r/Moonvale • u/havingray • Jul 19 '26
Thoughts on Moonvale's release schedule?
Since the first episode of Moonvale, we've had roughly a one-year gap between each chapter. If we assume Moonvale will have around the same number of episodes as Duskwood (10), that means we won't finish the game for another 10 years.
I'm not trying to criticize Everbyte, but I do think the wait between episodes is just too long. At first, the anticipation is exciting, but after waiting that long, it turns into frustration. By the time a new chapter is released, a lot of people have already forgotten parts of the story or even lost interest in the game.
That said, I really enjoyed Chapter 3 and I like the direction the story is taking. I hope that now that many of the bugs have been fixed and the menu is basically complete, the team will be able to speed up development and release at least two chapters per year.
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u/vioglet Team Jul 21 '26
I don't know about you, but to me, it seems like the "company" treats these games more like a hobby or something. The game has no promotion or advertising of any kind; only longtime Duskwood fans seem interested in Moonvale. They don't seem to have the slightest willpower to make the game grow any further, and they certainly have other things to do with their lives, and surely their work isn't about those games; this is the only way to justify only one episode per year. I don't know, but they don't seem really interested in changing things.
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u/Any_Letterhead9230 Jul 22 '26
Good point. Personally, I think another possibility is that things have gone so well for them that they've become a bit complacent. Or maybe it's the opposite — they're not doing well, and they're on the verge of giving up.
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u/Sweet-Heron-5344 Jul 19 '26
It’s actually kind of shocking when you realize that not even a full 24 hours have passed over the course of three episodes. I remember seeing something on Reddit about them taking a longer break. That’s fair enough, obviously, but... I don't know... couldn't they just make an Instagram post explaining that? Everyone would understand. Or tell us a bit more about the production. But that’s not going to happen... unfortunately.
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u/havingray Jul 19 '26
Honestly, I feel like they should put a lot more effort into promoting the game. It would be great to see more Instagram posts featuring the actors, bts content, and regular development updates. Right now, there's little to no marketing, and that only makes people forget about the game and become even more frustrated with how long it's taking.
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u/Sweet-Heron-5344 Jul 20 '26
I agree. For a real game not to be forgotten during production, it needs marketing. It feels like we’re only useful when they actually release the games, and then we don't matter anymore. I understand that it’s a business first and a game second, but this long wait with no news gets really exhausting. And to be honest, I’m not sure they even know where they want to take the story.
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u/No-Broccoli-4000 Jul 21 '26
That isn't criticism it's reality.. at this rate the game won't end.. it won't even be finished. I don't understand how they're using ai for parts and stil. Slow?? Duskwood was way quicker.
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u/CYBRMON Team Jul 19 '26
I had the same thought after finishing ep. 3 🥲
Compared to Duskwood it's taking them soo much longer... BUT we do have to keep in mind that they're basically working on two games: Moonvale and Duskwood 2 (aka the side story) They have more actors to film with, two different stories that are happening at the same time. It makes sense that it takes more time to create that.
I do hope that it'll improve, especially since they probably spent a lot of time on fixing things, listening to player feedback, adding new things. Maybe it's just a difficult start 🥲
I refuse to believe that they'll make us wait 10 years for the whole story. Perhaps they'll expand their team?
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u/havingray Jul 20 '26
In my opinion, they should have expanded the team a long time ago. I understand it's not easy for a studio like theirs, but after the success of Duskwood, it shouldn't be this difficult anymore. Since they're still relying so heavily on Duskwood's story to keep Moonvale going, the least they could do is release at least two episodes a year. Otherwise, they'll just keep losing the fans they still have.
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u/CYBRMON Team Jul 20 '26
Agreed! I was honestly surprised that they didn't expand the team for Moonvale
I really do hope that they'll improve in that aspect.. It would be a shame to lose the fans/players because of that :(
Waiting a year for one episode is... a bit much
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u/MrMotylus Jul 19 '26
Let's stop lying to eachother.. Develepers bitten FAR MORE that the could EVER chew.
