Posted by Greg on December 30, 2011
Well it’s been a good year.
First off, this week marked a major milestone for us when Bastion sailed past half a million copies sold.
Recent holiday sales on Steam and Xbox LIVE Arcade put us over the top. We’re happy to have this many people playing and to be in a position to make more games on our own terms. When we set out to make Bastion, a sales number like that seemed astronomical to us, so it feels great to have hit that mark. It goes to show that a lot of folks out there like what we’re doing and want us to keep going, which is great, because we intend to stick together as a team and do just that.
What’s more, we’re honored to see Bastion getting plenty of attention in various Game of the Year awards lists across all kinds of different publications including some big old mainstream ones. We wanted to make a memorable game so it’s great to see this level of recognition.
Awards for Bastion: Here’s a list of the dozens of different publications who’ve recognized Bastion for various year-end accolades:
Game Developers Choice Awards – Best Debut, Best Downloadable Game
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences – Downloadable Title of the Year
Associated Press – Top 10 Games of the Year
Entertainment Weekly – Best Videogames of 2011
TIME – Top 10 Games of 2011
USA Today – Top 10 Games of 2011
NPR – Ten Best Video Games of 2011
CNN – Top 10 Video Games
Wired – Top 20 Best Games of the Year
Paste Magazine – Game of the Year
Boston Herald – Best Game of 2011
A.V. Club – 10 Best Games of 2011
ScienceFiction.com – Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Video Games of 2011
Spike VGAs – Best Downloadable Game, Best Original Score, Best Song
Inside Gaming Awards – Best Downloadable Game, Best Indie Game, Best Original Score
IGN.com – Best XBLA Game
VentureBeat – Best Indie Games of 2011
Giant Bomb – Best Music, Best Debut Game, Best Downloadable Game, Top 10
TotalBiscuit – #1 […]
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Posted by Greg on December 12, 2011
Our team is back from an exciting whirlwind weekend in Los Angeles where Bastion racked up three wins at the Inside Gaming Awards, followed by three wins at the Spike Video Game Awards! Check out our photos from the events, and here’s a summary of damage dealt:
At the Spike VGAs, Bastion earned Best Downloadable Game, Best Original Score, and Best Song in a Game for Build That Wall (Zia’s Theme). Watch the Spike VGA pre-show segment in which Darren Korb and I accepted the awards on behalf of the team.
At the Inside Gaming Awards, Bastion earned Best Downloadable Game, Best Indie Game, and Best Original Score.
We owe a great big thank-you and congratulations to Ashley Barrett, who sings “Build That Wall”, for her outstanding performance that’s made such an impact on so many listeners!
And of course, thanks again to the judges of the respective awards for their recognition of our game, as well as to our families and friends for their love and patience all through development. Thanks as well to the team at Warner Bros. for their support, and to all our players out there for taking a chance on a game from a small, unproven studio.
We ain’t resting on our laurels, either. We’re releasing the Stranger’s Dream DLC for Bastion later this week while keeping a close eye on the launch of our new Chrome version of Bastion, which has been getting a tremendous response. Lots of exciting plans for the future, too! […]
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Posted by Greg on December 9, 2011
One of the most frequently asked questions we got since Bastion’s release this summer is, will there be any DLC for the game? We’ve brushed it aside, stating that we designed Bastion to be a complete, stand-alone experience and would never seek to extend the story through DLC. All this is true.
HOWEVER! In the weeks following the release of the game, we decided to put a little something together for the holidays as a show of thanks to our fans. So, on December 14, we’ll be pleased to bring you the Stranger’s Dream DLC for Bastion, which should give you some good reasons to come back to the game while preserving the core experience just as we intended. Here’s a sneak peek:
The Stranger’s Dream DLC includes:
· The Stranger’s Dream: a new fully narrated Who Knows Where sequence, bigger and tougher than the others. You’ll gain a bit more insight into Rucks’ backstory as well as the history of Caelondia if you can survive this fight.
· Score Attack Mode: a challenging new way to play through the story! You start at level one with all Spirits and Idols unlocked. Your combat performance is rated for efficiency, and all areas are repeatable.
· No-Sweat Mode: for those who just want to experience the story of Bastion, this mode provides unlimited chances to carry on from where you left off if you’re defeated in battle.
The Steam and XBLA versions of the game will also contain new Leaderboards for the Stranger’s Dream and Score Attack Mode.
To access the Stranger’s Dream sequence as well as Score Attack Mode, you need to have finished the game at least once. The Stranger’s Dream sequence will be available early on in your New Game Plus or Score Attack play-through.
How to Get the Stranger’s Dream DLC
Steam Users: You’ll receive this free update automatically through Steam when it becomes available.
Xbox LIVE Arcade Users: Start the game on December 14 or later to be prompted to download our new Title Update. You’ll see an option to download the […]
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Posted by Greg on December 9, 2011
Check this out: If you use Google Chrome to browse the Internet, now you can also use it to play Bastion right in your browser. Our game is now available in the Chrome Web Store. Crazy, but true!
