't good enough. We kept pushing, because we wanted to finish the story and give backers and fans what they wanted and deserved, but it got harder and harder to keep a positive attitude while doing it.
Covid didn't help. We had to give up our office and move to home-office, which was something we had to accustom to, while juggling two projects (Shadows over Selenia) as we didn't anticipate that long delay of Code 7.
Why not pause SoS and finish Code 7, you ask? Not that easy, unfortunately. We received funding from the state to develop a prototype and have to deliver it by March 2021, so we had to work on it. Additionally, we hired Lea, our super talented, kick-ass artist, and she needed us to be around for the project to work efficiently. The financial factor, of course, is important as well. If we had pushed Code 7 through, Goodwolf probably wouldn't exist anymore now as we were running on fumes financially and the hacking adventure doesn't perform well enough to carry the company yet. The Shadows prototype is what secures an ongoing future for the studio.
The whole Covid situation, the elections and the general state in the USA, and many other things going on in the world had a big impact as well. I (Zein) was struggling with Depression and ADHD which made it increasingly harder to work. I finally made the step to get help and I am doing much better, so please do not worry, lovely friends!
All these reasons led Kevin and me to the decision to put Code 7 on hold in November, get some distance to it, finish the prototype of SoS, and then pick it back up in March with a fresh mind and heart, hopefully recharged and more positively.
We know that this is frustrating to hear after waiting so long but I also know that a lot of you will understand, because we have a wonderful community and we love and cherish you all. Thank you for being part of the journey and your patience. We appreciate everyone who plays the game, every memeber of the Discord (even if you just lurk ;) ), and anyone who supports us in any way possible. You rock!
Code 7 is coming and nobody can stop it.
Love,
Zein & Kevin
We're LIVE on Twitch
Wondering what we've been up to the last months? We're live on Twitch! Come and join us as we talk about our current state of the projects! https://twitch.tv/goodwolfstudio
Stay Home, Stay Safe! Code 7 is 50% off
We hope you are all well, safe, and healthy. We can all do our part by keeping our distance and staying at home. It's not fun (well, maybe for some it is!)... but it's necessary. It might be a good time to catch up on all those games you always meant to play, right? If you always wanted to give Code 7 a shot or if you only played the free Episode 0, now's your time to catch it at 50% off. We'll keep this discount up for 2 weeks for all you people in isolation.
Have fun, stay home, stay safe!
Savegame Loss Issue Fixed!
This patch fixes a bug that could have caused the loss of your savegame. It is now save to continue playing, in case you've been holding off.
If you lost your save, please contact us so we can restore it for you. Best way is to message us on our Discord server: http://www.discord.gg/code7 alternatively, send an e-mail to zein@goodwolf-studio.com
Thank you for your patience and sorry for any frustration we might have caused you.
Muffin Challenge "Party Heist" Released
To make waiting for episode 4 a little easier, we released the Party Heist bonus chapter as a free update for Code 7, featuring a short story-line with 4 difficult muffin levels. Solving all four levels will give you a validation code (+ a new Steam achievement). The first one to post this code into our Discord channel can personalize a computer in episode 4! (the challenge has been completed!) You have to have a finished savegame of episode 3 to access the extra content
Important Reminder regarding the Season Pass
We'd like to remind everyone that
you don't have to buy the Season Pass if you have bought the game before its release!
If you have bought the full game, you own the full game. The new episodes will just download as an update.
There seems to be a little bit of confusion and we apologize. The season pass is meant for those who have only purchased episode 1, which is now possible.
Unfortunately, we cannot take out the option to buy the season pass for people who have the full game. This is handled by the store.
Episode 2 & 3 out NOW!
Hey, everyone!
Thank you for all your patience, we really appreciate it. Episode 2: Memory and Episode 3: Backdoor are now available on Steam. If you already own the game, you just have to download an update to get access to the new episodes!
German and Accessible versions are included as well.
A new Twitch-Mode is available that lets viewers choose dialogue options and commands, which will be displayed in the streamer's game. This way you can experience it together!
Watch the trailer now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osn0yIdoOgA&feature=youtu.be
Price Changes and Upcoming Release
Hello, everyone!
Over night (German time), there was a little store hiccup and we apologize. It showed that the game would cost $5.99 which was incorrect and is now corrected. Steam support unfortunately launched our new pricing model before it was even prepared, this was not done by us.
The price of $5.99 (4.99€) is only for Episode 1 and the remaining episodes will be available for $19.99 (16,79€). If you have bought the game for the lower price, you will only get Episode 1 but you can still upgrade to the full season. If you don't accept that pricing model, because of misinformation during that time, we'd encourage a refund.
Episode 2 and 3 will be released on April 12th, we will increase the price a couple of days prior to that. Buying episode 1 and the season pass (2-4) separately will cost $25.98. If you buy the bundle it will be at a reduced price.
Note that if you have already purchased the game for the old price or will buy it before the next release, you will be unaffected by the increased price and will get all episodes.
The reason why we are doing this is because the scope of the game expanded rapidly. Our initial price decision was based on the plan of episodes that are around 1.5 hours long, but with more story and gameplay the episodes now stretch to around 4-5 hours. That's more than double the content. We also wanted to offer Episode 1 as a single purchase to offer players an entry to the game at a lower cost.
Your
Zein & Kevin
Transmission #29: Double Release
Hello there, hackers!
You've been probably wondering what we've been up to and how's the project going, right? Ususally, it's a good sign when you don't hear from us... it means we're deep in the development tunnel, which we were!
You've been waiting a long time and we need you to be patient a little bit longer, but... you'll get TWO NEW EPISODES in Q1 2019!
The reason why it's taking so long is that the Episode 2: Memory and Episode 3: Backdoor are very intertwined, both in story and gameplay. There were many things that we shifted between episodes to make a better experience out of it. So by the time we entered testing phase for Ep 2, we already had so much stuff for Episode 3 done, that we decided it makes more sense to launch both of them together.
For us this makes also more sense from a financial standpoint, since we can record the voices in one go.
That means we'll be delivering around 10 hours of play time by the time of March!
Gameplay (Ep. 2)
Sneak around with Agent Bear and plot navigation routes past hostiles. Give him commands to start and stop in realtime and distract enemies with different methods to bring your partner safely to your destination.
Help Raven infiltrate locations by finding information about personnel and files regarding their appearance to construct a disguise file and gain access to restricted areas.
That's it for now! We hope you'll have wonderful holidays! Don't forget to join our Discord channel to stay updated about development: http://www.discord.gg/code7
