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Tags: Brian Mitsoda; Dead State; DoubleBear Productions
It's Thursday, December 4th, and Dead State, the long-awaited zombie RPG from Brian Mitsoda's DoubleBear Productions, is finally here. For many Codexers, Dead State seems like a relic - a remnant from the time before Kickstarter, when interminable indie projects like Age of Decadence and Grimoire were the only light beyond the horizon in a sea of endless decline. The quality of Dead State's Early Access release was a matter of some controversy, but for the most part it was just ignored. My hope is that starting from today, we can finally learn something about this post-apocalyptic world that Brian and Annie have worked on for so many years. But that's enough editorializing - here's the Kickstarter update announcing the release:
It's Thursday, December 4th, and Dead State, the long-awaited zombie RPG from Brian Mitsoda's DoubleBear Productions, is finally here. For many Codexers, Dead State seems like a relic - a remnant from the time before Kickstarter, when interminable indie projects like Age of Decadence and Grimoire were the only light beyond the horizon in a sea of endless decline. The quality of Dead State's Early Access release was a matter of some controversy, but for the most part it was just ignored. My hope is that starting from today, we can finally learn something about this post-apocalyptic world that Brian and Annie have worked on for so many years. But that's enough editorializing - here's the Kickstarter update announcing the release:
First, a word from Brian Mitsoda, Dead State's creator:
This is it - Dead State is finally out! I know I’ve said this many times before, but truly, this game could not exist without Kickstarter and backers like you. Delivering the game we promised has been an obsession for us, and while we worked many long days and nights to create it, the release day has finally come. Thank you all for your patience and your patronage!
First off, I’d like to personally thank the team and all our support staff and moderators for making this game possible. Assembling an RPG with a small team was an incredibly complex challenge – I can’t state that enough. Without the dedication, commitment, care, and clever solutions this team has come up with, the game you are about to play would not nearly be as excellent. When it comes down to making games, it’s not just having a budget or ideas - it’s about the people that can come together (in our case, from all over the world), hit some impossibly high marks, and make a complex machine of levels, and systems, and characters and all the insane ways those pieces react to one another work. This is the culmination of many moons of long production chats, stat charts, forgotten arguments, face-palming, tragically hilarious bugs, lost weekends, lost summers, words of encouragement, and exclamations of “oh my gosh, it finally works!” The last few months are a blur of desk confinement and email threads – somewhere in there, we wiped off the last of the remaining tasks from our lists, killed the bug count, and finished years of work. We really hope we have delivered the game that we talked you into backing all the way back in 2012. We might have added a few extra things since then. (And just so you know, we’re committed to working on DS post-release, just let us please have a few drinks and a weekend off first.)
And if I may say one other thing – I know that the press and forum posts have made it a thing to slam Kickstarter failures, but I want to reiterate that Dead State and a lot of other great games would not exist without Kickstarter and Early Access. Never before have so many devs had the freedom to make the games they have wanted to make. DoubleBear and Dead State would not have come into being without the financial support and belief of backers like you. If by finishing Dead State we have restored some faith in the system, please roll that excitement back into other Kickstarter projects. I can’t thank you all enough, and I really hope that more developers get to have the support and experience that we’ve had. It’s a fantastic time to be a gamer and a developer – continue to support indie devs!
Finally, we still want to hear from you. Stop by our forums and tell us what you think of Dead State! We’re always looking to improve the game and use your feedback to shape our future projects. Okay, I’ve given my launch speech and Dead State’s probably done downloading by now. You’ve been waiting long enough – go play Dead State!
Now, the nitty-gritty details
Please check out our last Kickstarter update for an FAQ and details about how to get your Steam copy if you haven't yet. Those who opted for non-Steam will start seeing their GOG codes arriving in their KS message boxes shortly. For those who backed at a physical reward tier, rest assured that getting those straightened out is our first priority post-launch!
