With [b]2021 coming to an end [/b]I want to say thank you and goodbye to everyone reading this, especially if you've played my game this year. You are the reason why Colt Canyon keeps getting better and why I still have the motivation to improve the game wherever I can. Before we take a look at this year's achievements I want to remind everyone that Colt Canyon is a one-man project. During pre-release we got a few artists to help me with some of the more difficult tasks, but 2021 was truly a one-man show. This is also why the update frequency is maybe not quite on par with other games. Colt Canyon was released on PC, Xbox and Switch in mid-2020. Now its almost 2022.... Or when you are reading this it's probably already 2022, so happy new year to you! The game is out for 1.5 years now, and it has changed a lot since the initial release. During the first half-year, we already saw 9 smaller and bigger patches coming to almost all platforms. But this is nothing compared to 2021, which started off big with the [b]PlayStation release[/b], together with [b][url=https://steamcommunity.com/games/940710/announcements/detail/3953563155254841849]Update 1.0.2.0[/url][/b], which was already available for PC players around christmas 2020, and brought features you would miss a lot now, like run settings, improved UI and, like every single patch so far: Much improved balancing. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34329775/c92a9b5af4b7c1864be8ea6eac2ccbc27e4fcc0c.png[/img] Developing an [b]action roguelike[/b] is hard. With every update the amount of content grows, but also the challenge of getting everything balanced, documented, and stable. So it's important to keep updating and tweaking the game until it's just right. And thats what I tried to do during 2021, and what I will try to keep doing in 2022 and beyond. But instead of pushing many smaller patches, like what I did in 2020, this year I tried to focus on bigger updates and improving the [url=https://coltcanyon.fandom.com/wiki/Colt_Canyon_Wiki]wiki[/url]. I made heavy use of the steam unstable branch, where interested players are able to test upcoming patches and share their feedback on our [url=https://discord.gg/ZjebkfR]official discord server[/url] to remove the need for hotfixes and allow for much bigger updates released on all platforms at once. One year after release, in mid-2021, the [b]biggest update yet[/b] was about to launch when Colt Canyon got its first big award. We won the [b]"Best Game"[/b] GameMaker Award. As you might now, the game is developed with the GameMaker Engine, so winning [i]the[/i] [b]GameMaker Award[/b] of 2021 was a big thing for me and a dream came true. This wouldn't have been possible without you: The active and growing Colt Canyon community. Your votes won this award. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34329775/948464e85729d0db6638b27ac4bf06946b892e0a.png[/img] This award boosted my motivation and I couldn't wait to release [b][url=https://steamcommunity.com/games/940710/announcements/detail/2897494427071103734]Update 1.1[/url][/b]. It launched on all platforms simultaneously, bringing massive amounts of [b]new content[/b], like dozens of new weapons, but also new upgrades, obstacles and [b]game mechanics[/b], like all new melee combat, blood weapons or active reloading. With over 200 thumbs up on the steam announcement I think it's fair to say that this update was [b]well-received[/b]. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34329775/b89118c46f544452ec7f142e08971e0dedeb7f03.gif[/img] Shortly after the release of Update 1.1 we won yet another award, this time a more local achievement. We won the [b]German Dev Days Indie Award[/b] in the category "Best Visuals" and were nominated in two more categories. Winning "[b]Best Visuals[/b]" was a surprise, but a welcome one. The jury made it clear that Colt Canyon won because the style captures the game's setting and gameplay and impresses with it's particle effects and feedback. I was very pleased to see them recognize and praise my artistic choices, since Colt Canyon's visuals were always something that people either liked or hated. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34329775/83b3d8b44a56dbba4c94c93ae4b1d5188e1164b2.png[/img] I ended 2021 with a smaller balancing and bugfixing patch: [b][url=https://steamcommunity.com/games/940710/announcements/detail/3137318082758064723]Update 1.1.1.0[/url][/b] - Which polished Colt Canyon to a degree that it hadn't seen before. Now is the perfect time to try Colt Canyon! However, this is not the final patch. I still have plenty of ideas and plans for Colt Canyon. The only thing limiting me is my time and of course financial limits. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34329775/2b06a979dec26e6a3f760c61b5beaa3bf3df9e22.gif[/img] While 2021 was a big and successful year for Colt Canyon, it was still not big enough to allow me to grow as an indie developer and pay my bills. Therefore my resources are still severely limited and I have to use my spare time to work on Colt Canyon. But you can expect 2022 to be at least as great as 2021 as long as there are people playing Colt Canyon. I hope you have a great start in 2022 and stay healthy! - Jonathan