Hey folks, I'm Cave, the creator of Spread: Transmission and first, I would like to thank everyone for their massive support during the development of my game! It has been an incredibly long journey, but I am finally ready to share it with the world. I am very grateful for all the new people I got to know and feedback that I received during the Steam Next Fest and the Open Beta event as a whole. As you can tell, I have decided to launch my game into Early Access this August. You can find out more on the [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1926500/Spread_Transmission/]game's store page[/url]. To summarize it for you, [i]Spread: Transmission[/i] was never meant to be a journey that I finish on my own, but rather a journey I finish together with a community. I always get the most inspiration by suggestions and feedback from players, bringing things up and sharing ideas I previously never thought of, helping me create a better game. I am incredibly excited to continue this journey with even more players. [h2]What's next for Spread: Transmission[/h2] With Early Access right around the corner, I have already started working on Prototype 5, which will debut this August. It will feature the game's third additional game mode "Cell Lab" and a built-in level editor, to open up a whole new world of [strike]bugs[/strike] possibilities! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43771763/abf856a5e4fe26168f0afa034f9fce66ab0609dc.gif[/img] Cell Lab introduces special types of cells into the game, which ultimately alter the cell's behavior. I'm most looking forward to the double distance cell which spreads charges further than regular cells, allowing for even more strategic plays and devastating combos. I'm also looking forward to the rotating cell, which may create new connections or block old ones after every activation! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43771763/c5933936de26216d29398b2e68aa4a22fce6e4b1.gif[/img] The level editor will make creating levels far more accessible. It makes sure you are creating a valid, playable map and puts it right into the map menu for you, so you no longer need to manage a folder of maps on your own. There will also be workshop support later down the line, allowing you to share your awesome creations with the world! Other small improvements and additions will also be featured in the upcoming update, like for example the first set of Steam achievements. I am really looking forward to all the new maps and mixes you guys will create once the game hits early access! [b]Changing the scope[/b] I'd also like to take a moment to announce that I'm removing random matchmaking from the game's scope for now. During the Open Beta event I realized, that the game currently does not have the capabilities to support such a feature, there are simply not enough players yet. This doesn't mean there won't be random matchmaking at all or that it's never going to happen, I just don't feel comfortable having it as a major feature of the game while it possibly ends up not getting used or being unusable. Instead - for the time being - I will focus on improving organizing matches by for example adding room codes to the game. It was important to me to make this change to the scope before the game launches into Early Access, as to not leave some players disappointed who were really looking forward to just jump in the game and play with random people. I still hope to bring random matchmaking along with other similar features to [i]Spread: Transmission[/i] at some point in the future. [h2]Extending the Open Beta event[/h2] Lastly, I am extending the Open Beta event for two more weeks, so it will end on the 17th of July. I want everyone to get a chance to try the game with their friends before it is releasing later in August. There will also be an update this week to adjust the in-game event timer, fix some minor bugs and balance the bots' level 0 and 1 difficulty, so it is more suitable for new players. [h2]The journey has just begun...[/h2] There are still so many things planned for Spread: Transmission and I can't wait for everyone to get involved in the development of the game. I hope you are just as excited as I am! As always, if there is anything you'd like to share, you can head over to the [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/1926500/discussions/]Steam forums[/url] or to our [url=https://discord.com/invite/KSVeUsmXDK]Discord server[/url] to reach out. Thanks for everything ːluvː