Castle of Blackwater News

This moment is the culmination of 3 years of hard work, passion, and dedication from our incredible development team. Huge thanks and applause to everyone involved, you're the reason this game shines! We are confident you'll enjoy a polished, stable, and thrilling player experience, and we're excited to grow and improve the game alongside our amazing community. 🫂

[h3] 🛠️ Game Development[/h3]

• Sprint & Stamina: Players can now sprint by pressing the left-shift button (customizable). Stamina regenerates when resting; fully depleted stamina triggers delayed regeneration.
  
• Ghostly Daggers: Ghost players can now shoot ghostly daggers at fellow ghosts, causing temporary confusion effects.
  
• Lobby-specific Balancing: Game balancing is now adjusted for lobby size, ensuring smoother gameplay regardless of party size.
  
• Cosmetics Store: Express your style with our newly designed in-game cosmetics store! Cosmetics come in various rarities and can be acquired using Gold or Glyphs—earned through gameplay or purchasable in-store.
  
• Polished Animations & Performance: Character animations have been enhanced, player movement predictions improved, and Sync support added, resulting in smoother, crisper visuals.
  
• Exciting New Cosmetics: Show off with brand-new cosmetic collections, including 11 unique animals, plus Ninja, Samurai, and Plague Doctor outfits.
  
• Stylish Death Animations: Leave the vote with flair using new voted-out animations.
  
• Minigame Hints: Added helpful hints to every minigame, ensuring quicker understanding and maximum fun.
  
• End-of-Game Rewards: Celebrate each match with new animations as you collect XP and Gold.
  
• Finalized Leveling System: Level up to earn rewards, such as Gold and Glyphs, enhancing your progression and gameplay experience.
  
• Private Lobby Enhancements: Lobby codes are now hidden during private matches for smoother streaming and privacy.
  
• Satanic Teammate Indicator: Satanic players now have their names highlighted in red, making teammate identification clearer than ever.
  
• Post-vote Teleport: Players will be teleported to random locations after voting, adding excitement and unpredictability to the gameplay.
  
• Quick Task Changes: Players now receive a random task (easy, medium, or hard) instead of just an easy task.
  

[h3] 🐛 Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Optimized and streamlined game launch sequence for faster loading and fewer errors.
  
• Corrected numerous localization errors.
  
• Fixed cosmetics loading bugs.
  
• Addressed player collider issues preventing unintended map glitches.
  
• Minigames are now properly reset, resolving related gameplay issues.
  
• Resolved login failure bugs.
  
• Dead disconnected players can now be reported properly.
  
• Fixed minimap display bugs.
  
• Addressed freeze issues when minigames intersected with safe zone pop-ups.
  
• Corrected voting round spawning glitches to avoid overlapping players.
  

[h3]📜 Final Note [/h3]
While we've put immense effort into ensuring a polished and bug-free launch, new issues may surface as we welcome more adventurers into the Castle. Rest assured, our team remains active and responsive in Discord, eager to tackle any issues and enhance your experience further. Thank you for your incredible support—we can't wait to see you in-game!

[h3]🚀Launch Day (March 25th)[/h3]

• Multiple communities will be playing together, with a special game night hosted by the team in our Discord.
  
• Top content creators will begin releasing their content.
  
• A 1-2 hour launch stream hosted by our very own Brand Ambassadors @Tinyladyy & @VincentVanHoLM.
  

[h3]🎮Launch Weekend Events (March 28th - 30th)[/h3]
To make this launch unforgettable, we’re rolling out an action-packed weekend:

• 12-hour Streaming Marathon – two back-to-back 6-hour shifts featuring team Q&As, gameplay deep dives, strategy tips, giveaways, and guest appearances.
  
• Live Streaming Recaps – Hourly highlight clips from the marathon, shared across all platforms.
  
• Game Sessions with the Devs – Join us in live matches, interact with the team, and experience the game firsthand.
  
• Launch Weekend UGC Contest – An exciting contest that everyone can participate in to win prizes!
  
• Big-Name Content Creators – Many top creators will be releasing content, and some will make guest appearances in our marathon.
  

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[h3]✨Ongoing Engagement (April & Beyond)[/h3]
We’re committed to keeping the momentum going long after launch:

• UGC Contests – Players can create and share content (screenshots, videos, fan art) for in-game rewards.
  
• Influencer Spotlights – Regular appearances by content creators showcasing gameplay.
  
• Creator Program – A dedicated program to onboard and support content creators.
  
• Community Game Nights – Weekly events to bring players together and welcome new adventurers.
  

