Hello again wonderful Lions! I know it’s been awhile since our last update, but we’ve had some really exciting things happening over at CouchLion Studios that we can’t wait to share with all of you! First off, we wanted to thank everyone who came out to GDEX/Origins in July and played the Dream & Sugar demo. This year we were also fortunate enough to be part of the GDEX sidequest at Matsuricon in August. We met so many amazing people and to anyone who took the time to play the demo at either convention, thank you and hello! It was really great to talk with all of you directly and get your feedback on the game.

Speaking of the game, we have updates about that too! We’re pleased to announce we’ve finished staging the entirety of the game. That’s right, everything’s where it should be now. That means we’re one step closer to our full release (more on that in a moment). There are a couple transitions and CGs we’re putting the finishing touches on, but after that we’re in talks to begin a round of public alpha playtests! If you’re interested in being a play tester and getting your hands on the early builds of the game, stay tuned to the CouchLion website and socials to know when and how to receive a key.

Another big step forward is the completion of our entire soundtrack! The music department’s been working all-out to get the tracks finished, and they finally are. This means all that’s left is to implement the music and sound cues into the game itself, which’ll be much easier now that we have all of them created and assembled. Just like our art and storytelling, our music is something we’re really proud of and very excited to get to share with you. You’ve already heard some of it in the Dream & Sugar demo, and the feedback we’ve gotten has been really positive! All in all, this means we’re one step closer to that tantalizing full release I talked about earlier.

Speaking of which, we think it’s time we let you folks in on our super secret/not so secret plans. Dream & Sugar has an official full release window! The game will be released in Winter 2023, with an exact date coming soon! One of the things that a lot of people wanted to know at GDEX and Matsuricon was what platforms the game will release on. We’re planning a PC and Mac release of the game this winter, using itch.io and Steam as our release platforms. That means soon you’ll be able to wishlist us on Steam! As always, our itch.io page is already live and you’re welcome to download our demo from there. Steam has a few more hoops to jump through, but we’re going to make it happen for you guys!

That’s about all we have for this update. Stay tuned for more information about a concrete release date and when our page goes live on Steam. Until then, feel free to give our itch.io a look and share it with your friends! As always we love hearing from you guys on social media or our website, especially about the demo! We’ll let you know when we’re on the look for alpha testers in the near future and how to apply for a key. Until then, enjoy the last few weeks of summer everybody!

- Couch Lion Team