Gellyberry Studios has cut ties with its publisher, Freedom Games, and will continue to develop and self-publish Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore. With this move, they've also announced that the game will go free to play, with a transition period that will keep the game open for now, but bring things back into development for eventual relaunch.
With an admittedly rough launch, followed by a number of issues that the team continues to work out, roadmap delays, instability, and other factors affecting performance, it seems that both developer and publisher felt like the game as-is was not meeting expectations or goals. Recently, the developers attempted to release some new content in line with a more gradual release of their promised roadmap content, but things did not go as planned, and a number of delays were announced.
According to Gellyberry, the transition will involve taking things back into development, but The game will still remain available for all players through a special plan that involves consolidating all characters to a single server while they work on the game.
“Our goal in making the game F2P is to create an inclusive environment where everyone can enjoy the game without any restrictions. Players will have unlimited access while we work tirelessly to improve the overall experience. To facilitate this, we will consolidate all existing characters into a single server. Once we feel significant progress has been made and our initial goals have been achieved, we will proceed with setting up new servers and preparing for a fresh launch. This approach will ensure the game reaches its full potential and provides an enjoyable experience for all.”
They are working on the game without any set launch date or window for the new version, and instead pulling back to commit to creating a more polished release, and they will "prioritize substance over frequency, ensuring that each update adds value and brings improvements” .
If you have a subscription to the game, you can go ahead and cancel it on Steam, and if you haven't used it during the current billing cycle, you can request a refund.
See the full announcement details over at the Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore Discord.
