Indie devs Pahdo Labs announced that all development on Early Access title Starlight Re:Volver has ended, including a new game derived from the anime-style roguelite shooter.
In a post on social media, using the dreaded text on image with the game logo format, Pahdo Labs revealed that their financial backers and advisors have stopped funding on the project due to the game’s reception and playerbase.
Pahdo Labs even attempted to keep the project going by convincing their investors by creating a demo of a new game, Edge Of Divinity. This was positioned so that it “demonstrate lessons learned in game design and market positioning in the quickest and clearest way possible.” But that was not enough.
Thankfully, Pahdo Labs has since transitioned Starlight Re:Volver into a single-player offline title after closing the servers back in December. The demo for Edge Of Divinity, is still available to download on Steam. So nothing is lost to the aether, and anyone can still buy the unfinished game and play the demo of the newer game. But don’t expect the magical girl-inspired roguelites to have a bright future, let alone a future.
Starlight Re:Volver had hype thanks to its amazing, eye-catching aesthetic, leaning into that anime stylings. However, the game was positioned as a live-service multiplayer online-only roguelite, and based on our impressions, the roguelite gameplay was weak.
What’s wild is that, in the same social post announcing the end of Starlight Re:Volver, Pahdo Labs revealed they had raised about $17.5 million USD in funding, with “a little more than half of that total amount” goes towards Starlight Re:Volver. Good on them for paying developer salaries at market rate, but that game was struggling with double-digit player counts for a long time—so of course investors that spent that much money are spooked.
It’s a shame a game that looks this good never found success, but it’s an important tale that games shouldn’t just look good, but also play good, good enough to make people talk about it.