Today's announcement that The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ is live on Steam was a bit premature, because at this particular moment it is actually not live at all. But it's coming, any minute now, possibly by the time you read this, and creator Edmund McMillen said in a message that while the Afterbirth expansion will "close the book on a five-year journey" that began as just a fun Flash project with a friend, it also marks a new beginning for the game. 

"I never had any idea Isaac would become what it has, this little monster has consumed my brain for what feels like a lifetime and I'm at a point now where I can be happy with officially finishing the story and calling the Isaac project done," he wrote. "But as sad as that may sound to some, this is really just the start of things to come. AB+ started as just a mini DLC of mod tools, but slowly ballooned into another game expansion with a bunch more added content… But still at its core the whole point of AB+ was to hand the game off to the community, who at this point knows the game better than i do." 

McMillen said that going forward, the game will get monthly "booster pack" updates that will incorporate the best user-made content into the official game, a plan he unveiled back in November. Mod makers don't have to submit their work for consideration—"You can honestly do whatever the hell you wanna do," McMillen wrote—but for the benefit of those who do, he also provided a list of basic guidelines for the content he's looking for, including theme and design tips, ideas about enemies, bosses, and challenges.

Getting your work to him will be a bit of a crapshoot at first: He suggested tweeting a gif or video of your mod in action (but don't overdo it), or maybe posting something on Reddit. "It's a bit hamfisted," he admitted, "but as the months roll by I'm sure we will find a smooth way to exchange ideas and I'll keep updating the blog with new info as the year unfolds." 

The Afterbirth+ announcement post also warned that "like any launch there is a good chance that we missed some bugs and players may experience some issues that our testers might have missed." The developers will continue to work on over the launch week, and there may be some nerfing too, if it proves necessary. 

The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ isn't going to make it out before the end of the year, but it will come awfully close. Developer Edmund McMillen announced today that the game will debut on Steam on January 3 with a full suite of mod tools, new items, trinkets, and pickups, a new final chapter, plus a new final boss, playable character, "greedier" greed mode, and more. 

"So basically what you are looking at is a slightly smaller afterbirth expansion but with mod tools that potentially make it 20 times larger!" McMillen wrote. "I'm honestly quite excited about what the community will end up making and even more excited to make some of it totally official in Isaac!" 

McMillen said in November that he'd be keeping an eye on the Binding of Isaac mod scene, and that he'd be picking particularly good ones for official inclusion in the game. "I'm positive that there are a ton of cool ideas out there that are so left field that they MUST be added to the main game," he said at the time. 

The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ will go for $10 on Steam, but will be available for a week after launch for $6.66. Until then, enjoy this devilish new teaser.

It's been almost a full year since The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ was announced for release sometime in 2016. And as of today it looks like that date is going to hold: A new post at bindingofisaac.com reveals more about the expansion, which will include new items, enemies, bosses, challenges achievements, and "in-depth mod tools," and says it will be out within the next 60 days hopefully before the end of the year.

"We are currently in testing and finalizing achievements, but are running into some minor release overlap issues with the holiday rush," Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen wrote. "What i can say is AB+ will release in the next 60 days on steam the goal has always been to release at the very end of the year and [we] are still shooting for it but there are some things that are a bit out of our control."

Following the release of the expansion, McMillen said he'll be keeping an eye on the mod scene on Reddit, and will every so often select a favorite for official inclusion in the game. "This is a feature im really looking foward to, i feel like ive personally scraped the barrel when it comes to item design and feel quite depleted, but im positive that there are a ton of cool ideas out there that are so left field that they MUST be added to the main game," he wrote. "So once this thing releases, its time to prove your worth!"

He also touched on the status of the other projects he has in the works, The Legend of Bumbo and 0uroboros. Legend of Bumbo "has been a hard nut to crack" but is now "an officially fun and very interesting game," which means it will be getting its own dev blog within the next few weeks. As for 0uroboros, "sadly there isn t much new to show gameplay wise but im sure we will have some fun news to share in a month or so."

We should have known that whatever The Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen was working on next, he wouldn't do something so mundane as telling us what it is. McMillen enjoys making us dance like puppets, so the teaser for his new project, The Legend of Bum-bo, raises more questions than it answers.

The Legend of Bum-bo is another collaboration with James Id, who directed all the Binding of Isaac trailers. This time, he'll be handling the programming and 3D, while Matthias Bossi and Jon Evans will return for the audio.

The description of Bum-bo as "a turn based puzzle RPG type thingy that's randomly generated" poses the following head-scratchers: why is a giant poo a key feature of the logo? Why does it also feature a Binding of Isaac coin? And of course, "but why is this on the isaac blog!? what does this have to do with isaac!? when isaac!? isaac? isaac! why!?".

All of that we have to wait for, or figure out from the manifold ARGs that are probably embedded in the Tumblr post.

The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth caused quite a stir when it came out in October. It wasn't the DLC itself that caused the uproar, though, but rather the complex ARG it kicked off, which began with what appeared to be a bug that left promised elements of the game inaccessible. Hopefully the launch of the "mini DLC" tentatively entitled Afterbirth+ will go a little more smoothly, or at least make fewer people angry when it rolls out.

