2022 was a biggy for Superstring and so we thought we’d collate the highlights from the previous 12 months as a tee up of sorts for the year ahead; which is tracking towards even bigger things.
Here’s Superstring's 2022 Year In Review…
UKGF Funding
Superstring hit the ground running in 2022, with Q1 seeing the confirmation and announcement of UKGF funding for the studio. This allowed us to deliver Acolyte (more on this below!) to its full original scope without having to compromise on features or quality. This funding will have knock on effects that extend well past Acolyte, and has put us on a far more stable path as we pursue future projects.
Acolyte
2022 largely revolved around the release of our second game: Acolyte.
Acolyte - which released in June - is an ambitious narrative ARG detective game that gives players their own digital assistant. The game uses natural language input allowing player to converse naturally and organically with their Acolyte to expose a corporate conspiracy. No binary dialogue options in sight.
Acolyte was our first self-published title, and our most commercially successful release to date.
Acolyte: The Voice Within
In October, we then released the first major update to Acolyte in the form of The Voice Within, which introduced new features and functionality alongside a TTS (text-to-speech) module, meaning the game is now fully voiced from start to finish.
The TTS melds with the game's Natural Language Input to offer dynamic voice-over, bringing your Acolyte to life through spoken word. Here, we've partnered with ReadSpeaker to give Ana her voice, which not only benefits the narrative of the game, but also introduces an important layer of accessibility that was missing before now.
Check out the trailer here:
Conundra...
We've been teasing Conundra for some time now; a small project between projects that offers an altogether different sort of puzzling experience. Conundra builds on some of the ideas explored in Acolyte, but focuses them in a focused, very streamlined format.
You'll be seeing more on this one very soon...
Game #3 Prototype!
With the Acolyte era now over, the back-end of this year has been dedicated to something new. We (still) don't have anything to share just yet, but the prototype for our third - and by far biggest - game to date is nearing completion, with 2023 seeing the game enter full production. Superstring has some lofty ambitions around this new title, which sees another genre-pivot and an ambitious fusion of themes and systems.
More on game 3 next year...
...and that about wraps it up!
2022 was indeed a busy one, but 2023 will be busier, bigger and bolder. We hope you stick around to see where we take things next.
Huge thanks, and happy holidays,
Jamin & The Superstring Team