Announcing Octopia - a new farming DLC, coming to Eastward!
Hi everyone!
I bet you didn’t see that coming 👩🌾🌾♨
Today we’re super excited to announce that Sam and John will be returning in an all-new adventure, coming to the wonderful world of Eastward. Octopia is the start of their peaceful new life in the countryside - no miasma, no hardships, just happy times and delicious meals.
(Psst, haven’t finished playing Eastward yet? Don’t worry, the Eastward: Octopia DLC will be accessible straight from Eastward’s start menu, and suitable for brand new players and Eastward completionists alike.)
Check out the all-new Octopia announcement trailer here:
🚂 Next stop... Octopia!
In a parallel world, Sam and John alight from their train at a remote station in a mountainside village, ready to start their lives anew. The duo decide to spend all of their savings on a rundown farm cottage, desperately in need of some TLC. All the best things in life come with a little hard work and elbow grease!
🌾 A New Life in the Countryside
In Eastward: Octopia, you’ll help Sam and John to work the land, tend to their blimpigs, and cook heartwarming meals for familiar - yet strangely different - friends. Upgrade your farmstead, grow crops, forage in the wetlands, get advice from friendly ghosts, and spend your nights casting your line in the local fishing holes.
🛠 Revitalize a Community
When Sam and John first arrive the town of Seagull looks a little … neglected? But don’t worry, you can revitalise the community by helping to construct homes for new neighbours, upgrade stores and encourage even more familiar faces to flock to the area with the help of your farm-fresh ingredients and cooking prowess.
But even in these quiet lands, there are secrets still waiting to be discovered…
Crops, ghosts, and blimpigs oh my!
Help bring the best out of the town!
This is a sizable paid DLC for Eastward, with a brand-new story and an all-new farming game mode. You will need the Eastward base game in order to access the Eastward: Octopia DLC. It will be playable in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
The development team at Pixpil has been secretly working on Octopia since Eastward launched nearly 2 years ago today, so we’re incredibly excited to see what you all think! We’re currently aiming to launch the DLC on Steam and Nintendo Switch this Winter - more news on that as the final stages of development progress.
Q&A 🌾 Is the Octopia DLC a brand new game mode? Yes! Unlike Sam and John’s post-apocalyptic adventure filled with fighting off monsters and tricky puzzles, Octopia will show a slice of a peaceful new life in the countryside - no miasma, no hardships, just happy times and delicious meals.
🐣 What is the connection between Octopia and the world of Eastward? Octopia’s story takes place in a parallel world, completely different from the main game. There’s no miasma or dangerous mutant creatures 👾 here - instead, an abandoned farm awaits John and Sam to start their life anew. Familiar and different companions from Eastward will visit with new ideals and goals, working together to help the town thrive!
⏰ How long is the content of the DLC expected to be? We estimate that it will take at least 15 to 20 hours to complete the main content, but the actual duration depends on your playing habits - many players may spend more time studying recipes to make all kinds of dishes 🍛, getting to know characters, enjoying their time with companions, mastering the art of fishing 🎣 or blasting away in the mining mini game. Octopia also has its own secrets to share…
🌱 When is the DLC expected to be released? Octopia will release on Steam and Nintendo Switch this Winter. The bulk of the development is complete, and the studio is continuing to polish, fix bugs 🛠 and optimise the experience. We hope to share the specific release date as soon as possible!
Eastward will be going on sale very soon with its deepest discount yet at 50% off - so keep your eyes peeled for news when the sale period starts!
Last weekend, Eastward participated in the WePlay Cultural Expo online event and the offline exhibition of indiePlay China (an indie game competition).
Around the world it's still difficult to participate in live events, so being able to meet so many new friends who share a love of indie games, a fondness for Eastward, and a chance to see first-hand the continuous emergence of indie game creativity is a huge joy for the team at Pixpil.
In this year's indiePlay competition Eastward was nominated for 3x awards; Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects, and the Best Game Award. We were incredibly honoured to bring home 2x of those awards for Best Game and Best Visual Effects at the awards ceremony!
As Pixpil's first game, Eastward embodies the efforts and enthusiasm of the studio's developers over the several years of the game's creation. We hope with Eastward we can continue to share this joy of spreading our creative vision with more players, and want to share a big thank you for everyone's love and support of Eastward over the past few years.
