Before you feast on oysters and chocolate, let's take a moment and review the
year 2016. Tot will also use this occasion to give you a small preview of
2017. Small, because all the details will be in
GAMAKNA!
Hello everyone,
I hope you are doing well and are finalizing your plans to enjoy the end of year holidays and festivities to your heart's content.
First of all, I would like to apologize on one particular score: we promised you more communication and exchanges, and I know that these past few months we haven't exactly kept this promise. The reasons for that are as numerous as the projects we are invested in and handling but, truth be told, there is no excuse.
As such, I am dreadfully sorry about our lack of feedback on some topics, and I hope I can help set things straight, even just a little, with this "provisional" thread.
It's not a Letter to the Community, per se, but it will look a bit like one, from afar, in a fog, in spirit.
I promised you something really great for the end of the year, in replacement of this famous Letter to the Community, and I am sorry to say that it won't be ready before early January. But I swear the waiting will be worth it because it's going to be something never before seen for a studio such as Ankama... OK, maybe I'm overselling it to put some pressure on the team, but it is, for us,
one of the main events of 2017 and I'll talk about it in more detail in a few lines.
As my final words for this little introduction, know that I will also take advantage of the occasion to tell you about what content we have
planned for the various games for 2017. I'd like to stress that though the lines are drawn,
nothing is set in stone yet. So if you'd like to contribute an opinion, please do not hesitate.
GAMAKNA: The interactive magazine
As I said some time ago, we've been working on a new way to communicate with you, something more professional, more efficient, more complete, more regular, more a lot of things.
It bothers me a lot because I wanted for it to
Ankama's "Christmas gift" to its
Ankamians, but the project is so huge that we're running late.
The idea is to work on a virtual
bi-monthly magazine (with the occasional special issue). We have invested in a rather unbelievable solution that will allow us to present to you our concepts and productions using texts, but also videos. Pictures could be fixed, animated, or even interactive... We're just getting started, we're still testing the waters with this project, so please don't expect seeing all that in the first issue. But
as time goes by, we will try things. Maybe we'll even put
little games in it.
The whole deal will be
as playful as it will be informative, and it will be available on
computers,
smartphones, and
tablets. You'll be able to check some
work-in-progress visuals below but in broad strokes, just picture the Dofus Mag', back to life, free and pumped full of information on all Ankama productions.
The special issues will underline current actuality. For instance, we have a
Krosmoz E-Sport special issue planned, as well as a
Krosmaga one.
The great thing about this project is that it frames our relationship with you and in the office everyone is excited (in a good way) about it.
Please note: all visuals are WIP, they are only meant to put pictures on my words.
KROSMOZ 2017: What we're thinking about
E-Sport / Ouginak / 200+ Levels / Server merger / …
Just like every year, we are working on a global theme for all Krosmoz-related games. 2017 will be the year of the "
Brotherhood of the Forgotten", in close relationship with
the third season of WAKFU, the animated series. As such, and be it in DOFUS, WAKFU, KROSMASTER, or KROSMAGA, we'll develop Updates that will talk about this group of characters who have been dwelling in the Krosmoz universe for centuries.
The other, more "functional", thematic that we will explore is that of E-Sport. You've been talking about it for a while now and we will do everything we can to develop this aspect of our games as it should be.
All in all, there are a lot of topics, and all this will be discussed with your feedback directly in the forums for the details.
KROSMOZ WORLD / DOFUS 3:
We've announced that the video of the
DOFUS III conference would be available... I'm sorry to say that our friends at the TGS cannot give it to us (I actually suspect the reason to be "we forgot to record it", so we're avoiding the topic). It's not a big deal, we'll just make another one. About this project, know that I'd very much like to share with you the development process and the decisions we will be making.
With some perspective, and following up on our talks with you, we have decided to use
Unity as the main technology, instead of HTML5 like we used for DOFUS Touch. This will drag us into a longer production time, but it will give us more flexibility on a graphical standpoint. The presentation video of the project will be available in the
first issue of Gamakna and a dedicated forum will open its door to start to share more insights with you.
Please click on the pictures to enlarge them
KROSMAGA
Our studio's latest is doing very well for himself. The baby is healthy, the daddies and mommies are tired but happy. Even though the game is in
Beta, you are already more than
40,000 to have tested it and the crazy part is, we have
15,000 distinct players each day. And since we're on the topic, the very first official Krosmaga tournament will debut in January!
The game will release
in its official version in Q1 2017, on mobile devices with an arena system and its first dungeon. All my thanks to all the alpha-testers (except the ones who keep steamrollering me without the slightest sense of decency).
WAKFUNDING and WAKFU S3
Again, I'd like to thank you all for your overwhelming support during the
Wakfunding.
We're making good progress on the animated series, we have produced 6 or 7 episodes. Maybe I lack perspective, but as animated series go, I think this is
our most impressive work yet. It's gorgeous, simply beautiful, and did I mention gorgeous? Even if the scenarist (that would be me) has only written shitty stuff, at the very least your eyes will get a treat ^^.
And good news, we have obtained our partners' permission to show you the first episodes in
preview showings during a few events. And for the luckiest among you, that will start as soon as
January / February. The animated series have taken a sharp turn into the young adult-adult territory, and we hope you'll like. At any rate, we can't wait to hear back from you. And, on a personal note, I can't wait for our torturers-background-critics to figure out that "
it was all planned".
PRINCESS DRAGON: The top secret project we're not actually talking about
Alright, so... I'm not saying anything, I'm just showing you a pretty picture. It's a film project we're developing "on the side" with JJ, my try-hard friend. After the not-so-resounding success of the DOFUS - Book 1: Julith movie, we've launched the
pre-production on another animated feature. So that we can forget about the depression, the incomprehension, the streams of critics... In short, so that we can move on.
This project is definitely meant for children, with the idea of going through the classic production channels (read: "put our pants down and bend over because we took quite the hit with that first movie" :)). It's a
tale that we've been developing for a few months now and that I'd like to talk to you about, but JJ has forbidden me from showing you more than a single frame. And that beast is not kidding around.
We have won the right to present the concept during the
Cartoon Movie in
March, and we'll tell you more when we here back from there. If you are interested, of course.
Bah. At the very least and while you're waiting, you get
a nice wallpaper out of it.
MEETINGS:
Another very important point in the coming year is our will to meet with you and do stuff. We've been calm on the exhibition shows front these past two years, but we'll go on the road again, with the idea of organizing more
competitive events. We are currently selecting a list of events, and if you can think of something that takes place near you and usually does well, please do not hesitate to
let us know.
In closing:
How about you keep this discussion going on in the forums, so we can gauge what you really want? Don't forget, we need you to agree on
10 topics so we can properly address them.
In any case,
I wish you all very merry holiday festivities.
Krosmozly yours,
Tot