This latest version of Bastion is built to run right in your web browser, using Google’s new Native Client technology. This really is the full Bastion experience, featuring our highly acclaimed 1080p artwork, musical score, reactive narration, and play experience, all built to run fast and smooth just like our Xbox 360 and PC versions. And, much like those versions, you can play through the prologue for free. The full game can be unlocked for $14.99.
We’re very excited to have Bastion now available on Chrome since it makes getting into the game easier than ever before, and opens up the experience to tons of new players… including players using computers other than Windows-based PCs.
The Chrome version of Bastion requires:
- Processor: 1.7 GHz Dual Core or Greater
- Memory: 2 GB
- Hard Disk Space: 1.0 GB
- Video Card: 512 MB graphics card (shader model 2)
(Note: Gamepad controllers are not supported in this initial release.)
We’d like to thank the team at Google for collaborating with us on this project, and Roger Hanna, Ryan Williams, and Griffin Chronis for their additional engineering work.
Also, we owe a special thanks to all you folks who’ve taken the time to request Bastion for your gaming platform of choice. This new version means many of you should now be able to play Bastion for yourself. This is also a good time to reiterate our stance when it comes to bringing Bastion to other platforms: We have no confirmed plans for other versions of Bastion, though we haven’t ruled anything out for the future either. The quality of our game is our primary concern, and that means having to focus on developing for one platform at a time. We aim to be super careful about how we make these choices, to bring you the highest possible quality in any new game we […]
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Posted by Greg on December 8, 2011
It’s that time of year when game critics look back on the past 12 months and single out those titles that had the greatest impact. We’re very happy to see Bastion showing up on some of their lists. To give a couple of recent examples:
TIME Magazine named Bastion one of the Top 10 Video Games of 2011.
Paste Magazine ranked Bastion as the number one Best Game of 2011.
To put it in perspective, some of our favorite games of the year haven’t made these lists at all. We feel humbled and all the more honored when we look at the titles we’re stacked against.
When we were working on Bastion, we wanted it to be the sort of game that could leave a lasting, positive impression on players, for the experience to stick with people long after they moved on to other games. It’s really rewarding to see that the game has continued to stand out to critics such as these even after the onslaught of high-quality titles released this fall. […]
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Posted by Greg on December 1, 2011
Guess what?! As of right this second, we now have several pieces of Bastion merchandise for sale at our brand-new online store!
Our first crop of items includes:
Bastion Original Soundtrack CD ($14.99)
Own a physical copy of the highly acclaimed Bastion original soundtrack! Features an hour of original music by Darren Korb, including two bonus tracks. (Also available as a digital download.) Purchase
Bastion Bandana ($4.99)
You don’t have to be a Kid to rock this 21″ x 21″ cotton screen-printed bandana, featuring the Star of Caelondia emblazoned across the center, and the Bastion logo plus an unassuming Squirt adorning the corners. Purchase
Caelondia Masons Society T-Shirt ($19.99)
Now you can join Rucks and the Kid as an honorary member of the Caelondia Masons Society, the hard-working folks who built the City and the Rippling Walls. (Also available in crimson and olive.) Purchase
Kid vs. Scumbag Limited Edition Print ($9.99)
The Kid stands his ground against the oldest Scumbag of them all in this high-quality limited edition print by Bastion’s art director, Jen Zee. The artwork is 11” x 17” in size. Purchase
Bastion Ultimate Collector’s Bundle ($39.99)
Includes all of the above at a discounted price, plus — for a limited time — a copy of the Kid vs. Scumbag Limited Edition Print autographed by all seven of us at Supergiant! Purchase
~ ~ ~
Since Bastion came out this summer, we’ve received a lot of requests for various Bastion-themed memorabilia, so thanks to all of you who’ve expressed interest and we hope you enjoy our initial selection.
By the way, we’ve received a ton of requests for different kinds of items, so just because we’re not offering all that other stuff now doesn’t mean we’ll never do it. We design all our own merchandise, so we’d much rather release a smaller number of high quality items over time than try to do everything at once. We will also be handling order fulfillment from our new HQ in San Francisco. […]
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Posted by Greg on November 30, 2011
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’re nominated in the following categories:
Game of the Year
Best Indie Game
Best Downloadable Game
Most Original Game
Best Original Score
Best Sound Design
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! […]
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Posted by Greg on November 24, 2011
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. […]
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Posted by Greg on November 16, 2011
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.
We’re nominated in the following categories:
Best Downloadable Game
Best Independent Game
Best Song in a Game (we got nominated twice here!)
Best Original Score
Follow those links to go in and cast a vote for us, or some other more deserving game if you see fit!
Thank you to the VGA Advisory Council for the consideration, and congratulations and good luck to all the nominees! […]
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Posted by Greg on November 2, 2011
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.
Supergiant Games AMA on Reddit: We’re answering all your questions on Reddit! We’ve been wanting to do this for a while.
Bastion Soundtrack Giveaway on IGN: Check out IGN Prime where right now members can download Bastion’s much-vaunted soundtrack for free…! […]
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