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Designer Toby Fox’s game Deltarune has been in production since 2012, but it hasn’t been following a traditional release schedule. Rather than sell the entire game all at once, Fox has been releasing it in chapters. Chapter 1 dropped on Switch in 2019, while Chapter 2 followed in 2021. Fans have been waiting ever since for the remaining five chapters, and now Fox has an update. Chapter 4 is apparently “basically playable minus some polish.” This means that, according to Fox, Chapter 3 is done, 4 is very nearly done, and 5… well, it’s been drafted up.
Here’s Fox’s full update:
Hi everyone! DELTARUNE Chapter 4 is making great overall progress.
As the time of writing this (7-23-24)…
All the maps are done.
All battles are playable.
Only 2 cutscenes need small improvements.
One battle needs to be balanced and the visuals need to be completed.
One battle needs a better background.
Two battles are having their ending sequences improved.
There’s still some things to fix and places to polish.
Three of my friends were able to play through the entirety of the unfinished Chapter 4.
All of them liked it and didn’t have any major criticisms. Phew! (Except for one friend, who kept mentioning that I should name all of the chairs because the existence of “Chairiel” implies that all the other chairs should have names as well… I’m probably not going to do that…)
I’m not sure if Chapter 2 is still the longest chapter, but Chapter 3 & 4 together are definitely longer than Chapter 1 & 2 combined. Thinking about that is kind of crazy…
Initial development of Chapter 5 is also progressing steadily. Most of the team is still focusing on Chapter 4, but a few people are going ahead and creating an initial draft of Chapter 5’s maps, working on bullet patterns, etc.
So What?
Chapter 4 is basically playable minus some polish!! So, it must seem like Chapter 3&4 are going to come out really soon, right!?
…
Actually, the release is still far away!!! We’ve gotten 3 months closer, but it’s still far!!!
Why!? How does that horrible, despair-inducing, teeth-gnashing-fact that keeps me up at night, make any sense at all!? I want them out NOW!!!
Well… I’ll tell you!
What’s left before release?
That’s right!!! CREATING the chapters is only the first step!
RELEASING the chapters… is a whole other ordeal.
It wouldn’t be such a big deal if the game was free… But since this is going to be our first big paid release since UNDERTALE, we really have to take the extra time to make sure it’s perfect!
Our goal is… simultaneous console and PC release, in both English and Japanese!
So… what do we have to do?
Well… It’s long, so click below if you’re curious!!!
The goal is to release Chapters 3, 4, and 5 all at once, with the remaining two to follow (assuming the last two chapters are still a part of the plan). As Fox notes, this is the first time he’ll be asking fans to pay for Deltarune, as the previous two chapters were free. Once we have a solid release date, we’ll let you all know.
Source: Toby Fox X Account
