Hey fellas
You probably know my story by now...
-but, just in case, here's the CliffsNotes version:
I started making games, and thus GTTOD, 10 years ago
I was a D U M B teenager who had no idea what he was doing or where things were going - I just knew that I LOVED making video games and wanted to make the best possible game I could make
GTTOD started picking up an audience early, and after launching into Early Access, I finally saw my dream of becoming a game developer start to come into view
Eventually, the attention GTTOD received started to wane as more and more games like it released
In fear of falling behind, I tried to pivot and find new angles to stay ahead without losing the original vision of GTTOD
Because of my lack of experience, I was forced to get VERY experimental - and many mistakes were made in that process
Many people gave up on both the game itself and me personally as a result
Despite this, I continued to learn and grow as a game developer while working on GTTOD; meeting lots of amazing and talented artists and creators who believed in GTTOD and what I was doing
As the quality of GTTOD improved, a NEW community began to form around what the game was BECOMING instead of what it once was
However, the old community and the new community were frequently at odds with what the game was becoming, leading to friction within those two groups - most of which got pointed at me as the developer
As I struggled to find ways to make both communities happy, I began to stagnate as my development cycles became longer and longer between updates due to the experimentations to unify the two groups repeatedly falling flat
This resulted in the community on Discord becoming more and more friendly and supportive while the community on Steam became more and more embittered and vitriolic
Due to the comments, I avoided posting regular updates on Steam, thus leaving everyone here in the dark and leading to more and more miscommunications and misconceptions about me and the game
Before long, I was no longer welcome on my own store page or in my own Steam Community, and it was clear something had to change...
-and the first step was to accept some hard truths.
\[Get To The Orange Door, December 2nd, 2016]
The first truth I had to come to was that I couldn't do it all on my own. I never really even did to begin with. At every step along the process, routinely the best parts of GTTOD were where others had come in and offered their skills, their passion, and their craft. The guns were well animated, the music was banging, the visuals were unique and flashy - all things that others had helped me to achieve. Never, during the entire duration of GTTOD's development, have I ever truly been alone. I had to accept and embrace that, and that was tough. GTTOD will always be my game, but it's not only my game, and it never has been.
\[Get To The Orange Door, February 3rd, 2020]
The second truth was that you just can't make everyone happy. There are some people out there that don't WANT to be happy, and there are some people out there who want it more than anything, and just can't find it for some reason. The WORST thing you can do for those people is to keep trying. It's frustrating for you, it's frustrating for them, and it makes everyone look bad. Sometimes, you just need to learn how to let go. That's hard to do, and it'll break your heart for a long time, but sometimes you just gotta do it - ESPECIALLY when you don't want to.
\[Get To The Orange Door, June 9th, 2020]
The third and final truth, and the one I have struggled with the most, is that you're going to make mistakes, a lot of them, and it's going to be your fault. Sure, sometimes it's someone else's fault, sometimes it's no one's fault, and sometimes it'll be so bad you're gonna want to hide under your covers and blame everyone else, but that's not gonna get you anywhere. Mistakes happen, and they stick with you, believe me - but you have to move past them if you're ever going to get to a better place.
AND THUS
WAS BORN
\[Get To The Orange Door, January 8th, 2021]
It started as casual as "Hey what if we did this for real?", without even really knowing what that meant or looked like. What even is a real game studio, anyway? A year ago I would say it was a big building with people in it making video games. A year ago I also was 20 pounds lighter and 40% more ignorant, but we take our gains with our losses. Regardless, with about as much experience as this journey started with, I went forward with forming a real studio capable of making the types of games I wanted to make when I first got into this whole business.
\[Get To The Orange Door, July 8th, 2021] It has been yet another learning process in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I think we have all been tested to our limits and back multiple times over - not just as artists and developers, but also as just human beings. I could not even begin to describe everything that has happened since we formed this studio, but after it's all said and done, I know one thing for certain...
\[Get To The Orange Door, July 21st, 2021]
My time has come.
The dream I had as a teenager the first few days of cracking open Unity has happened. It is exactly how I imagined it and much, MUCH more. The team I couldn't have even dreamed of having is working with me on GTTOD every day. The big building full of people that I once naively believed is what makes a studio a studio has yet to even open its doors, and yet I feel the draw and responsibility of what it means to be a studio lead all the same.
I truly have changed...
-and so has the game
-and so has the world.
-and so have you, if you'd believe it.
You as an individual.
You as a member of the community.
You name it, idk.
We have all changed, and due to this, I believe it is time for a new voice to take over here. Someone that doesn't have such a bad history with this game and the old community. Someone innocent and uninvolved in the mistakes of the past. Someone who can better represent the changes that have happened on a foundational level with regards to the games we make and how we make them. For the best interest of the game, for the best interest of the community, for the best interest of the team, and for the best interest of my life - it is time I say goodbye as the forward facing personality here, and instead dedicate my entire time to focusing on making the best possible games I can make for the ones who truly believe in us and what we are doing here at STUDIO Bare Bones.
Thank you everyone who has supported me and the rest of the team up to this point. I would never, ever abandon you or this game, but it's time I start focusing on what I'm truly here to do: making a damn video game. From this moment forward, all future Steam Announcements will be made from our official STUDIO Bare Bones account - and while I will monitor the communication closely, it will no longer be me talking to you here on Steam. It is, has, and always will be an honor to be your game developing nutsack. I have no regrets, as every decision along the way, no matter how wrong, allowed me to meet and work for all of you!
Thank you for the ones who have been kind to me. If you ever need anything, you can always find me in the STUDIO Bare Bones Discord Server. Thank you for everything, and I hope to see you in 1.0!
-Andrew
P.S.
STUDIO Bare Bones will be making a follow up post going over the Open Beta plans, pricing changes, and a few other things here - BUT I'll throw this in here at the end so you have it in case you're looking for it:
