Greetings friends,

We've got news and progress from the factory this month!

Our printer, Longpack, plans to be finished with the production of Empyreal by the end of October. At that point, all of the game's materials will be printed, though there may still be some assembly steps left to complete.

You can already see that a few of the game materials are finished. These flat sheets will be mounted onto boxes and/or punchboards, then cut to create the game's components.

The next step after production is assembly. Longpack will assemble the first few units of the game, then ship these samples over to us to inspect and approve. These units are called "Factory firsts", and represent exactly what you will receive in the final box.

Usually the factory firsts are perfect (after all, we've reviewed the digital proof already), and this is just a check for final materials and assembly procedures. Occasionally we need some additional padding for shipping protection, or we want to change the order components go into the box for a better 'first unboxing experience'. But it's unlikely there will be any major problems at this point (knock on wood).

Once the factory firsts are approved, the assembly line gets moving in full force, and all games are packed, cartoned, sealed, and put on pallets bound for various destinations around the world.

Grand Chronicle

The last piece of this project is the printing of Grand Chronicle. Longpack produces a lot of artbooks, and so we're lucky to have them producing both projects together for an easy time with logistics. They should start on that production shortly after Empyreal is finished up.

Shipping

We're still in the process of working out the exact shipping plan for the finished project. However, there are rumors that container prices are starting to stabilize a bit. Keep your fingers crossed, and maybe we'll have this thing delivered without any shipping difficulties after all (knock on wood again).

Other news

We are currently in the process of reprinting Bullet♥︎, which sold out earlier this year, alongside Bullet★, a brand new game in the series. Both of those games will be available for pre-order on October 5th. Make sure to reserve your copy on 10/5, and you'll get a download of the Bullet★ soundtrack, as well as Kickstarter-styled international shipping rates from local fulfillment centers!

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That's all the news for this month! I look forward to sharing more progress with you at the end of October, when we should have the factory firsts in hand.

See you then, and Happy Gaming!

- Brad