The future is still ahead of us, with long-awaited train rides, and more adventures across the unknown..! If you haven't had a chance to try Eastward yet, it's available on PC and Nintendo Switch. At the time of us writing this, it's also 40% off for a few more day - ending November 17th.
From the beginning there was always many expectations, from ourselves and others, and we hope you'll join us in boarding this fantastic warm-hearted journey together.
Daily Deal - Celebrate Eastward’s "almost-anniversary" with 30% OFF!
Eastward turns 1 this September (our little baby is growing up!) and we couldn’t celebrate it without an unmissable discount for you: a 30% OFF in a Steam Daily Deal! 🎂🎁
It’s your chance to embark on this beautifully detailed adventure with Sam and John, developed by Pixpil, a small indie developer based in Shanghai (China) and published by us, your well-known orange-chuckling indie publisher. 🧡
Discover delightful towns, strange creatures and even stranger people! Wield John's trusty frying pan (yes! 🍳) and Sam's mystic powers on an adventure into the unknown with more than 30 hours of gameplay. (30 hours if you are a very objective and obstinate person! 🙃)
🗓️ The Steam Daily Deal starts on September 8 (10:00 PDT/18:00 BST) and ends on September 14 (10:00 PDT/18:00 BST).
Join (and enjoy!) this celebration for the 1st anniversary of Eastward with us! 🥳
Feel free to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Or join our official Discord to share your experience about the game with us! We hope to see you there! o/
-Chucklefish
Eastward: Spanish and German Language update is available now!
We have awesome news! 🤩 The Spanish and German localisation patch is available now for Eastward! Everyone who has bought the game will be able to update it to receive Spanish and German as a language option. ⚠️But remember: you MUST UPDATE YOUR GAME to get the patch! A big thanks here for the hard work of the Pixpil development team and localisation partners at Riotloc for working their best to bring this patch to players as quickly as possible!
We know it has been quite waiting for this moment and we would like to truly appreciate the patience and support from the Eastward community during the last 3 months. We thank you all for your understanding. And we hope you enjoy this language update as much as we do. It was a long process for implementation, but with a lot of love to offer the best experience for you all. 🧡
How are you doing? For this dev update, we’re sharing a quick check-in on how some of the Eastward plans we have in the works are going, along with some exciting news! ✨
German & EU Spanish Localisation
Full game localisation is now complete by our partners at Riotloc, however we’re anticipating a slight delay before the text can be fully LQA’d and implemented into the game. Sadly the development team at Pixpil have had to go back into lockdown in Shanghai, after a big increase in Covid infections in the area. This means the dev team has no access to their office, and some of their internal servers are once again down.
Those of you who followed Eastward’s development might remember the team already faced big delays when lockdown blocked access to their office and servers for many months in early 2020, forcing them to re-make large sections of the game (you can read about it here). Delays are never fun, but the safety and health of the team are always the priority, so we appreciate your patience and understanding, and will share more news as soon as we can!
Iam8bit Physical Release
Exciting news! We have now revealed the release date of the Nintendo Switch physical version with iam8bit and Skybound Games. The standard retail version will be available instores from May 24th for $34.99, and pre-orders are now live on iam8bit’s website for the Collector's Edition and composer Joel Corelitz’s limited vinyl soundtrack which will be released later this year. The cartridges are region-free, with all in-game languages.
The Collector’s Edition features its own Eastward-flavoured original tabletop board game, by designer Erich Meyr and illustrator Ryan Brinkerhoff! It’s a 2-4 player co-op game, where you’ll take on the roles of the game’s heroes to rescue townsfolk from the looming miasma and take out monsters as you go. The fold-out Collector’s Edition board game also pairs with the special edition Vinyl, which also includes the board game as a gate-fold, and can also act as an expansion to the base game with different pieces!
You’ll notice the Collector’s Edition also spotlights some new art - this is a beautiful exclusive cover sheet, created by artist Laura Bifano. We’re also pleased to reveal that the vinyl soundtrack will be made using recycled materials. We hope you’ll love it!
More Merch Incoming!
We previously revealed that a Sam Plush was in the works over at Fangamer, and now the wait is over! The ever-so-squishy Sam Plush is now available on the Fangamer site, alongside a new enamel ‘Friends Til the End’ pin set of John and Sam, and something we know players have been eyeing up since the Japanese Collector’s Edition was revealed… The adorable Sam figurine is now available to purchase separately via the folks at Fangamer!