And yes, Afterbirth+ is actually something that will exist sometime next year. Tyrone Rodriguez of Nicalis made the announcement on the Binding of Isaac blog, although the details were heavily redacted by "Evil Edmund," aka Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen.

"Afterbirth will have a bunch of new ***** ********, including a couple of new bosses, a few transformations and new items/trinkets. How many? That s a ****** you ll find out on *******," he wrote. "Oh, also, ***** ***** **** and maybe something else related to ***** ****. There s also a *** ****** I m leaving out until a later time so you can wonder and conjecture/speculate ***** ****."

Got that? Afterbirth+ will also include a Bestiary that will provide detailed information about enemies you've encountered, as well as support for mods, which Rodriguez said is the "big news" in the announcement, and a "user-friendlier" room editor, mod editor, and Lua support.

"It s a lot of changes to the game and I m really excited to see what all of you make. Thanks for sticking around and being patient while we continue to improve the game," he wrote. "Keep sending your good/bad feedback. We are listening, even if you think we aren t."

A launch date more precise than "next year" was not mentioned.

When it comes to expansions, The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth is a monster: according to the game's official website it has more than 100 hours of extra content. That includes a new 'Greed Mode', daily runs, 10 new challenges, 1000+ new rooms and more than 100 new items, among other things.

It won't be long before it's available, either: according to that trailer above, the expansion will release October 30. "Trust me when I say this DLC makes Rebirth feel like a completely new game," says the announcement. "It's rare that I design a game that I really look forward to play testing daily."

The expansion will cost US$9.99. Preorder info is due next week, and will apparently involve substantial discounts.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth will feature daily runs with leaderboards, co-creator Edmund McMillen has announced, allowing players to compete on a more-or-less level playing field for the best score on the internet. Yes, all of it.

"Every day the game will generate a specific seed that will be generated the same for everyone (minus locked things) and you can now compete against the internet for best score in the run!" McMillen explained. "This feature was one of my favorites in Spelunky and i always wanted to do it in Isaac… But how do you score a game like Isaac? More on that in a later post."

The "minus locked things" comment refers to the fact that some players will have unlocked more powerful items than others, giving them a potentially significant leg up on everyone else. Hey, life's tough—and McMillen's promise of more information about how the game will be scored suggests he has a plan for redressing imbalances, at least partially.

The post also revealed a pair of new items for the game: Dead Eye, "a fan suggested item that raises damage with each consecutive hit and causes your tears to become red glowing balls of death if you play well," and Continuum, which turns your eyes purple and causes your tears to "loop back" when they're shot off the screen.

If you're a Binding of Isaac player, you've probably already moved on to Rebirth by now, the recent, spritely remake that adds new content and performs way better, on account of it not being made in Flash. Well now you have a reason to return to the original game. Florian Himsl—co-developer of the original version—has just released his promised update that adds a new Hard mode, "eternal" enemies, and makes bug fixes and other changes to the game. The free update is on Steam now, and you'll need the Wrath of the Lamb expansion to play it.

The above video details some of the changes, which should make for a nice challenge for Isaac pros.

The Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen has answered a huge selection of questions surrounding his and Nicalis's remake project The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Taking the form of a Q&A between McMillen and a (hopefully fictional) foul-mouthed and belligerent question-asker, he reveals how the game will contain double the content of the original, how the developers are planning to add shared seeds, and how - typically - it will be "done when it's done".

Not all of it is new, but it's a nice consolidation and clarification of info surrounding the top-down Zelda-inspired roguelike. Rebirth's biggest improvement is that it isn't being made in Flash, which - as players of the original will be pleased to hear - will mean less bugs, quirks and inexplicable slowdown. In fact, responding to why Rebirth is being made, McMillen explains that a second expansion had been planned, but that the limitations of Flash meant it wasn't possible.

Of the new info revealed about the game, McMillen explains that no Early Access-style release is planned because, "Rebirth is a game loaded with secrets and fun stuff I dont want anyone to see before anyone else." Excitingly, he also mentions that Spelunky-style daily runs and shared seeds are planned, giving the game a constantly updating competitive edge.

You can read the full Q&A here, or prepare yourself for the game's eventual release through the creepy-ass trailer below.

The original Binding of Isaac pushed Flash (and my computer) to its limits, so I'm looking forward to Nicalis' remake, which recreates Team Meat's roguelikey thing in a new engine, while replacing the art - which Ed McMillen was "sick of looking at" - with 16-bit style versions of Isaac, Mom and the rest of the lovable gang. I was hoping this teaser trailer would show a bit more of that, but I can't say I'm disappointed by the live-action, puppet-based video we got instead. I mean: wow. Also: screaming. Never stop screaming. Venture below to witness it for yourself.



The Binding of Isaac Rebirth is coming to Steam in 2014. Have you stopped screaming yet?

Don't worry. Gamescom's other news is less nightmare inducing. Find it here.