We are pleased to announce the opening of Elin's store page on Steam! After 3 years of development (almost 7 years if you include prior projects), we are finally one step closer to a public release. I would like to thank all of you who have been following Elin's progress thus far. First, let's talk about the Early Access phase. The first release during this period will be version Alpha, which will be about as complete as the initial stages of Elona's development back in 2006. For those who weren't around back then, this means that version Alpha will be of generally barebones quality compared to the level of polish intended for Elin's full release. Rest assured, I will be hard at work throughout the Early Access phase in order to bring the game's content up to the same point as Elona's in about a year. If you're interested in enjoying the full experience of Elin without spoilers, please note that purchasing the game during Early Access (and especially during earlier stages) isn't something I would currently recommend. Though labeled as "Early Access", it would be more accurate to describe the current game as being a "Paid Alpha" in that buying in will mostly allow players to send bug reports, feedback and further support towards the development of the game as it continues to grow. The initial Alpha version is currently slated for release towards the end of the year (at earliest), after the first few hours of the game have been deemed playable. With that said, a game with the scope of Elin is quite a large scale and long term project for a single developer to undertake. Even with my time being solely dedicated to the game's development, a game with far greater complexity than the original Elona (which itself took almost 5 years to complete following its initial release) is going to take no small amount of time to fully refine. Also, unlike back when I was developing Elona, indie games are now the strongest they've ever been, with faster release cycles and libraries of amazing games to choose from. I've asked myself many times in the past whether or not it would be worth making a game like Elin in an environment like this, given the amount of time and effort required and the niche audience it would be competing for. In the end though, I wanted to give my all into properly pursuing the story of Ylva, the world born from Elona, and although I had to put the game into Early Access for various reasons, I hope you understand that it will still take a long time before it is completed. Of course, I still plan on updating the game even after its completion since I'm ultimately aiming to build a world far larger than the original Elona's ever was. Looking even further forward, I'm also hoping for the opportunity to create the final volume (Part III) of Elona's saga one of these days. Finally, I'd like to thank you all again for your support in this endeavor! - Noa (Special thanks to JellyVermicelli for proofreading this English text)