We're very happy to announce that our debut title racked up six nominations in the 2011 Inside Gaming Awards! We really appreciate the recognition that Bastion received here -- we're the only independent game and the only non-sequel to have cracked the Game of the Year nominees list, where it feels like we're among giants. The awards will be taking place on the evening of December 9, and Machinima.com will be live-streaming the event, so keep your fingers crossed for us.
We'd like to thank the judges of the Inside Gaming Awards for their consideration. We're looking forward to attending the awards in Los Angeles next week!
Today is Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, so we're feeling right grateful for how the past couple of years have panned out since Supergiant first started, and for our families and friends who supported us along the way. Here's a moment from Bastion to mark the occasion! (Click for the hi-res version.)
Just as important, we're grateful to all of you who picked up Bastion this year and got us to this point, and for all your thoughtful emails, blog posts, notes, really everything you've done to give us your feedback.
I like to say that the one thing all seven of us at Supergiant have in common is that we've loved playing games all our lives. If you're a long-time game player then you know how frustrating it can be to see real-world pressures and cynicism creep into the game industry from time to time... games are supposed to be a retreat from all that. It's all the more reason why we're grateful for what we've got, happy to have made something that's left a strong impression on many of you, and lucky to be in a position to be able to try and do it again (and, with any luck, again and again after that). We live in interesting times, but then we also live in times when for a few bucks and a few minutes you can have access to a whole bunch of wonderful gaming experiences (i.e., this year's Steam sale, which Bastion is a small part of). So as Rucks would say, it ain't all bad. Happy holidays.
We were thrilled to learn that Bastion earned five nominations in four categories in the forthcoming Spike VGA Awards, which will be live on Spike on December 10! The winners and nominees are selected by an advisory council that includes reps from just about every major North American gaming publication, so it’s a real honor.
Hey, it's an exciting day for us, as a lot's happening this week. Check it out:
Bastion Midweek Madness Sale on Steam:Get Bastion for 50% off now through Thursday, November 3 on Steam! If you've been holding off on getting the game or thinking about getting it for a friend, now's the perfect opportunity.
Greetings from the new Supergiant Games HQ! Even though the launch of Bastion on Xbox 360 and PC has settled down over recent weeks, things have still been plenty busy for us, so let me run through some of the latest happenings here.
Bastion Post-Launch Update: Our game launched to critical acclaim and commercial success on Xbox 360 and PC this summer, and needless to say we're very happy about that. We're getting great feedback from players every day via email, Facebook, Twitter, our Steam forum, and more. We've been checking out your amazing fan art, listening to music covers, gawking at Halloween pumpkin carvings, and dropping our jaws at your tattoos, among other things. We're grateful to have been able to make something that struck a chord with so many people around the world. Thanks again to all of you who took a chance on our game as well as took the time to send us your thoughts after playing it.
New HQ: We're finally starting to settle into our new digs in San Francisco. Have a look at some photos of our new office on Facebook. Thankfully Bastion's done well enough for us that we've been able to move out of the old house in San Jose and set up shop in a somewhat more permanent location. The house served us well all through Bastion's development and beyond, though we always wanted to move to the city one day, and it's finally happened.
Bastion T-shirt: We recently showed samples of a Bastion T-shirt we're looking to offer. Check it out, or click the image for more shots including different colors we're considering:
The design is by our art director Jen Zee. It isn't yet for sale though stay tuned for an update about that.
Bastion Soundtrack CD Update: We're down to just a few hundred of our Soundtrack CDs signed by our composer and audio director Darren Korb, so if you've been holding out for one, visit our Bandcamp page BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. Once we run out of the current crop, we'll continue offering the CD though poor Darren will get a break from all the signings. The response to our soundtrack has been just overwhelming -- big thanks to everyone who's picked it up.
Next Up from Supergiant: We're often asked what we're doing now that Bastion is out of the way, and the short answer is, it's too early to say... but we intend to keep pushing forward and have lots of exciting ideas. We didn't reveal Bastion until roughly a year into the game's development, so for the time being, don't hold your breath when it comes to any new announcements from us. We think it's best not to reveal what we're working on prematurely, and instead hold off until we feel like we can hand over the controls and letting anyone walk up and play our game. Getting to that point takes a while, though with any luck the wait will be worth it. In the mean time, we'll probably have other stuff to talk about every now and then. Until then!
Hey, we're back from PAX in Seattle, where we had a great time meeting hundreds of Bastion players from around the world! PAX was the first time we were able to offer the Bastion Original Soundtrack on compact disc, and now we're getting ready to fulfill the thousands of preorders we've received. The discs will be shipping in the first half of September! Until then, check out our PAX photo gallery on Facebook by clicking the image below.
Thanks to all of your for your continued support. These days we're often asked what's next for our studio, and the answer is it's too early to say right now, but keep an eye on us here or on Twitter or Facebook for the latest!