[h3]💸Pricing, Launch Discount & Starter Bundle[/h3]
Castle of Blackwater will be priced at $6.99 (which is less than a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks!) ☕️✨

• 🔸Limited-Time Launch Discount – Get 15% off for the first 14 days after launch.
• 🔸Starter Bundle – Everyone who purchases Castle of Blackwater (or redeems a Steam Key) will receive a pack of cosmetics, emotes, and more.
  

[h3]🫂A Launch Built for Our Community[/h3]
We’ve been working tirelessly to deliver an incredible launch that sets Castle of Blackwater up for success. Your passion and support have been invaluable, and we can’t wait to embark on this journey together. Have thoughts, questions, or feedback? Join the community in Discord, your voice helps shape the future of Castle of Blackwater!

On behalf of the entire team, thank you for being part of this adventure. Let’s make this launch unforgettable.❤️

We’re thrilled to announce that our Steam Next Fest launch was a massive success!

Castle of Blackwater is now publicly available on Steam (in demo form) for the first time since our inception, and we couldn’t be more excited! We’re incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made and the amazing community that has formed around the game.

A huge shoutout to the dev team for going the extra mile, and working overtime to ensure the latest stability fixes made it in. And of course, a warm welcome to all new and returning players!

[h2] Game Development [/h2]

• Emote Syncing – Players performing the same emote near each other will now synchronize their animations and audio for a more immersive experience. Dance battles, anyone?
  
• Next Fest Moderation Tools – Players in the demo will see informative pop-ups and UI guides directing them to Discord and the game night schedule. Server access can also be toggled on and off as needed.
  
• Voice Chat Reconnect – If a player’s voice chat disconnects, the system will now attempt to automatically reconnect them after a few seconds. No more ghostly silence!
  
• New Emotes! – Added Magical Broom and Stargazing emotes, among others!
  
• Emote Spawnable Objects – We now support spawnable objects in emotes, meaning you can summon disco balls, instruments, and much more!
  
• New Emote Music – Almost every emote now has sound! More ways to express yourself in the game!
  

• Cancel Emote Button – Players can now cancel an emote so they’re not stuck mid-dance during the voting round.
  

[h2] Bug Fixes [/h2]

• Fixed a few ability-related bugs that caused some powers to stop working.
  
• Fixed multiple player disconnect issues.
  
• Fixed a critical bug where if the host disconnected at the end of the voting round, the game would freeze.
  
• Fixed several bugs related to “Failed to BootStart” errors.
  
• Fixed a spawning orb bug where orbs wouldn’t disappear as expected.
  
• Fixed remaining voice chat issues.
  
• Fixed the 5-day win condition not triggering properly.
  
• Fixed player name length issues causing UI bugs.
  
• Resolved multiple sound issues affecting immersion.
  
• Fixed visual glitches in the Book of Tasks.
  

[h2] Join the Organized Play Sessions! [/h2]
To get the best multiplayer experience, keep an eye on the organized play sessions in our Discord Community! These scheduled game nights maximize your chances of finding full lobbies, so don’t miss out!

Thanks again to everyone for being part of this journey—we can’t wait to see you in-game! ✨

[h3]Dear villagers and all upcoming challengers,[/h3]

We're excited to announce that the Castle of Blackwater demo is now available on Steam. Step into our immersive world by beginning with the in-game tutorial, designed to walk you through the fundamentals of gameplay and help you master the essential controls.

Once you've familiarized yourself with the basics, create or join a lobby to engage in real gameplay experiences. This is your chance to test your skills, explore strategic opportunities, and connect with fellow players in a dynamic environment.

Your input is vital to us. If you have any questions, wish to share feedback, or encounter any bugs, please join our Discord server where an admin is ready to assist you promptly. Your contributions help shape the future of Castle of Blackwater, ensuring an ever-evolving and exciting journey for all.

We look forward to your adventures and feedback in our vibrant community! 🏰

As Steam Next Fest kicks off tomorrow, we're excited to open our doors to players worldwide. Make sure to check all the opening times in our Discord to find the perfect slot for you to play.

The servers will be open for 6 hours each day, with varying opening times to accommodate players from various regions. The brand ambassadors & core team members of Castle of Blackwater will be available on Discord to play with you. This is a great opportunity to play together, ask questions, and share your feedback.💡

While our server times are designed to accommodate players worldwide, we’re aware that some regions may have scheduling mismatches. If there is enough demand and player activity, we’ll gladly accommodate those regions by extending this.

We'll see you tomorrow, in the castle!🏰