…wow. I did it! Well, almost — Bleed 2 is out in three days, on Feb 8. I’m stressed, I’m excited, I’m really proud!

I discovered a 2.5 year-old version of the game, so please enjoy some comparison shots as I pat myself on the back for all my hard work!

Four years ago, when I was just starting to put the game together, I had a moment where I suddenly realized the scope of what I was planning. It profoundly depressed me — it honestly didn’t seem possible to complete; trying seemed like a waste of time. I literally curled into a ball went to sleep in the middle of the afternoon. I’m not sure why I kept going from that point, but I’m really glad I did. Piece by piece, day by day — my skills have improved, the game has come together, and now it’s all culminated in the game you’ll be able to play in three days!

I’m not giving an Academy Awards speech of anything, but: huge, HUGE shout-outs to Joonas and Jukio for all the amazing work they’ve provided, the game wouldn’t be half of what it is without them. Additional huge thanks to my family and the friends I’ve kept and made along the way. Having their support and enthusiasm and belief really helped keep me going! Finally, a shout-out to the Toronto game dev community at Gamma Space. I’m so glad to have met such awesome, creative people who share my passions. I tend to think of myself as an independent, solo kind of guy, but I’ve learned having a community like that is really special.

If you’re someone who’s been reading the blog for a long time and is excited about the game, thanks for sticking with me! I think your patience will be rewarded, and I promise there’s plenty left that you haven’t seen. For example, I’ve shown about 9 bosses here — but there’s around 17 more I’ve never even spoke of! Especially for fans of the original, there are a bunch of cool moments I really hope you’ll enjoy.

For the curious (aka me reading this in the future) I’ve logged my time worked over the game’s entire development. The grand total is a little over 6,000 actual hours spent. Yowza. The final number will keep going up since I still have things to do before Wednesday (I’ll start doing them right after I finish this blog!) but that’s the general figure.

It’s funny to me that I claimed a little over a year ago that the game was in an “alpha” state, and over eight months ago that it was at “beta” — I mean, it was, but it’s crazy how long it’s taken for it to go from there to a final, polished, complete game. Heck, the game two weeks ago was very different than it is now — Very Hard is way more satisfying, the Clawed Girl is much more fun to play — you can even use unlockable characters in co-op, which is something I finished implementing yesterday! It’s been this startling, exponential coming-together process. I’m really proud of where it’s ended up.

How will Bleed 2 be received? Where do I go from here? Who knows!! I’m very excited (and a little scared) to find out. To anyone who has followed the development of the game, who enjoyed or shared the first, who plays the sequel — all y’all! Thank you for your interest and your enthusiasm. I hope you will enjoy my game.