Demo lands on Steam. Players play. The Kickstarter campaign. The push that funds full-time development.
Five years of work goes public. The Steam page goes live with screenshots, trailer, descriptions. The demo drops. The first Discord notification pings. The first review lands. The Kickstarter pitch turns the proof into a runway. Henry leaves the day job. Ironbridge stops being one person and starts being a studio.
The demo lands on Steam with a Coming Soon page. Header capsule, screenshots, trailer, descriptions. Wishlist collection from day one.
// Coming soon page locked. Header capsule, screenshots, trailer, descriptions. Wishlist collection from day one. The page lives quiet in Steamworks until the demo is footage-ready, then goes public.
First weeks after demo lands are about listening. Steam reviews, Discord input, playtester surveys. Iterate based on what players actually do vs what we designed for.
// First weeks live are listening time. Discord, Steam reviews, recorded sessions, surveys. Iterate based on what players actually do, not what we designed for. Telemetry with respect.
Rapid-response month. Crash reports, soft locks, missing tutorials, controller binding edge cases, every loud signal gets a hotfix patch within days, not weeks.
// Rapid-response month. Crash reports, soft locks, missing tutorials, controller binding edge cases, every loud signal gets a hotfix patch within days, not weeks.
Cinematic trailer cut to 'Calm Before The Storm'. Gameplay trailer showing the dollhouse → 3D loop. Press kit. 80 Level submission. Indie communities. Steam Next Fest.
// Cinematic trailer cut to 'Calm Before The Storm'. Gameplay trailer showing the dollhouse → 3D loop. Press kit. 80 Level submission. Indie communities. Steam Next Fest.
Funds full-time development. Henry leaves the day job. Local artists, modellers, designers hired long-term. £200K-300K+ unlocks the full team build.
// Funds full-time development. Henry leaves the day job. Local artists, modellers, designers hired long-term. £200K-300K+ unlocks the full team build.