Vaudeville News

[h3]The time has come![/h3][p]Vaudeville is leaving Early Access and gets its official release today, with a 35% launch discount.[/p][p]It has been two and a half years since Vaudeville first arrived as an Early Access title. Back then it was an overambitious solo project, and none of us expected the reaction it got. Seeing some of the biggest content creators in the world play it took us completely by surprise.[/p][p]Since then we have worked hard on it and gone through a real rollercoaster. All of that eventually pushed us to build our own offline version of the AI tech at the core of the game. Conversational AI, speech recognition and text-to-speech now run locally. No internet needed.[/p][p]We have also put a lot of effort into removing AI-generated art from the game. We believe that AI as a game mechanic can improve the experience, but it cannot replace real artists when it comes to visuals, music or storytelling. When we began this project, generative AI was still new and its dream-like images felt perfect for the mood of Vaudeville. Now that they are everywhere, they no longer create that same atmosphere. There may still be small traces left here and there, but our plan for future development is to go fully AI-free in the art, aside from the real-time conversations that define the game.[/p][p]This is not the end of Vaudeville. It is just the beginning. As soon as we can put the heavy technical work behind us, we will focus on creating new content for the game.[/p][p][/p][p]Here is what we have added since the original Early Access release:[/p]

• [p]New 3D environments[/p]
• [p]A new character (the Librarian)[/p]
• [p]A story mode with location unlocks[/p]
• [p]Offline AI that works without internet, protects your privacy and keeps the game alive forever[/p]
• [p]Better AI prompts[/p]
• [p]Twelve language translations for the legacy online version[/p]
• [p]A more polished interface[/p]
• [p]A Linux and SteamOS version (Steam Deck Verified)[/p]
• [p]Full gamepad support[/p]
• [p]Improved accessibility[/p]
• [p]Achievements and community items[/p]

[p][/p][p]Temporary limits in the new version:[/p]

• [p]No multi-language support yet. This is still in development for the offline version and has no set timeline. Other languages remain available in the legacy version[/p]
• [p]Steam Deck performance is still being tuned[/p]
• [p]The game is very stable according to our tests, but performance may vary depending on your machine[/p][p][/p]

[p]The legacy version will remain available through the Steam beta channel for non-English speakers and for low-end hardware. It will be discontinued only once multi-language support has been added to the official release.[/p]

We are happy to announce that Eye of the Summoner, a unique dark fantasy tower defense game, will launch on Steam for Windows, Linux, and Steam Deck on May 16, 2025.



Originally created by Bumblebee Studios during Ludum Dare 55, Eye of the Summoner has grown into a full-featured game thanks to strong community support. Players take on the role of the Eye, a mysterious force bound to a cursed tower, summoning dark minions to fend off waves of heroic human invaders. The game blends strategy and action as players rotate the tower to direct their summons, select upgrade cards between waves, and adapt to an ever-growing onslaught of enemies.

Eye of the Summoner offers:

• Endless wave-based survival with increasing difficulty
  
• Six summonable minion types with upgradeable stats and abilities
  
• Steam achievements, cloud saves, global leaderboards, and full controller support
  
• Full compatibility with Windows, Linux, and Steam Deck
  

The game will be released at a price of $4.99 USD, with a 25% launch discount during its first two weeks. It is launching as a complete product, not in Early Access, and the developers plan to continue adding content and features if the game receives a strong response from the community.

Hi Vaudevillans!

We’ve been silent for a while, which led some to speculate that Vaudeville was dead. But we’re happy to tell you that is not the case at all. As you know, we are a small team, and when we’re hard at work, we don’t have much time for chit-chat. We prefer to focus on delivering results rather than making promises. So, finally, we’re back with an announcement, and what an announcement it is!

As you may remember, about 15 months ago, we at Bumblebee Studios created a sensation by launching Vaudeville, the first detective game with AI-driven characters. To achieve this, we used a third-party online service called Inworld, which has been great. We’ve had a good collaboration with them and are satisfied with the results so far. However, there are downsides to relying on a third-party tool: high service costs, the need for an internet connection, the risk of outages or sudden discontinuation, and, most importantly, the fact that the service is like a black box to us, unpredictable and impossible to fully customize to our needs.

