Last weekend, Gellyberry Studios, the team behind Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore, abruptly announced that it wouldn’t be releasing its planned patch and roadmap thanks to “unfortunate news” that would be affecting the team. A week later, we’ve finally learned what it is: Gellyberry has split with its publisher and taking the game free-to-play.
“After careful consideration and much deliberation, together with our Publisher, Freedom, we have collectively agreed that the best path forward is to allow us independence in the game’s development,” the studio says. “While Freedom has been an invaluable partner to us and helped us through our entire process, we have been unable to deliver the expected quality level that both Freedom and we wanted to achieve, therefore it doesn’t make sense for the relationship to continue with more investment from Freedom Games at this time.”
“[W]e have devised an action plan to ensure the continued development and improvement of the game. Firstly, we will enter an extended test and development phase, allowing us to focus on refining mechanics, adding content, and addressing any existing issues. We are thrilled to announce that we will be removing the subscription requirement and making the game free-to-play (F2P) for all players. Our goal in making the game F2P is to create an inclusive environment where everyone can enjoy the game without any restrictions. Players will have unlimited access while we work tirelessly to improve the overall experience. To facilitate this, we will consolidate all existing characters into a single server. Once we feel significant progress has been made and our initial goals have been achieved, we will proceed with setting up new servers and preparing for a fresh launch. This approach will ensure the game reaches its full potential and provides an enjoyable experience for all.”
The team reminds players that the game is going back to being a “passion project,” though it’s still planning updates – or at least, it will be once one of its core devs has returned from an unelaborated “illness and tragic circumstances within his immediate family.”
Unfortunately, the reviews alone suggest this indie team has a big hole to dig out of once that happens.
