Publisher Flyhigh Works and both developers Skipmore and Kan-Kikuchi have announced the initial release window for Picontier.
The farming-adventure game is launching sometime before the end of this year, for Windows PC (via Steam Early Access). The game will include Japanese, English, and Simplified Chinese language options.
Here’s a new trailer:
Here’s a rundown on the game:
From Seigei Kou, CEO of Flyhigh Works:
Thank you all for your support.
I’m Seigei Kou, the CEO of Flyhigh Works, and I’m pleased to announce release plans for Picontier, a ‘slow life’ RPG and story experience.
Picontier will make its debut as an ‘Early Access’ title on Steam, and we are planning to deliver it by the end of 2020.
It’s been a long time since we first announced Picontier for Steam and Nintendo Switch, but we are pleased to now confirm the beginning of its journey with you, the players. We hope that, after the wait, you will enjoy the game.
This will be our first time utilising Early Access on Steam, so I would like to explain why we are doing this and to share future plans.
Picontier has been created and developed by Skipmore and Kan Kikuchi. As a result of our efforts to ensure the game reaches its full potential, the project became bigger than I originally envisioned.
By using Early Access we can allow eager players to try the game, and also use their feedback to make more improvements; this allows us to gain the opinions of more gamers than within our own small team. The goal is simple – “get more people to play, and that will lead to better results”.
Skipmore and Kan Kikuchi have put a lot of effort into this project. As the company in charge of publishing, we at Flyhigh Works wish to proceed with caution and ensure that when the game is complete and utilises feedback from Early Access, it will truly be the best ‘Picontier’ that is possible.
We will expand the scope of the game in stages, utilising the Early Access approach; feedback from fans will be highly valued. I would like to ensure that the real completion of the project means that it has those vital final touches to ensure its quality.
By the way, when I say ‘Early Access’, some may ask if this means it will be an unfinished game when released this way. Please be assured that the game will be 90% complete as far as gameplay and quality is concerned (i.e. I won’t be making it available in ‘Early Access’ until it is ready and enjoyable to play).
However, ‘Early Access’ at launch will be less than 90% of the complete game’s story and world content, so that is an important distinction. We will be adding content as we open up the scope of play during this initial period.
To summarise, we’ll be taking feedback from our Early Access users, and will use that to reach true “completion” and bring it to all game fans.
I would like to outline the planned procedure for Early Access, which will incorporate four specific updates, concluding with the full release – please see below.
Early Access Launch:
- Interaction with residents (up to a favorability / bond rating of 3)
- Crafting – Cooking with ingredients
- Fighting enemies
- Raising livestock and farm work in the field
1st Update (next time):
- New main quests
- Increase potential for resident favorability / bond rating to 5
- Add a new map
- Add mining
- Add a raft
- Add a new animal to livestock
- Add a house extension, etc.
2nd Update:
- Main quests and new maps added.
- Other new elements will be added.
3rd Update:
- Main quests and new maps added.
- Other new elements will be added.
4th Update:
- Official release
Those of you that will play the Early Access version of the game will be invited to share feedback, and the developers will then decide on changes to be made to the game. Players will also be welcome to share on social media such as twitter to our official account @Picontier, or with #Picontier.
We would also be very happy to receive your comments and opinions through the “Community Hub” and “Review” functions on Steam.
Finally, I would like to apologise for the delays with Picontier. If I were to compare this project to mountain climbing, this would be the 9th Station.
With your help, we hope to reach the summit.
Thank you for your continued support of Flyhigh Works.
Flyhigh Works
CEO
Seigei Kou