Sea of Stars
Sea of Stars Has Gone Gold!
The master build was submitted to certification, meaning the next people to touch the game will be all of you.
It's set to release on August 29th. To get a taste of it, a demo is available here on Steam!
Thanks again for the overwhelming support over the years, we hope you’re looking forward to an exciting adventure!
Sea of Stars has gone gold!
The master build was submitted to certification, meaning the next people to touch the game will be all of you.
It's set to release on August 29th. To get a taste of it, a demo is available here on Steam!
Thanks again for the overwhelming support over the years, we hope you’re looking forward to an exciting adventure!
Steam Next Fest: PC Demo Available Now!
Steam Next Fest starts today, and we’re happy to confirm that Sea of Stars is part of the week-long event.
Not only is this a great opportunity for Sea of Stars to gain visibility on Steam and grow the wishlist before launch, it also means that the demo is now available on PC!
If you feel like helping us spread the word, the best way is by liking and sharing this tweet.
PLAYABLE DEMO AVAILABLE ON STEAM!
You can download it now for your PC or Steam Deck by going to our store page.
While the demo features areas that will be part of the final game, we made sure to pick a slice that did not reveal any major spoilers from the main story. It is designed to give a hint of context, but mostly showcase some gameplay systems and mechanics around dungeon crawling and combat. It aims to provide a sense of the tone and vibe without giving away major points of the journey.
For those who might be wondering, it is the exact same demo that was released on Nintendo Switch back in February, including the minor updates that followed.
The demo will remain available on Steam after the Steam Next Fest.
PLEASE SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT THE DEMO!
We’ll increase our presence on our Discord over the following days to gather feedback and answer questions. Feel free to come talk to us and share your thoughts in the #sos-demo-feedback channel!
Also, while we did a pass for compatibility testing, it’s virtually impossible to cover every and all possible hardware configurations. Should you encounter any technical issues and want to help us make adjustments for your configuration type before launch, you can provide any details you find relevant along with the following information:
- Windows version
- Graphics card
- Graphics driver version
- Motherboard
- CPU model
- Monitor resolution
- Monitor refresh rate
- Input device
WHEELS MINIGAME REVEAL!
We finally revealed Wheels, the famous game known by all in the world of Sea of Stars. Wheels is an optional tabletop game that you’ll be able to play whenever you want to take a break from adventuring.
If you want to know more right now, here’s Thierry showing the minigame while the pirate band plays music:
Sea of Stars is Now Content Complete!
We now have two full months ahead of us to go from BETA (content complete) to GOLD (bug free). Just like we did before releasing The Messenger, we invited the QA professionals over at Lionbridge to provide analysis and advice on the bugs that need to be fixed for the game to be at the level of quality we are shooting for. With 11 testers joining the ranks, it will be a busy final stretch for the dev team!
Meanwhile, localization is also going at a steady pace. Most of the game's content has already been localized in French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, with proofreading beginning next week.
It's been almost 5 years since the initial pitch for Sea of Stars happened internally at Sabotage, and here we are at last.
If you're reading this, we thank you once again for your support. You've made this journey all the more incredible, and we sincerely hope that our little game will exceed your expectations.
(Oh, and in case you're wondering: yes, the PC demo is still coming. Stay tuned!)
Here's a team selfie we took to capture our joy at reaching content complete, in which trying to get everyone to yell at the same time was absolutely not a bad call.
Once again, we can't thank you enough, and look forward to putting the game in your hands.
All the love,
-SaboTeam
Sea of Stars Made The March Cover Of Game Informer!
That'll be one to look back on in our autumn years!
Along with inviting us to be the cover for the March issue, Game Informer crafted a 10 pages-long, in-depth cover story with exclusive in-game content. It contains interviews with our creative director Thierry, composer and audio designer Eric, lead animator Bruno, and guest composer Yasunori Mitsuda.
Physical copies of this issue are now available in GameStops in the US, and the digital version is available here.
There’s also a Gold Edition! This one is a rarer print and not for sale, but should you be interested, here’s a quote from Game Informer on how to get your hands on it:
“To learn about places where you might be able to get a copy, check out our official Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.”
Rumor has it that some copies may be shipped to our studio, so we might get a few copies to give away in the near future as well so… join us on Discord to stay in touch!
