Malys Post Kickstarter & How to Support Summerfall
MAY 23RD: FINAL KICKSTARTER DEV LOG
Note: These posts were written for the Kickstarter campaign that ran April-May. Some information may be outdated or incorrect. Always read the latest updates to be up to date on Malys!
Thank you 🖤
Firstly, we just want to take a moment to thank all of you for taking a chance on us and backing Malys. Your support, backing, and feedback have meant the world to our little team and we are so grateful to have such an incredible and passionate community. Every post you made on your own accounts bolstered our resolve and fueled us further, every time we saw someone increase a pledge - we see it all, and it means so much. Together, we raised over $200,000 AUD.
Running a Kickstarter campaign is hard work, with lots of questions and choices and paths to choose from, and while it's disappointing not to reach our goal, we can be confident in knowing we did everything we could as a team and a studio to try and get it there, and we know you did too.
Malys will still release 🕯️
Launching a Kickstarter in 2025 was a risk we took knowingly and we knew we'd need to prepare for all the potential outcomes. While this is not the outcome we hoped for, It's important to note that Malys will still be released in 2025.
The support we were looking for via the Kickstarter was to help make it the best game it could be, and support our team throughout that process. We'll still be releasing Malys, however we will need to recalibrate what exactly that looks like.
We will, of course, endeavour to make it the best game we possibly can within the challenges we have, no matter what!
Will you re-launch the Kickstarter?
With the available time we have for the project, relaunching the Kickstarter is not an option for us. Honestly, we don't really have the financial ability to re-run a campaign (a two month process at minimum, and a six month process normally) and have our focus be there instead of on the game and getting it out. We now need to focus on getting the game into peoples hands and ideally bringing some revenue into the studio to support us going forward.
What happens next? 📅
Many studios out there right now are struggling to secure funding and keep going - we're not the only ones. The Kickstarter campaign was an opportunity to give us some more runway for the project, which means more runway for the studio. We're doing everything we can to keep Summerfall not just surviving but thriving, but it's really challenging out there right now. We know many of you are feeling it too.
The biggest question we keep hearing is: how do we support you as a studio, now that the Kickstarter is finished and was unsuccessful? If you like what we make and what we do, and that we prioritise people over projects, abhor crunch, stand up for what we believe in, we really do need your help to keep Summerfall alive. So - what can you do?
Summerfall Studios Merch Store
We set up a backer only merchandise store during the campaign that we'll now be opening up to everybody, whether you were a backer or not. This is currently the most direct way to support the studio. Each purchase of an item through the store we get a very small cut that goes directly to the studio and donations we receive in full. We are so touched by those of you who are donating your pledge amounts to us via the platform. Some backers have already received merch they purchased via the store! We've also added some of our original Kickstarter reward items. You can now grab the sticker sheets and the poster for yourselves or a mate!
To those of you who found the donations option at checkout and chose to donate your orignal pledge - you made us cry! (complimentary). You are such generous folk, and we're very lucky to have you with us.
By request, we have made a donation button more readily available on the site for those so inclined - and we are continuing to investigate things like Patreon and founders packs. Thank you for helping us make Malys the best it can be, we promise more game news very soon!
We've endeavoured to make the products as affordable as possible, and we feel good about the prices we're offering for that reason! We've priced just above manufacturing costs, and there is no additional expense for larger sizing. It does mean we can't offer things like free shipping at this point in time, but who knows what the future holds!
You can check out the shop in its current form here!
As mentioned previously, all Stray Gods merch is managed by our publisher and we're unable to provide it independently.
Most importantly, if you've been interested in the game on this journey, please wishlist it on Steam. This is your direct line to getting your hands on the game.
