Why Early Access?

“CALVAR – The Darkest Gate is being developed by a two-person team. The two of us handle nearly every aspect of the game, from gameplay, level design and story to optimization, bug fixing and community support. Because of this, direct communication with our players is an essential part of development.

During our more than six-month-long beta phase, as well as during Steam Next Fest, we saw first-hand how much constructive community feedback can improve the game. We responded directly to feedback on Steam, collected reports through our Discord server and ticket system, and incorporated many of those suggestions into development.

A good example is the game's technical optimization. At one point, the packaged build was around 50 GB in size. Through extensive optimization work, we managed to reduce the current build to approximately 20 GB. Many gameplay, performance and quality improvements were also made directly as a result of feedback from our testers and community.

For a small two-person development team, Early Access is therefore much more than simply releasing the game earlier. It gives us the opportunity to develop CALVAR together with our players. We want to see how people experience our world, where something does not work as intended, which ideas emerge, and which areas can still be improved.

During Early Access, we don't want our community to simply watch development from the outside. We want them to become an active part of the development of CALVAR.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We currently plan for CALVAR – The Darkest Gate to remain in Early Access for approximately one year.

Our current development plan divides this period into four major stages. We plan to release a new content package approximately once per quarter, gradually expanding the game with additional chapters, locations, story content and other improvements.

At the same time, we want to remain flexible enough to respond to community feedback. The exact scope and content of individual updates may therefore change during development.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The full version is planned to contain the complete story of CALVAR – The Darkest Gate, including all planned chapters and areas.

During Early Access, the game will grow step by step. Starting with the Prologue and the chapters already available, we plan to introduce further parts of the story through our individual content packages.

However, the biggest difference is not only the amount of content. Early Access players will be able to experience the development process directly and actively influence it. Feedback, criticism, ideas and suggestions from the community are discussed within our development team and can directly affect the game.

We have already experienced this during our beta phase. Testers streamed the game, provided extensive feedback and contributed their own ideas. In some cases, personal items, concepts and suggestions from members of our community have even found their way into the game.

CALVAR is intended to grow together with its community during Early Access. The full version will ultimately be the result of that development process.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The current Early Access version contains the Prologue, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.

This already allows players to experience a substantial part of the story and enter the world of CALVAR. The narrative gradually moves deeper into the game's psychological horror, with the atmosphere, threats and story becoming increasingly intense as the chapters progress.

Before entering Early Access, the game went through a beta phase lasting more than six months. During this period, we worked together with our testers to identify and fix numerous bugs, technical issues and gameplay problems.

Based on the current state of development, the core systems and currently available progression are stable. CALVAR is still actively being developed, however, so new content, improvements and adjustments may also result in changes to existing areas.

The beta was not only about fixing bugs. Community feedback allowed us to rework existing content, implement new ideas and polish many areas of the game. For a two-person team, reaching the current state of the game would have been significantly more difficult without the support of our community.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Yes. We currently plan to gradually adjust the price as the amount of content in CALVAR increases.

With major content packages and additional chapters, the price may increase accordingly. This means that the price is intended to grow alongside the scope of the game throughout Early Access until it eventually reaches the planned price of the full release.

Players who purchase CALVAR earlier during Early Access will, of course, retain access to the game and receive future updates as part of their existing purchase.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“The community is one of the most important parts of the development of CALVAR – The Darkest Gate.

As a two-person development team, we deliberately want to maintain direct communication with our players. Feedback does not simply disappear into an anonymous database. We personally read criticism, suggestions and ideas and discuss relevant feedback directly within our development team.

Players can reach us through several different channels:

– Through the Steam Community, where we directly respond to feedback and discussions. During Steam Next Fest, we made an effort to personally respond to constructive feedback from players.

– Through our Discord server, which includes a ticket system as well as dedicated channels for feedback, bug reports, ideas, discussions and development updates.

– Through Kickstarter, where supporters receive development updates and can also share their feedback with us.

– We are also planning a dedicated feedback and ticket system on our website. This will allow players to contact us directly through their browser without requiring Discord or Kickstarter.

Players can also communicate directly with us as developers. In addition to our moderator, we are personally active on Discord and regularly read direct messages, tickets and community discussions.

Criticism is especially valuable to us. If players tell us that a puzzle does not work well, an area is confusing, or a gameplay mechanic simply is not enjoyable, we want to understand why. If feedback is confirmed by other players or we agree that something is not working as intended, we discuss it internally and are willing to change or completely redesign that part of the game.

The same applies to great ideas. Suggestions and even personal elements from members of our community have already found their way into CALVAR during the beta.

CALVAR lives through this exchange with its players. That is exactly why Early Access is so important to us. The community will not simply follow the development of the game — it will have the opportunity to actively influence it.”