Now, brace yourselves, because we’re breaking new ground again! Today, we are thrilled to announce the availability of our very own offline beta version of Vaudeville, built with LLMs, text-to-speech, and speech recognition models, all fine-tuned, prompted, and implemented to run locally by us.

The most immediate benefit you'll notice is that you no longer need an internet connection to play the game. None of your in-game conversations with characters will ever leave your device, ensuring even stronger privacy. With this innovation, we are building a better and more reliable Vaudeville. But the best part is yet to come: in the long term, this will allow us to develop more advanced features, create new functionalities tailored to our game design needs, and introduce fresh stories—not only in the Vaudeville and detective genres but also in entire new universes!

As of now, the new offline version of the game is available in the beta channel on Steam, ready for testing and feedback. The current online version will continue to run in the main channel for some time until we’re fully satisfied and ready to promote the offline version to the top spot. To try it out, simply right-click on your game, select Properties, switch to the Beta tab, and choose "Beta" from the dropdown.

We’re still optimizing the game, both in terms of gameplay and performance. Running LLMs locally can be quite demanding on your GPU, and we’re working to improve that. During this phase, our goal is to replicate the same experience offline that the online version provided. Expect bugs, strange character behavior, long loading times, and possible crashes on some systems. Once we’ve ironed out these issues, we’ll move on to the second phase: enhancing the game even further.

We hope you’re as excited about this development as we are and that you appreciate our commitment to growing Vaudeville. Stay tuned, there might be more big news coming soon!

Cheers!

Bumblebee Studios



PS: Only the Windows version has been tested so far. We know for sure that the game crashes regularly on the Steam Deck an we are working on that.
PPS: Give us your feedback and report your bugs in the ⁠vaudeville-beta channel. Thank you!

Today, we are happy to introduce Eye of the Summoner as our contribution to Steam Next Fest: June 2024. If you played this game during Ludum Dare 55 Game Jam, you will see how far we have come with this new milestone. If you did not, you now have the chance to start following us on this exciting adventure.

What we are showcasing today is an early alpha version of this auto-battler tower defense game, where YOU are the tower. The game is far from complete, but we wanted to offer a sneak peek of what is to come. In the final version of Eye of the Summoner, there will be more units with different skills, permanent skill unlocks as in every respectable roguelike, improved sound and video effects, full support for game controllers and the Steam Deck, and, later, local and online multiplayer. We are also continuously working on testing and balancing to make the experience as rewarding and fun as possible.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We believe that Eye of the Summoner is the perfect game to challenge yourselves, your friends, and strangers on the leaderboards to be the best at repelling the hordes of knights threatening the tower. We are confident that streamers will enjoy showing off their skills and challenging their audiences to beat their high scores, even more so when all the features are in place.

Eye of the Summoner is available on PC, Linux and Steam Deck at the moment.

The free demo is publicly available on Steam now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2953340

If you are a member of the press or a content creator, you can request a key on:

• Keymailer: https://www.keymailer.co/g/games/f2a3034c
  
• Lurkit: https://www.lurkit.com/campaigns/eye-of-the-summoner
  
• Email: [email protected]
  

Hey Vaudeville Community!

We’ve got some thrilling news and updates to share with you all today.

Vaudeville Enhancements!
We’re always looking to improve your experience, and in our latest update, we’ve made two major changes:
Improved Voice Acting: We’ve upgraded the voices of our beloved characters with the latest generation voice tech, making them sound more realistic and engaging!
Relaxed Content Filters: We’ve loosened the content restrictions, allowing for more detailed discussions about the game's darker themes. No more awkward "I don’t feel comfortable talking about this" moments!
We are committed to delivering a fantastic final version of the story, ending the early access period with a bang. This means taking a bit more time to perfect it, but we promise it will be worth the wait!