One Year Anniversary! - Valko Game Studios

Thank you players!

This year has been incredible for Labyrinthine and Valko Game Studios.

One year ago today, we were sat in discord, anxiously awaiting our first reviews to roll in. We won’t lie, it was an exciting but terrifying time. We had quit our careers and social lives to dedicate ourselves to getting the game out there. We had spent sleepless nights bugfixing and now on the eve of release, we had no idea what to expect… Would players enjoy the game? Would we be compared to other games? Would the slow introduction turn people away? After all, Labyrinthine strays from the usual “horror formula” that many prospective publishers were quick to call us out on.

Not even 24 hours later, players began pouring into discord sharing their stories, clips and ideas. It’s hard to put it all into words. Seeing people having so much fun and being so enthusiastic about the game we had spent hundreds of hours making was not only a proud moment, but incredibly wholesome.

It’s hard to express just how grateful we are to you guys, the players. We’ve met some incredible people, watched some hilarious streams, read some heartwarming messages and taken onboard some really cool suggestions. I’m sure you’ve seen other devs thank their players but from us, it’s truly a genuine appreciation.

Thank you all so much!

A new cosmetic to celebrate!

As a thank you to all those who have bought the game in it’s first year of release, we have a new cosmetic that we will be rolling out in an update soon. It will be automatically granted to all players who purchased the game before 1st November 2021.

Our favourite memories (so far!)

We thought it would be cool to share a handful of our favourite experiences over the past year of development.

So many good memories. One that stands out was a moment during the early days of development. We were running Cindy through the maze to show her the house in game. We didn't realise but she had always played the game with her sound off and so when she came across a test jumpscare, she shrieked at the top of her voice and we heard her throw her mouse off the desk. It was hilarious. We all laughed together for a good 30 minutes.

Zach

Game Director

Honestly I think the best moments were from watching people play the game after release and be genuinely terrified. The one that stands out the most for me though was Jonny's first playthrough. After finding the witch, he silently jolted his mouse on stream and then alt f4'd the game. That terror shake, hahaha makes me giggle every time I think about it

Lonnie

Lead Artist

That's a hard question. I think it's gonna be watching people play using my first "feature", you could crouch but couldn't stand up in zone 4. People were searching for monsters just to get out of crouch.

Michal

Lead Programmer

I think mine was the first time me and Batuhan were trying the game. On the second level I freaked out so bad when roots separated Batuhan and me. I instantly quit the game and questioned why I couldn't play a game I helped develop...

Ozan

3D Artist

It was literally my first interaction with the horror genre, I haven’t watched or played anything that terrified me until Labyrinthine. When I first joined, my self esteem was really low because I was afraid that I couldn’t be productive enough to contribute to the game, but the team welcomed my ideas and that was the moment that broke my imposter syndrome.

Batuhan

3D Artist

My favourite memory was surely when I saw my sound design for the Witch being used to scare players for the first time. I loved making it and then seeing that it was working made me very satisfied!

Fabio

Audio Designer

Shortly after release two of our kickstarter backers (Green and Orange Ranger) were hosting a charity stream. They pretty much screamed their entire way through the game while settling their nerves with crystal skull vodka. By the end they were so hammered but had made a decent wedge for charity and given us a great many laughs. Honestly though meeting all these new and awesome people over the last year and staying in contact with so many of them has been a real blessing and made everything we've done feel so much more rewarding than I could have possibly imagined on 28th Oct 2020.

Melzeebub

Community Manager

Some screenshots of development

We also wanted to share some of the images that popped up while we were remeniscing about the early days of development.

Seeing these older screenshots has really puts how far we’ve come into perspective!

So, what's next for labyrinthine?

Well let’s start with the obvious one, Chapter 5. It’s really close now. We’re hoping to start private testing soon! We’re still aiming to release it before Christmas.

Here’s some images taken from a recent internal developer flythrough of Chapter 5 (apologies for the quality, these are from a compressed video!).

Chapter 5 is by far our most complex area so far and the screenshots above don’t do it justice!

Along side chapter 5, we also have two new case file maps in the works. The Manor and the Sewers; both will have their own monsters.

We also have a bunch of stuff listed in the pipeline that will be coming soon. Exciting times ahead!

Let’s see what this next year’s development brings as we add in new features, monsters, chapters and collectibles! We also have a couple projects scoped out for those looking for more cooperative horror in the future…

Once again though, thank you everybody for your support, it really means a lot to us!

This Post Has 6 Comments

Jack October 29, 2021 Reply

Nice hat 😀
Emil October 29, 2021 Reply

Holy moly im excited for the release of chapter 5 :)))))
Edward GlueStickHands October 30, 2021 Reply

Those 2 case file maps are hype. But more monsters… The scarecrows were scary enough. Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely excited for more monsters, but if I get chased by some Mutant turtle in the sewers, I might have nightmares
1. Onewolfmanpack December 21, 2021 Reply
  
  Don’t steal Michelangelo’s pizza. TMNT just trying to relax and you ruining it XD
Obe October 30, 2021 Reply

whoop whoop -hype-
Lazarus December 6, 2021 Reply

This has by far been my one Horror game i have enjoyed watching grow and be a part of. I look forward to all of the upcoming content that is brought to us.