The public demo for Sanctuary: Shattered Sun isn’t launching yet. It’s been delayed. If you’ve been following the project for a while, that probably won’t come as a huge shock, but it’s still worth going over why it’s happening and what it means for the game.
The short version: the demo is designed as a showcase for the entire game. It introduces the setting, the factions, the core mechanics, and the progression system. All of that happens inside one mission built to impress both new players and RTS veterans.
The mission is built to do several things at once. It teaches the gameplay systems, introduces the lore, explains what Sanctuary is and why the factions are fighting for it, and gives players a real sense of progression. It starts small and ramps up. It includes voice acting, cinematics, and a built-in help system. There’s even discussion around translating it, since only around 30 percent of Steam users speak English as a first language. All of this is being done by a team of just ten full-time and four part-time developers. On other games of this scale, there might be three hundred people.
The current plan is to launch the demo on Steam at the same time the Kickstarter goes live. That mission will be free. The Kickstarter campaign page is already written and approved. The numbers are strong, with over 7,000 users signed up for launch notifications. But the campaign itself is tied directly to the demo. It’s the demo that will convince people to back the game.
The entire purpose of the demo is converting interest into pledges. The campaign itself is tied directly to the demo. It’s the demo that will convince people to back the game. If it feels incomplete or unfinished, support will drop, funding will fall short, and there will be limits to what the final game can become. A better demo leads to more satisfied players, more Kickstarter sign ups, more pledges, more stretch goals, and a better game for everyone.
For those concerned that the delay is due to funding issues, it isn’t. The project is stable, the team is still working at full capacity, and there’s no cashflow problem behind the scenes. This decision is entirely about quality. If there were funding issues the Kickstarter launch would be the way to mitigate those problems. That it isn’t launching should be seen as an indicator of just how healthy Sanctuary is right now.
There is already a survival build available through Patreon for those who want to support the game right now. That version is playable and updated regularly. It doesn’t include the campaign mission, but it does offer a look at the state of the game and includes working systems and units. Anyone who wants to get involved early and help support the project can jump in there.
The full mission will be released later. It will be free on Steam, fully promoted, and built to represent everything the game is trying to deliver. But it isn’t ready yet. Time is the trade-off.