Hey, quick note to tell you that our whole team will be at PAX Prime in Seattle this week, from Friday through Sunday. So if you're coming to the event, stop by and say hello! We'll have our own corner in the Warner Bros. booth. During the show, we'll be offering the Bastion Original Soundtrack on compact disc for the first time in limited quantities, at a price of $15 (cash only).
PAX this week marks the one-year anniversary of Bastion's announcement. It was one year ago when we all piled into a minivan and drove 18 hours to show our game for the first time as part of the PAX 10. That was an incredible experience, and kicked off what's been a very exciting 12 months for our team. We're excited to return to the show having finished development. See you there!
It's our pleasure to announce that Bastion is now available for PC via the Steam Store! We're very excited to bring this great new version of our game to a whole new audience (and to some of you dedicated fans looking to experience Bastion all over again). Visit our Steam page to download the game or the free demo. Bastion for PC will be coming to other digital stores in the coming weeks.
Launch Week Offer: We're offering Bastion for $14.99 in North America, and as a launch week bonus we're also bundling the game plus our highly-acclaimed soundtrack in MP3 format at a discounted price of $19.99. We encourage everyone to play through the game before listening to the soundtrack, as the music is best heard in context first.
Enhanced for PC: Bastion started its life as a PC game, so we hope you'll find it feels home-grown on the platform, thanks to features like native support for stunning 1080p resolution and fully remappable controls. Read our previous post for more details.
And Thanks! Ever since Bastion's launch on the Xbox 360 a few weeks ago, we've been getting some amazing emails from players telling us how strong of an impact the game has left on them. We can only hope this new version will create many, many more such experiences. As ever, thank you all for your support,
- Jen, Gavin, Logan, Andrew, Greg, Amir, and Darren
Bastion is coming to Steam in just a few days, so we wanted to show you what we've cooked up with the PC controls. Due to Bastion's focus on fast, responsive action, it was very important to us to provide PC controls that let players move and fight quickly and easily. We do offer gamepad support but we weren't about to sacrifice the quality of the experience for those players who don't have gamepads. With that in mind, we came up with a set of PC controls we think you're going to enjoy. Here's a sneak peek at the controls setup screen:
As you can see, our controls screen on PC offers three different default settings, centered on your choice of which device you want to use for moving around:
- Slinger-Style: Our default PC control scheme, reminiscent of shooter controls where the keyboard is used to move your character and the mouse is used to aim and attack. Having free-aim on the mouse feels great even if you're used to the auto-aim mechanic we have on console.
- Mason-Style: Our alternate PC control scheme, inspired by traditional action RPGs, where clicking or holding the Left Mouse Button moves your character. This provides a smoother analog feel for character control.
- Trigger-Style: Our original console control scheme for those preferring to play using a gamepad. Controller vibration is supported. Unlike on console, the commands are all fully remappable.
Each of these settings is fully remappable if you want, though we made sure the defaults felt good and made sense in each control scheme.
Beyond the control differences, the other key enhancement in Bastion for PC is that it runs natively in 1920x1080 resolution (up from 1280x720 on the Xbox 360). To see what this means, compare this 1080p image from the PC version to this 720p image from the console version. Our loading times are quite a bit faster on PC as well.
Bastion is coming to Steam on Tuesday, August 16 at 10:00am PST, and will be available for other digital distribution services in the following weeks. We're very excited to bring this version of our game to a whole new audience, especially since Bastion started its life as a PC game. It's finally come full circle!
Hot on the heels of our Xbox 360 debut last month, the PC version of Bastion is officially coming to Steam on Tuesday, August 16, 2011. Yeah, that soon! You can visit the Bastion page on Steam right now to preorder the game in time for the 10am PST launch or for more info. System requirements, the works!
What's different about the PC version of Bastion? We've taken the time to make sure the experience feels right at home on your gaming rig, specifically with these features:
• Gorgeous 1080p ResolutionExperience the lush world of Bastion in stunning detail.
• Custom-Tailored PC ControlsFully redesigned, remappable controls created for PC – plus gamepad support.
• DRM-freeWhen you buy something it should be yours.
• Steamworks EnabledCloud saves, Leaderboards, and Steam achievements.
Bastion for PC retails for $14.99 in North America, and will be coming to other PC digital distribution services later this year.
While you wait, have a gander at these fresh new screenshots of Bastion in full 1080p glory. And be sure to read our earlier post about the just-released Bastion Original Soundtrack!
"The Bastion ain't going to build itself. Well, not entirely."
Count on the Scrap Musket to clean up any mess.
Say hello to the dreaded Anklegator, one of many colorful creatures you'll meet in the game.
"Proper story's supposed to start at the beginning. Ain't so simple with this one."
To everyone holding out for the PC release of Bastion, thank you for your patience and we hope you'll find the wait was more than worth it! We look forward to hearing from you.
