The team behind web3 social deduction game Castle of Blackwater has published a Post-Summer Update providing the community with info on development progress made during the past few months while giving the playerbase a glimpse of what’s next in store before the Beam-powered game officially launches on Steam in Q1 2025. The latest build on HyperPlay, version 0.5.7, includes all the new features and improvements shared in this update for players to enjoy for free.
What’s New in the Castle of Blackwater Post-Summer Update?
This dev update reveals that the developers have made considerable progress in developing new features and improving the overall experience to make it more ready for its upcoming launch. Throughout the summer, the studio has worked on revamping network architecture and upgrading the user interface while introducing cosmetics, emotes, and new minigames, all of which has been publicly released for anyone to see for themselves.
Completely overhauling the game’s network architecture is referred to in the announcement as being a “major achievement for us this year,” as achieving this milestone has helped in solving significant disconnect issues and input lag. This means that the gameplay experience should be smoother now than ever before, and the lobby will no longer shut down if the host ends up leaving the session.
When it comes to new features, the team has officially introduced cosmetics and emotes to give players a whole new level of customization options for their in-game characters. For a limited time, all cosmetics can be used for free, but that will change at some point in the future once the Cosmetics Shop officially goes live. That store is currently in development, but once it does get released, it will give players the option to shop for a variety of bundles, promotions, cosmetics, and emotes. No ETA given for that, so be sure to make the most out of customizing your character in style in this free period while you still can!
Alongside networking upgrades and new cosmetic features, the studio has also worked on creating 3 new minigames: Maze Runner, Lumberjack, and Musical Flames. All of them are said to give players a “refreshing challenge to the Protector’s endless grind for XP,” adding further gameplay variety by having players use different skills to win in these minigames. As of writing, it looks like Maze Runner is publicly available in the latest version of the game, which is focused on solving a maze that you can play in the Courtyard by finding the minigame in the book of tasks.
Following positive feedback from the community on the bubble chat, the team has worked on making more user interface upgrades that are focused on revamping voting and dead chat systems to be more aligned with the new bubble chat. In the future, you can expect to see UI improvements get made to the home screen and lobby, as those are the areas the team is currently working on enhancing next.
The game’s sound director Matt, who is continuously adjusting and adding new sounds to the game, has recently created a new piece of music called “The Brave and The Bold” that is said to be inspired by the game’s 3 factions, embodying the values of each faction into audible form.
When it comes to marketing, the team has worked hard on posting content on YouTube, Twitch, Reddit, and TikTok, while experimenting with a few ads on the same social media platforms. It seems that all of this work has proven to be a success, as the developers claim that this marketing has led to the game getting more than 10,000 wishlists on Steam, which is quite a feat for any game. Congratulations on making this big milestone!
Last but not least, the game’s logo has been revamped to fit more with the art direction the game has formed over time. It’s hand-drawn by their in-house artist, and you can see the new logo above as the main image of this article, a logo that will be the game’s “brand image for the foreseeable future!”
What’s Planned for the Future of Castle of Blackwater?
According to the update post, the studio will continue their game development pace as during summer, with their current work focused on developing various intricate backend systems such as social features, progression systems, account features, and more, all that will help in delivering a quality gaming experience to make the 2D title properly ready for its upcoming Steam launch.
The official Steam launch for Castle of Blackwater is scheduled for Q1 2025, but you can look forward to seeing the game take part in the February edition of the Steam Next Fest, after which it won’t be long before the game publicly releases as a free to play title. A big marketing campaign is set to take place around launch, featuring strategic game community partnerships, social game ads, and streamer collabs.
