Hiderum Studios 2026 Roadmap

[p]Good evening, survivors.[/p][p][/p][p]As many of you may already know, our friendly out-of-town neighbors who've been helping our designer, AJ, and AJ's community recently "politely escorted" the mayor of another city back with them to their town. This should also help resolve the problems AJ's community has been facing, which may mean AJ can be back at work sooner than expected. AJ's main health issue hasn't been fully resolved yet, but we expect it to keep improving. For now, it's not significantly affecting game development.[/p][p][/p][p]As we mentioned before, we're being cautious about resuming updates for FFN: EVE and releasing new games, because Steam's content policies have gotten somewhat stricter lately, apparently amid increased pressure from major payment processors. That said, Steam still has a Gore tag. [/p][p][/p][p]The games we make are not pornographic, and they certainly don't promote or endorse child abuse. They also don't promote or endorse kidnapping, captivity, slavery, or treating someone like livestock. Of course, a few of those elements could still appear indirectly as part of the story in future updates or new releases. (Most of our games are adults-only, 18+.) But overall, we don't expect the current situation to be a major obstacle to resuming FFN: EVE updates and releasing new games.[/p][p][/p][p]Above all, AJ is determined to continue working on the FFN Universe, so we plan to gradually resume our activities this year. With that in mind, we'd like to share Hiderum Studios' overall roadmap for 2026.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]January–late April[/p][p]Release the Farewell To Sunshower demo and prepare to participate in the June 2026 Steam Next Fest.[/p][p][/p][p]Inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, this new fantasy RPG set in the afterlife will also feature gore that makes La Tomatina look tame. If Steam approves the demo, it could be a strong sign that we'll be able to resume updates for FFN: EVE as well.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Late April–mid-May[/p][p]Add more languages to The Way Home and do a bit of promotion: Japanese, Italian, Russian, Latin American Spanish, German, Portuguese, French.[/p][p][/p][p]By adding more language support to The Way Home—our second game, which we made quickly and on a whim—we hope it'll help us stay afloat financially (since our finances have taken another hit). At the same time, by giving more people a simple, accessible way to learn about traffic safety, we hope to do our part—even in a small way—to make things a little better.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Mid-May–late December[/p][p]Resume updates for FFN: EVE and prepare for the release of Farewell To Sunshower.[/p][p][/p][p]FFN: EVE will shift to seasonal updates to help us rebuild a healthier development environment and provide better support for survivors. In other words, this marks the start of FFN: EVE's first season.[/p][p][/p][p]Farewell To Sunshower is in the same canon as the FFN Universe. Since we aim for 7,000+ wishlists before launch, we'll continue developing Farewell To Sunshower little by little alongside updates for FFN: EVE. (That said, as launch approaches, we may give FFN: EVE updates a bit less attention.)[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Late December[/p][p]Continue updates for FFN: EVE and release Farewell To Sunshower.[/p][p][/p][p]If everything stays on track, we might even be able to celebrate a modest, low-key third anniversary event for FFN: EVE. We left plenty of room in the schedule with AJ's current health in mind.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]About Setsuka[/p][p]Setsuka was originally going to appear in the opening scene of Farewell To Sunshower as a nameless extra. But we liked her striking looks and charm enough that we decided to bring her into the opening of a weird slasher game instead of FTS. She happily agreed. She's still just a brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but at least she got a name of her own. She even became Rose's best friend.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Setsuka's role in Farewell To Sunshower went to a different extra. Someone who can really sell that specific vibe: the kind of person who doesn't wake up until after noon, can't be bothered to wash the dirty plates crusted with leftovers, and shuffles over to the neighborhood convenience store in whatever windbreaker they threw on. A truly perfect actor for the job.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Following her appearance in FFN: EVE, Setsuka returns to Farewell To Sunshower in a bigger role than before. She has more lines and more to do. We can't share too much just yet, but you'll be able to meet her again in the Farewell To Sunshower demo.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This ran longer than we intended, so here's the core summary:[/p][p][/p][p]To mark the new year, the out-of-town neighbors helping AJ's community "politely escorted" another city's mayor back with them to their town.[/p][p][/p][p]AJ's health is improving, very slowly (maybe).[/p][p][/p][p]A new title we paid $100 to list on Steam years ago is finally set to release.[/p][p][/p][p]The Way Home will be getting support for many more languages.[/p][p][/p][p]We plan to resume updates for FFN: EVE, which have been paused for over a year.[/p][p][/p][p]If we successfully launch the Farewell To Sunshower demo, it would ease censorship concerns around future updates.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Thank you, as always, to everyone who continues to support and love the FFN Universe and its characters. We also make a point of checking out every video and every bit of written content about FFN that we come across online, and we're grateful each time.[/p][p][/p][p]Wishing you good health and nothing but good things ahead.[/p][p][/p][p]Happy New Year,[/p][p]FFN Team[/p]