it dead

This ain't taking off, no matter what they do or how hard they try.
Time window to pull that thing out of the mud has already closed. I'm sure TFP already wrote it off, I don't see any effort from their side to help them out or even mention it anymore.
Get your refund, this is going nowhere.

Hi germish, thank you for the support and for giving the game a shot.

To answer your question honestly: Technically, the game is not 'dead' at all. It is fully functional, servers are running, and we see matches being played every single day.

However, the reality is that retention has been lower than we hoped. While thousands of players have tried the game, they aren't sticking around long-term, which makes the public lobbies quiet. Most of the current activity comes from people playing in private lobbies with their friends rather than random matchmaking.

As developers, this is obviously saddening because we put our hearts into this, but we remain proud of the game we built and everything we accomplished technically.

We are currently working on a plan to ensure the game remains playable on Steam for the long term for those who enjoy it.

If you can get friends to join you (the demo is there for them to join you for free), or people on our Discord https://discord.gg/uQVUTAZT that is currently the best way to play.

Thanks again for the kind words.

Players right now: 10

24-hour peak: 13

All-time peak 2 months ago: 366

Focus resources at 7DTD instead, and let that one go.

Originally posted by Amebix:

Players right now: 10

24-hour peak: 13

All-time peak 2 months ago: 366

Focus resources at 7DTD instead, and let that one go.

Hi there Amebix,

Just a quick clarification on how this works:

We are iLLOGIKA, a separate independent studio. We are not The Fun Pimps.

We cannot simply decide to 'refocus resources' to 7 Days to Die. Unless TFP explicitly contracts our team to help with the main game, we don't have the authority to work on it.

Hope that explains the distinction.

Originally posted by David181:

Originally posted by Amebix:

Players right now: 10

24-hour peak: 13

All-time peak 2 months ago: 366

Focus resources at 7DTD instead, and let that one go.

We are iLLOGIKA, a separate independent studio. We are not The Fun Pimps.

We cannot simply decide to 'refocus resources' to 7 Days to Die. Unless TFP explicitly contracts our team to help with the main game, we don't have the authority to work on it.

I appreciate your honesty here. I'm not sure what the Fun Pimps were thinking; I hope you guys got paid either way. As you're probably aware, gaming is getting pretty oversaturated. Is it possible that you could change the game to be free-to-play with cosmetic purchases or monetize the game some other way? If the game had no barrier for entry it would increase the player base size and if people like it, they will stick around and buy things. Lastly, I don't really like to buy early access games anymore,

I think too many titles that have dropped into early access have remained unfinished for far too long, and 7 Days to die is one of the worst offenders of that as the game was in EA for almost a decade it seems like. When you launch the game, it still says the game is in early access, lol.

Again, I understand that development costs money, and 7 Days to Die has been around for a LONG time so anyone who wants to play the game has probably already bought it. The developers recently added paid cosmetics to the main game which I have zero interest in buying. I don't understand why they wouldn't hire you guys to work on new content for 7D2D as I would happily purchase an expansion or some other kind of new content for the game.

Originally posted by Rivus:

I appreciate your honesty here. I'm not sure what the Fun Pimps were thinking; I hope you guys got paid either way. As you're probably aware, gaming is getting pretty oversaturated. Is it possible that you could change the game to be free-to-play with cosmetic purchases or monetize the game some other way? If the game had no barrier for entry it would increase the player base size and if people like it, they will stick around and buy things. Lastly, I don't really like to buy early access games anymore,

I think too many titles that have dropped into early access have remained unfinished for far too long, and 7 Days to die is one of the worst offenders of that as the game was in EA for almost a decade it seems like. When you launch the game, it still says the game is in early access, lol.

Again, I understand that development costs money, and 7 Days to Die has been around for a LONG time so anyone who wants to play the game has probably already bought it. The developers recently added paid cosmetics to the main game which I have zero interest in buying. I don't understand why they wouldn't hire you guys to work on new content for 7D2D as I would happily purchase an expansion or some other kind of new content for the game.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Rivus!

1. Free-to-Play & Monetization: We actually view our Free Demo as our answer to the 'barrier to entry.' Unlike standard demos, ours is unlimited and lets you play online with the whole community. We think this is a healthier model than going full F2P, which often requires aggressive monetization and locking cool stuff behind paywalls just to keep the servers running.