Don't forget to take a look at our manual - Dead State is a complex game with a lot of depth, so this is a very helpful resource for anyone hoping to master combat and exploration!
If you have any questions about Dead State, the launch, or anything else, the absolute fastest way to get them addressed is to post them on Dead State's forums; devs, mods, and veteran Early Access players are available to help you out, especially those of you playing the game for the first time!
We've said it many times but it's worth repeating - DoubleBear Productions plans to continue supporting Dead State post-release with patches and content updates, so please make sure to use our forums to report bugs and provide feedback. Do make sure to review our Known Issues list before posting, though, to make sure your issue isn't already being tracked!
Thanks everyone, and have fun playing Dead State!
Dead State is available for purchase at Steam and GOG for the price of $30. Now, let's get some Codex consensus, people.This is it - Dead State is finally out! I know I’ve said this many times before, but truly, this game could not exist without Kickstarter and backers like you. Delivering the game we promised has been an obsession for us, and while we worked many long days and nights to create it, the release day has finally come. Thank you all for your patience and your patronage!
First off, I’d like to personally thank the team and all our support staff and moderators for making this game possible. Assembling an RPG with a small team was an incredibly complex challenge – I can’t state that enough. Without the dedication, commitment, care, and clever solutions this team has come up with, the game you are about to play would not nearly be as excellent. When it comes down to making games, it’s not just having a budget or ideas - it’s about the people that can come together (in our case, from all over the world), hit some impossibly high marks, and make a complex machine of levels, and systems, and characters and all the insane ways those pieces react to one another work. This is the culmination of many moons of long production chats, stat charts, forgotten arguments, face-palming, tragically hilarious bugs, lost weekends, lost summers, words of encouragement, and exclamations of “oh my gosh, it finally works!” The last few months are a blur of desk confinement and email threads – somewhere in there, we wiped off the last of the remaining tasks from our lists, killed the bug count, and finished years of work. We really hope we have delivered the game that we talked you into backing all the way back in 2012. We might have added a few extra things since then. (And just so you know, we’re committed to working on DS post-release, just let us please have a few drinks and a weekend off first.)
And if I may say one other thing – I know that the press and forum posts have made it a thing to slam Kickstarter failures, but I want to reiterate that Dead State and a lot of other great games would not exist without Kickstarter and Early Access. Never before have so many devs had the freedom to make the games they have wanted to make. DoubleBear and Dead State would not have come into being without the financial support and belief of backers like you. If by finishing Dead State we have restored some faith in the system, please roll that excitement back into other Kickstarter projects. I can’t thank you all enough, and I really hope that more developers get to have the support and experience that we’ve had. It’s a fantastic time to be a gamer and a developer – continue to support indie devs!
Finally, we still want to hear from you. Stop by our forums and tell us what you think of Dead State! We’re always looking to improve the game and use your feedback to shape our future projects. Okay, I’ve given my launch speech and Dead State’s probably done downloading by now. You’ve been waiting long enough – go play Dead State!
Now, the nitty-gritty details
Please check out our last Kickstarter update for an FAQ and details about how to get your Steam copy if you haven't yet. Those who opted for non-Steam will start seeing their GOG codes arriving in their KS message boxes shortly. For those who backed at a physical reward tier, rest assured that getting those straightened out is our first priority post-launch!
Don't forget to take a look at our manual - Dead State is a complex game with a lot of depth, so this is a very helpful resource for anyone hoping to master combat and exploration!
If you have any questions about Dead State, the launch, or anything else, the absolute fastest way to get them addressed is to post them on Dead State's forums; devs, mods, and veteran Early Access players are available to help you out, especially those of you playing the game for the first time!
We've said it many times but it's worth repeating - DoubleBear Productions plans to continue supporting Dead State post-release with patches and content updates, so please make sure to use our forums to report bugs and provide feedback. Do make sure to review our Known Issues list before posting, though, to make sure your issue isn't already being tracked!
Thanks everyone, and have fun playing Dead State!
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