September 2026 Newsletter

Introduction

Heya! We're BACK after two whole months with even MORE to share!!! We've made a LOT more progress since and we're excited with how new everything still feels.

Release Date

So, any update now that we're 2 months further into development? Well... After a lot of internal discussions we've removed the idea of having a specific deadline or IRD. At the end of the day, we realized we want to just make the best game we can, and we should not just push it out to meet a deadline. I can still confidently say 2027 is likely, but no longer confirmed. We will still AIM for our old internal date, but no longer use it as a concrete deadline. PS: I still believe a trailer will release this year :)

Enemy Showcase!

Funfunfun! I get to show ANOTHER enemy! How about one from.... Level One.

Introducing: The Brave

The Brave is a pretty basic heavy enemy included in the first Chapter of Onward, "Missionary." He is described as:

While ready to defend their land and take what is necessary, the Braves are part of a retired guard originally in place. Now, with their armor rusted and busted, they are easily busted. Their swords are shattered by the sweet whisper of time, clinging fearfully on their backs in passive rest.

However, all compendium descriptions also come from a note from a member of the main crew! So here is how he is described by Patrick similar to the last one:

"Almost impressive, these idiots came out of RETIREMENT to fight us? Shocking!! Anyway, seems easy enough to take down since that armor isn't any good anymore. Better luck next time, oldies!"

Yeah... If we're honest this is quite a nonserious entry when it comes to the Crew's description.

The (Not-So-Secret) Code

So... I still am not ready to show gameplay. Not at all because it doesn't exist-- but because I want to save the reveal. Rather, I'll use this newsletter to talk about another mechanic, this being: "Weight".

Well, what is it, then? Each enemy is assigned a hard-coded "Weight" to it that uses to interact with certain systems. It was primarily developed for a certain stalling tower we'll show off next newsletter... This tower stalls based on the amount of "Weight" added in its hitbox, bringing the enemies back a amount based on that... What does this MEAN? More realistic gameplay of course! Bigger physically and more numerically satisfied groups of enemies will be stalled less, and smaller or less numerically satisfying groups will be brought back with MUCH more ferocity. This is one of the many systems we've implemented to make Onward a unique and cool experience!

Sick Beats for the Battlefield

Check out the Main Menu theme by our composer, DarkSpirit!

Wrap up (no clever name)

Thank you for reading the September 2026 newsletter!!! Progress has honestly been a bit slower than I'd personally hoped these past few months but I am working now to increase production speed with a few new hires. I brought back our old coder, Benek, as an advisor to help me keep everyone working in a timely (but fair) fashion so that should hopefully help. Additionally: please read the category below if you are looking to help out!

As always I'll also include a teaser for another WIP asset.

Well, see you all in November!

Hiring

Actually... We need some people to help us continue development! If you are a Modeler, Animator, Voice Actor, or Musician, please let us know if you would be interested in working on Onward, or for any other SBOON Development project!

Previous Newsletters

Missed out on the July Newsletter? Check it out HERE!