One year ago today, a very nervous Carl clicked the launch button on his very first commercial game on Steam. At the time, I was filled with uncertainty. I had very little community. No major outlets were going to talk about little old me. After nearly five years of work, was I about to release a dud? Would anyone even care in a month?
Honestly, after so much buildup, what should have been an enormous celebration for me was one of the most stress-inducing and crippling experiences of my life. I convinced myself that I was already on the path to failure. I think this kind of thing was unavoidable. I was forced to finally face the reality of hinging my income on the success of this game, and it wasn't looking particularly promising. So I hit launch, fully expecting to have to sell my kidneys by next week.
But then, hey, launch didn't go so bad. Then things stayed steady. Hey, look, a stream. A video series. A sponsorship. With each update steadily growing the game, my community also grew, and suddenly I was making enough to support myself. Now with the push that the Bug Fables crossover gave me, and the upcoming ports to Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation, I have to say that I'm really happy with Abomi Nation's performance in its first year. Thank you to everyone who's Tweeted, made YouTube videos, used my Discord, anything. My biggest fear in the world is talking while nobody is listening. Think of it as like a reverse stage fright. So I just wanted to thank you all for making me feel heard.
When I started this project in December of 2016, I was single, living in a crappy basement apartment, and working at a smoothie place part-time to help pay rent. Now, I'm engaged, live in a great house, have the best dog, and I get to work on Abomi Nation as my full-time job. I couldn't be happier.
OK, enough sap. Time to focus on what I've accomplished since launch! I've added 62 new Abomis this year on top of our original 100, 18 new variant forms, a new area, and who knows how many new items. I added a Fast Battle mode alongside many other QOL features. I tried my best to really listen to fan feedback.
This isn't the end for Abomi Nation quite yet. While I can't confirm any new content like Abomis, the console launch will at least come with a new patch, so you'll hear from me again. Plus you can hear from me every day on my Discord! I'm not hard to get a hold of.
Thanks for making this year a great one.
Carl
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