Both amazing artworks by our concept artist Bryce Kho are available as hi-res wallpapers here:
- Standard Edition
- Gold Edition
Cheers!
SEA OF STARS LAUNCHES AUGUST 29!
We officially locked it in, Sea of Stars will release on all target platforms on August 29th 2023, precisely (even though not intentionally) 5 years after the launch of our previous game, The Messenger.
As production wraps up, we are ramping up efforts in QA, localization, marketing and optimization. We remain committed to offering the best experience possible to as many players as possible across the world.
A DEMO WILL COME TO STEAM LATER THIS YEAR
You might have heard already that a demo is available on Nintendo Switch. Good news, the demo will also come to Steam eventually. Going for a single platform is a decision we had to make in order not to delay the release date. We will roll it out to other platforms as soon as possible, so stay tuned!
DEMO + Q&A STREAM THIS FRIDAY AT 4PM EST / 1PM PST
For the occasion, we will close this week with a long overdue stream where Thierry will play the demo while answering questions from the community!
We will send notifications on Discord and social media before going live on Friday, February 8. Until then, you can ask your questions in the “#dev-questions” forum [on Discord] or upvote the questions you’d like to see answered.
Join us on Twitch!
THAT'S IT FOR NOW
Time for us to get back to dev. We are currently in the midst of the final stretch of production- the BETA (content complete) milestone is in clear view, and we are happy to report that the game sings in all the ways we were hoping it would.
The team's morale is soaring and everyone is doing well, save for the sting of grief creeping up with an occasional reminder that we will one day not be working on this dream project anymore.
In the meantime, we thank you all once again for your overwhelming positivity and support <3
All the best,
-Saboteam
A word from Yasunori Mitsuda
Hot off the heels of the yearly wrap-up, we have a bonus round for you: a word from Mitsuda himself!
Follow this link where Mitsuda shares some thoughts on Sea of Stars and production, while his beautifully named first track, "Coral Cascades", plays in the background.
That's it for this mini update, we hope you enjoy and have a wonderful time during the holidays <3
See you next year,
- SaboTeam
2022 Wrap-Up + Road To Launch
It’s been a while since our latest big announcement for Sea of Stars and it feels like an update is long overdue. For the past months we have been fully dialed in on concrete milestones to take this dream production home, and we're happy to report that both the team and the game are doing great!
While everyone's patience and support has been felt by all of us, we want you to rest assured that getting closer to launch also means slowly reemerging from the depths of gamedev to communicate more, starting of course with our community.
So, here’s a wrap-up of the highlights of 2022!
SEA OF STARS IS ON TRACK TO RELEASE IN 2023
While there is still a lot of work left, the path to launch is clearer than ever. The whole team is aligned and on pace to complete the production for Sea of Stars to release in 2023.
Working towards the infamous BETA milestone, technical unknowns are now behind us and all gameplay systems are locked-in. We are hard at work completing content, balancing and fine tuning the game's moment-to-moment experience.
While we cannot provide a specific release date yet, we want to reaffirm that 2023 will be the year Sea of Stars is released.
FROM TITLE SCREEN TO END CREDITS
Four years ago, a small team began work on the level design tools and renderer code that would be required to deliver the vision for Sea of Stars: unshackled traversal, dynamic lighting, and seamless turn-based combat.
As of writing this, the game's main path is fully playable from title screen to end credits. Game mechanics sing the way we were hoping they would, and the story has been finalized with all levels fully playable.
In case you don’t follow us on social media, here’s a few updates you might have missed.
First, a look at the cooking menu.
Here’s a quick stroll through Zenith Academy, with Valere and Zale as kids.
Oh, and here's a big boss just for fun!
SO, WHAT'S LEFT?
A bit of optional content, a lot of NPCs, localization, a whole lot of bug fixing, and an impossible amount of polishing. We are currently operating on a weekly build-review schedule, covering every segment of the game with the finest brush, ensuring readability of the levels, balanced combat, and properly paced cutscenes.
To reach BETA, we need every and all moments and elements of the game to be at the highest quality we can produce.
THE LAST STRETCH
Once the game reaches BETA (content complete), we will work towards the last milestone, GOLD (bug-free), making sure Sea of Stars offers the best experience for everyone, on all its supported platforms. This implies performance optimization, accessibility, compliance, localization and quality assurance.
As a reminder, the game will be available in English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese.
LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD
As 2023 approaches, it is clear that we have a big year ahead of us. For now, it is time for the team to take some well-deserved time off, recharge and spend time with loved ones before we all get back together to finish this journey at last.
Again, your support, patience and optimism means a lot to the team. It carries us in these efforts, and after all this time has never failed to mean the world to us. We can’t wait for the moment you all finally play Sea of Stars!
Until then, thank you once again for everything, and we wish everyone a happy 2023!
With love,
-SaboTeam
2023 Release + PlayStation Announcement
SEA OF STARS IS COMING TO PS4 AND PS5
It was always the plan to bring Sea of Stars to as many people as possible, but as with all things, planning and timing were key. Through PlayStation's Indie Spotlight event, we are happy to confirm today that Sea of Stars will be available on both PS4 and PS5 on launch day, cross-buy.
For over a year we have been working with PlayStation dev kits to make sure it ran as smoothly as on our other target platforms. To avoid spoilers, we showcased the same content as the Nintendo Switch trailer, but still made a point to recapture everything on PS4 and PS5 directly!
(If you want to help bring more eyeballs to Sea of Stars, please RT this post!)
SEA OF STARS WILL RELEASE IN 2023
Emphasizing our two main priorities (quality of the finished game, and a healthy work-life balance for the team), production remains a road where the unexpected occurs a lot even if the destination is set. Where there is a wall we tear it down, where there is a tree we walk around it, and where there is a gem we pick it up. The vision remains clear, but seeing the response and hype we made the conscious decision to make sure to leave no gems on the floor. Something special is happening here, and we are committed to making the most of it.
We also want to make sure Sea of Stars is the best experience possible for everyone, which implies considerable efforts in terms of performance optimization, accessibility, localization, QA and porting.
A precise release date will be announced as soon as we pass the Beta milestone.
Once again, thank you all for your overwhelming positivity and patience.
NEXT STEPS
With virtually all technical risks already tackled, the team is focused on finalizing the game's content.
In closing, we want to once again thank you for your patience. It’s a long ride, and your overwhelming support goes a long way in keeping the team's motivation high. We feel truly blessed, and can’t wait for you to experience Sea of Stars in its final form.
With love,
-SaboTeam
Production Update + Spring Q&A Stream
Q&A + WIZARD LAB DUNGEON PREVIEW ON TWITCH THIS FRIDAY MAY 13TH, AT 2PM EST / 11AM PST / 8PM CET
Back in February, around 20 minutes of new content from Sea of Stars was shown to a selected few media outlets. This preview included an updated look on many systems and a quest involving pirates, the port town of Brisk and mysterious arcane ruins known as the “Abandoned Wizard’s Lab”.
Polish has gone a long way since our last stream, so we wanted to share this segment of Sea of Stars with our community. Make sure to tune in on Twitch this Friday May 13th, at 2PM EST / 11AM PST / 8PM CET!
https://www.twitch.tv/sabotagestudio
The second half of the stream is reserved for Q&A. Join us if you are curious about the behind the scenes, or have a question of your own! We opened a #qna channel on Discord to drop your questions ahead of time.
Rest assured that this preview won’t reveal critical story beats or spoil anything other than lower-stakes events from the game.
QUICK DEV UPDATE
In other news, here are a few spoiler-free dev updates you might have missed on social media. Most of these are low risk items we were saving for later in production. It's pretty exciting to be at a point where we are tackling these kinds of things!
First, we’ve been asked many times over the last 2 years whether the full battle party would be seen running around outside of combat.
Yes, of course!
And here’s an updated look at sailing.
The combat hud also got a revamp! While not quite final, this new version offers more breathing space and readability.
DEVELOPMENT IS GOING GREAT, BUT WE DON’T HAVE A RELEASE DATE YET
Production's velocity is at full throttle, with every part of the game gradually falling into place. While the road to a gold master has many more miles in store for us, it is quite thrilling to be at the front seat of Sea of Stars growing into its final form.
We're not ready to set a release date just yet, but the pace is good, and the team is committed to achieving the complete vision with no compromises. Remaining platforms and storefronts announcements will be coming soon, after which we will send the survey for the final phase of fulfillment (platform choices for physical and digital copies, civic address for shipping, name for the credits, etc.)
Stay tuned! And as always, we thank you for your patience and overwhelming support
All the love,
- SaboTeam
