[p][b]Esteemed ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, noble travelers from near and far![/b][/p][p]First of all, we want to thank everyone who has followed and wishlisted The Great Sassanelli here on Steam. If you haven't already, please [b]wishlist the game[/b] today! This is the best way to support us right now, and to show the Steam algorithm that it deserves visibility.[/p][h2]New publisher & release date [/h2][p]It's been very quiet here for a long time as we were hacking away at the game, but we finally have a major update for you today! Here are the cliff notes:[/p][list][*][p]DigiTales Interactive is joining the project as a publisher (and helps out with development).[/p][/*][*][p]The game's content is virtually finished.[/p][/*][*][p]It will come out in Q2 2026 on PC and Mac.[/p][/*][*][p]We're working on adding controller support & full Steam Deck support on day 1. [/p][/*][/list][p][img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44358457/3c83f0b0da50d25ae2f76e25ff01031bfbc4c783.jpg"][/img][i]DigiTales x Forking Paths[/i][/p][h2]Development progress[/h2][p]Over the past year, our writer Nico has finished up the main story as well as all the Gifted Performer arcs. These special NPCs can be encountered and hired along the way, providing not just bespoke story content, but also their own circus acts to add to your roster. Nico is currently adding more and more random encounters that can occur in and between towns.[/p][p]Our artist Jon meanwhile finished up all the beautiful parallaxing artworks for locations where the mythical safe haven Cuculia can (allegedly) be found. You can see two of them in the all-new screenshots we uploaded today. Jon also went over all towns in the game, giving them a makeover by carefully tweaking all possible combinations of biomes, day times, weather conditions, and whether or not the town has been touched by the war.[/p][p][img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44358457/932dd0c1573a414ab3f9cb641600309b88c18d45.png"][/img][i]Could Cuculia be around here somewhere...?[/i][/p][p]The DigiTales team has taken over all technical aspects of development, besides the usual publishing support such as PR and marketing. After revamping and solidifying parts of the code base, numerous improvements to quality of life and gameplay flow as well as gamepad and Steam Deck support will be added next.[/p][p]If you want to read more about why and how DigiTales is now Sassanelli's publisher, check out this [url="https://digitales.games/blog/news/introducing-digitales-publishing-and-the-great-sassanelli"]blog post[/url]! In a nutshell, the studios have been very close for years, and it seemed like a great opportunity for both sides to join forces on the final stretch of development.[/p][h2]Demo & playtests[/h2][p]A demo version of The Great Sassanelli can be played at the Saarland booth at gamescom (Hall 10.2 E020 D021) this week. However, we are aware that a busy fair is not the ideal environment for this type of experience, which is best enjoyed with a hot beverage of your choice on the couch or by the fireplace. That is why we will eventually release a new demo here on Steam with all the additions and improvements we're currently working on.[/p][p]However, this will likely happen next year, in closer proximity to the game's full launch. If you want to see the game earlier and help us improve it, let us know on Discord that you would like to sign up as a playtester.[/p][h2]Until next time[/h2][p]That's all for today! We will post updates here on Steam as the release draws closer, but if you'd like to see more frequent content about and around The Great Sassanelli, follow [url="https://lnk.bio/digitalesinteractive"]DigiTales' social channels[/url]! If you have any questions, just leave them right under this post or in the community forum.[/p][p]Thank you all very much for your time, and for wishlisting the game here on Steam. We look forward to finally sharing it with you in a few months![/p][p][i]- The folks at Forking Paths & DigiTales[/i][/p]