I’ve been thinking recently and wondering: why not make StarMaker Story a paid project? The quality, scope, and depth are far superior to other paid games in the same genre available on Steam or itch.io. It seems to me that if the project were paid, it would generate excellent returns, and along with that, the motivation to further develop this universe and invest more time into it — since it has so much potential. And as shown by previous updates, there’s clearly a point in continuing to support the game, because every update generates incredible buzz. In the long run, this could be a goldmine. So why not do it? Anyway, I really like the project, and I’ll definitely buy the Steam version to support the author.
The main reason Starmaker Story stays free is that it’s not the primary project. Kal’s main priority (and what the rest of the Arvus Games team is focused on) is Roundscape Eclipse, which is the paid title. Starmaker is a solo side project Kal makes in his spare time. It exists to fill the gap while people wait for Roundscape, and it also doubles as a useful sandbox where he can test Unity features and mechanics that might later get carried over into the main game.
Starmaker itself is planned to wrap up in two more content releases (1.9 and 2.0, not counting the Steam version). Throwing money at it right now and bringing extra people onto the team would actually slow things down more than help, because of the onboarding and training time required.
If the Steam release does well, there’s a possibility of a Starmaker spin-off about six months later, but it’s equally possible Kal might decide to revisit an Arenus remake or jump into something completely different instead.
Any proper funded/expanded version of Starmaker would have to wait until Roundscape Eclipse is finished (Act 1 this year, then two more Acts after that). By that point the community (and Kal) might want something else entirely.
It's way too early to speak about spin-offs or future plans when 1.9 isn't even out yet. Spreading rumors and guesses about future updates only causes unnecessary confusion and overhype. At this point, no one even knows the release dates, nor if Kal will continue with the franchise once 2.0 is done, given his expressed interest in returning to his main project
Hello there,
is actual information (except the time frame since we've only advised there will be a break period in which there won't be any side project work, but we don't specify time). There will be a rest period once Starmake is done with the steam release, after this period the next side project will be announced, one of the possibilities is a Starmaker Spin-Off, it wouldn't be with the same cast nor at the same place... so completely different cast and location. Then again, this is only 1 of multiple ideas for a side project.