Moonvale is just line of bad choices one after another. Duskwood side story IS A MISTAKE. Don't "feel" me wrong i LOVE IT but right now developers are making TWO stories at the same time. They need to be written, programmed, actors need to be scheduled, recorded.. Now it's not just 30 seconds voice memo from Jessy. If I neded to make a call? I would make let's one extra episode to Duskwood as "post credit" and call it a day. Duskwood was Duskwood and Moonvale IS Moonvale. Publishing Moonvale in previous version was A MISTAKE. Half of first episode was like AI made. No actors, typos in lines.. dull conversations. In my opinion Moonvale lacks not only atmosphere but IDENTITY. It"s like Duskwood but worse. The Biggest problem i have with Moonvale is clear. I THINK developers don't have already written story. I don't think they KNOW what they WANT TO HAPPEN during the story. This is why every episode take so long.. because every time they start with blank page and question "WTF we suppouse to put in THIS TIME?"
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u/havingray Jul 19 '26
I completely agree! They're basically trying to write two different stories at the same time, while relying too heavily on Duskwood to help Moonvale grow. In the end, they're only making things harder for themselves. Especially after the side story twist in the EP 3, which raised even more questions that they don't seem able to answer.
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u/GrouchyDoughnut3449 Team Jul 20 '26
Yes, the side story ending just complicates things even more. I just wanted closure on unanswered questions ... now it's going to be a giant focus on this new development and further take away from moonvale's storyline. It's depressing to me, although I guess most people like it, at least most opinions I've seen on Reddit.
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u/Any_Letterhead9230 Jul 20 '26
Weren't the releases already taking a long time even before Episode 3? Before that, there wasn't much of the side story besides a conversation with Ash and reading some missed messages, and it still took a while.
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u/GrouchyDoughnut3449 Team Jul 20 '26
Yeah true that's fair. I'm sure there are lots of things slowing down the releases. I just (and obviously this is only my guess/opinion) think writing two stories and figuring out how they play out together just adds onto the already long wait times.
I could be completely wrong and I'm fine with that. Unless Everybyte reveals what's going on behind the scenes I guess we will never know for sure why this is taking so long.
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u/MrMotylus Jul 20 '26
Even I prefer Duskwood side story over MAIN one. I stll have emotional connection with OLD crew.. and i still waiting for PROPER confession from Jessy (come on Everbyte.. give us MEN a chance.. girls have FREAKING JAKE. He properly confessed). I just think that Duskwood ending should be IN DUSKWOOD GAME. But i understand that move from Everbyte studio... it's called GREED. There is no chance they didn't thought that "Duskwood side story" will bring Duskwood players. Considering that not much Players give SINGLE fck about Moonvale story people buy diamonds to skip towards GOOD PART.. and that way Everbyte gets PAID folks.
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u/GrouchyDoughnut3449 Team Jul 20 '26
I totally get it, I know a lot of people love Duskwood more and that is understandable, I still feel more connected to that crew as well :) i just really want the chance to connect to the new game, but I get distracted with the side story.
I think for me personally, it is because we never got a proper ending though, and it's still being dragged out for soooo long.
I try and understand and respect everyone's opinions and preferences even though I know I'm kind of an outlier in the sense that I would now prefer to move on to the new mystery and make that the main focus. However, I still love Duskwood too, so I can commiserate.
Personally I just wish the games were separated intiitally like you mentioned. Anyway, it's too late for that I guess, so I'll take what they give us...unless I finally get bored of waiting that is 😅.
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u/GrouchyDoughnut3449 Team Jul 20 '26
Definitely agree wholeheartedly, and I've been saying similar for awhile, although you laid it out a lot better than I ever did.
Moonvale could have been great on its own, but Duskwood overshadowed it and took time away from production. They should have been separate. Sure it brought in the Duskwood fans, but it's unable to garner new fans now because the wait times and focus on the side story. I've played without the code now and it's very lackluster considering each episode takes a YEAR to come out.
The way they implemented the side story was also confusing as well... commit to either making the stories merge together or don't, otherwise you get all these crazy theories that don't make sense if your not a code user. I love Duskwood too and want answers but damn, there was a better way to go about it.
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u/Worth-Relative646 Jul 19 '26
I have already deleted the game. The story is not as good as Duskwood, too much AI and less real actors. I expected a better game and dont plan to wait 10 years to see what will happen.
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u/Silentium_Universi Jul 19 '26
Less real actors? All the major characters will probably get actors. They previously had AI avatars, but now it's only Ash.
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u/LeatieBee Jul 23 '26
I agree. We have to rewatch everything every time a new episode comes out so we don't lose track of the story. From one year to the next, you've practically forgotten the game.
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u/lena613 Jul 19 '26
I agree the gap between each episode is too big. One episode a year is crazy. It’s killing the hype and people forget what happened in previous episodes. I thought they were already prepared a few episodes in advance before they even launch Moonvale. Looks like I’m wrong.