This figurine was inspired by the clay Earthbound models we love so much, and the original 3D concept for Sam’s “clay-style” design was created by artist Ian Zell. Thanks very much to our friends at Kakehashi, Happinet and Fangamer for making this possible. Send us pics to us via Twitter @ChucklefishLTD if you grab one!
Awards
We’re incredibly proud to share the news that Eastward has been nominated for Best Debut Game at the 2022 BAFTA Game Awards! This is a huge accomplishment to be nominated alongside such awesome games, so wish us luck for the big night on April 7th, streaming live on Twitch!
That’s all for now. Until next time!
-Chucklefish
Steam Deck Support Comes to Eastward
Hey folks!👋🏽 Can you believe it’s already March? Time sure is flying by and the Pixpil team are hard at work on more Eastward goodness.
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Full Steam Deck ahead!
The Steam Deck has begun rolling out this month and we’re super excited to confirm that Eastward is Steam Deck compatible and verified🥳 Now even more of you can play Eastward on-the-go! As the game is already designed with controller support in mind, this will be a smooth transition to the Steam Deck’s control scheme.
Being verified on Steam Deck means that Valve has reviewed that the game runs seamlessly, including performance, control scheme, and resolution display.
Whether you’re jumping in for the first time or re-experiencing the beautiful world and story of Eastward, playing on Steam Deck is sure to be a breath of fresh air.🚂
Where will you take Eastward? Tag us in your pictures on social media. Bonus points for anyone who takes Eastward up to space🌌
In other news, we’re close to completing the localisation process for Eastward in German and EU Spanish. We’ll share more details, including when players can expect this update, soon.
Come and join the community discussion over on Discord or Reddit, and follow us on Twitter for more news.
Catch you later!
New Year Update - New Languages Coming!
Hey gang, happy new year! We hope you enjoyed the holiday season and are ready to get 2022 started. Your love for Eastward really made our year so thank you for your support.
German & Spanish localisations on the way
We’re happy to reveal that German and EU Spanish game translations are in the works!✨ We appreciate the importance of localisation to players around the world. The aim, should things go smoothly, is to release the language update patch towards the end of Q1 2022. Thanks to the lovely localisation team at Riotloc for their support <3
While we’d love to translate Eastward into every language possible, it’s no small feat to localise a game with a lot of text. These are the only localisation plans we have for the time being and will be sure to update you if more localisation options are planned. Thanks for your understanding🙏🏽
Make your own Picrew Eastward icon
Start the new year with a fun new persona using our Eastward inspired Picrew! Simply head to the Eastward Picrew Editor and follow the instructions to get started. You’ll find tabs in the creator for different features including eyebrows, hair and much more. Unleash your creativity by creating yourself in an Eastward style, reimagining yourself in your favourite character’s outfits or creating your own new character.
For fans of chaos, hitting the dice will create a totally randomised character. You can then use these across your social media for example, your Twitter profile pic! If you make an awesome character using the Eastward Picrew, please feel free to tag @ChucklefishLTD and @pixpilgames - we love seeing your creations!
We previously confirmed the plan to release a US & EU physical edition of Eastward on Nintendo Switch, from the talented folks at iam8bit. Rest assured these are still being worked on and we’ll share more news when it’s ready!
Take calls in style with Eastward ringtones🎶
As an extra special treat for you, Eastward’s super talented Composer, Joel Corelitz, has created some awesome Eastward ringtones for players to use. Head on over to Zedge and give your phone an Eastward flair - we know you all want to be woken up to the sounds of the Cooking jingle.
That’s all for the moment. With the start of 2022, we want to hear from you, our lovely community. What do you want to see from Eastward in 2022? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments ✍🏽.
See you around!👋🏽
Designing Earth Born
Hey everybody! Since the launch of Eastward on PC & Switch, we’ve loved seeing so many of our community members discover and fall in love with Eastward’s not-so-hidden inner RPG (within an RPG) Earth Born, so we thought it was a great time to share it’s development story and secrets!
Since the v1.1.0 update Earth Born is now also accessible from Eastward’s menu after you’ve completed the game. So, boot up your console and blow off your memory card, because we’re going to be talking about Earth Born...
*fair warning, if you’ve not played yet, there may be spoilers ahead*
Retro Origins
The idea of Earth Born first sparked from the dev team’s desire to create a cultural grounding (or something memeable) that linked all of Eastward’s in-game towns and cities, something which connected all of the characters despite the horrors of the miasma and the divisions it created. The art would reflect the world around the characters in Eastward and add a (not-so) fictional context to the realities that players face throughout the game. The deeper you dive into Earth Born, the more fun parallels you may start to notice!
Earth Born also acts as a homage to the Pixpil team’s favourite games, comic books and movies; Dragon Quest, Porco Rosso, Cowboy Beebop. The name ‘Earth Born’ comes from Eastward's initial Chinese project name '大地之子,' which means 'The Child of the Earth’ - a nod to the Earthbound series which had inspired them to create games in the first place!
Fun Fact #1: Did you know after you complete your first run of Earth Born, you unlock different screen modes?
Taking Down the Demon King
Earth Born is a retro-inspired, turn-based RPG roguelite. It’s first introduced as the most popular video game in all of Potcrock Isle (and Sam’s favourite)! You have 7 in-game days to thwart the Demon King who’s bunkered down in a castle at the center of the map, before the world is swallowed up by a great darkness!
However, at the start of the game, your party isn't nearly strong enough to take him on. Players will have to do multiple runs to visit inns, recruit new party members and activate the bird portals across the map in order to stand a chance. You’ll need all the help you can get when facing the Demon King...
Players must earn as much experience as possible to level up, ready for the big fight. Cave exploration is highly beneficial as players can gain more experience and acquire better equipment here. And of course, if you are struggling with a battle, gathering more Pixballs before you boot up to use will certainly help!
As fans of collecting figurines themselves, Pixpil wanted to create something in-game tapped into the Amiibo / Pop Vinyl culture. Pixballs are acquired via Japanese-style gashapon machines which use arcade tokens to operate, found tucked away all over the map. It wasn’t until later into development that it was decided that Pixballs would have an impact on gameplay by creating powerful in-game items for players to boost their chances of winning.
Fun fact #2: Pixpil’s favourite Pixball monster is the Gull Swordsman! Try saving your chips from this avian warrior!
When booting up an Earth Born arcade unit you can also access the in-game manual! Pixpil are quite rightly incredibly proud of the manual, written from the perspective of the in-game Earth Born developers. It’s a beautiful tribute to the detailed manuals of RPGs of old, brimming with nostalgia. But did you know that there’s an easter egg on the first page that nobody has mentioned yet? If you’re a fan of old school RPGs and you get the reference, let us know!
If, like us, you’ve had the Eastward soundtrack on repeat, you might be pleased to know that the Earth Borne soundtrack by Yu Fang is available on Bandcamp! You can also follow their musical journey over on Twitter too!
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Don’t forget we also have amazing merch including t-shirts, pins, posters and plushies, available now with Fangamer and The Yetee! We also recently announced a really awesome long-sleeve ‘Travel Tee’ and a cute ‘Saving Memories’ acrylic standee to The Yetee store which would make for totally cute gifts this holiday season.
That’s all for now. If you haven’t already come and join the community discussion over on our Discord or Reddit, and follow us on Twitter for more Chucklefish gaming news.
Our team at Chucklefish will soon be signing off for Christmas, but we’ll be back with more awesome Eastward news in the new year. Until then, have a wonderful holiday break and take care!
It’s that time of the year - the Steam Awards are back!
If you enjoyed exploring the beautiful pixel art world of Eastward, we would love it if you could show your support by voting for Eastward in the ‘Outstanding Visual Style’ category!
Did you know that Eastward is actually 3D with a 2D perspective? That’s how the Pixpil team were able to create all of the awesome lighting effects you see in-game! Interested in more behind the scenes info about how Eastward’s art came together? Let us know and we can show you more in a future blog.
It’s been an amazing past few months for the development team at Pixpil, and we’re incredibly humbled by all of the community’s kind messages and fantastic fanart. We hope you’ve been enjoying the new features from the recent update, and we’re excited to share more info of what’s in the works in the New Year.
Until next time!
11.1 Hotfix
-fixed chapter selection menu may fail to work for some players.