However, in Blood Moons' case, retention is a much bigger issue than bringing in new players. The demo has done a good job of increasing the volume of players when combined with marketing activities, but the percentage of players who stick around and convert is too low. The key to success in a game like ours is to always have at least a few hundred players online at the same time (CCUs). Without that critical mass, people log in, wait for other players for a long time, get discouraged, and move on (sometimes leaving a negative review on the way out, further pushing away potential players).

2. Why a Spinoff instead of 7DTD Content? That is a fair question! Our pitch and mandate as an independent studio was specifically to build Blood Moons: to create a fast-paced, match-based loop that offers something different from the long-form survival of the main game. As for creating content for 7 Days to Die directly: that is fully TFP's domain. We would certainly be open to helping them expand that universe if they ever asked us to, but for now, we are focused on our mission.

I totally understand the Early Access fatigue, by the way. It is a tough landscape out there.

Originally posted by David181:

Originally posted by Rivus:

I appreciate your honesty here. I'm not sure what the Fun Pimps were thinking; I hope you guys got paid either way. As you're probably aware, gaming is getting pretty oversaturated. Is it possible that you could change the game to be free-to-play with cosmetic purchases or monetize the game some other way? If the game had no barrier for entry it would increase the player base size and if people like it, they will stick around and buy things. Lastly, I don't really like to buy early access games anymore,

I think too many titles that have dropped into early access have remained unfinished for far too long, and 7 Days to die is one of the worst offenders of that as the game was in EA for almost a decade it seems like. When you launch the game, it still says the game is in early access, lol.

Again, I understand that development costs money, and 7 Days to Die has been around for a LONG time so anyone who wants to play the game has probably already bought it. The developers recently added paid cosmetics to the main game which I have zero interest in buying. I don't understand why they wouldn't hire you guys to work on new content for 7D2D as I would happily purchase an expansion or some other kind of new content for the game.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Rivus!

1. Free-to-Play & Monetization: We actually view our Free Demo as our answer to the 'barrier to entry.' Unlike standard demos, ours is unlimited and lets you play online with the whole community. We think this is a healthier model than going full F2P, which often requires aggressive monetization and locking cool stuff behind paywalls just to keep the servers running.

However, in Blood Moons' case, retention is a much bigger issue than bringing in new players. The demo has done a good job of increasing the volume of players when combined with marketing activities, but the percentage of players who stick around and convert is too low. The key to success in a game like ours is to always have at least a few hundred players online at the same time (CCUs). Without that critical mass, people log in, wait for other players for a long time, get discouraged, and move on (sometimes leaving a negative review on the way out, further pushing away potential players).

2. Why a Spinoff instead of 7DTD Content? That is a fair question! Our pitch and mandate as an independent studio was specifically to build Blood Moons: to create a fast-paced, match-based loop that offers something different from the long-form survival of the main game. As for creating content for 7 Days to Die directly: that is fully TFP's domain. We would certainly be open to helping them expand that universe if they ever asked us to, but for now, we are focused on our mission.

I totally understand the Early Access fatigue, by the way. It is a tough landscape out there.

Hi David!
honestly I love your game! it was a mode that i always hoped that 7dtd would have and its the best way to play online pvp 7dtd imo. I think people didnt stay because lobby is dead. I played a few games that i enjoyed but i tried too much to find a lobby to play. This is sad but its also an opportunity for you. If you could work on matchmaking and add AI survivors in a way that a player can just press the auto match button and get to a game in 2 minutes that would be great. The game could even be between 2 players and be fun if AI is not bad. If you combine this with a marketing boost you would have the numbers to have lobbies running without much waiting. You could match people from around world if you experiment a little with lag times. I played America from EU and it was ok. Oceanic was bad from EU.
Also: the game is marked as paid with demo. That means that someone who has played the demo like me cant leave a positive review. At this point if a player pays but cant play its more probably to leave a negative review than a positive one. I think marking it as free to play would help youre review score as f2p players will help you I hope.

Originally posted by karxarinis:

Hi David!
honestly I love your game! it was a mode that i always hoped that 7dtd would have and its the best way to play online pvp 7dtd imo. I think people didnt stay because lobby is dead. I played a few games that i enjoyed but i tried too much to find a lobby to play. This is sad but its also an opportunity for you. If you could work on matchmaking and add AI survivors in a way that a player can just press the auto match button and get to a game in 2 minutes that would be great. The game could even be between 2 players and be fun if AI is not bad. If you combine this with a marketing boost you would have the numbers to have lobbies running without much waiting. You could match people from around world if you experiment a little with lag times. I played America from EU and it was ok. Oceanic was bad from EU.
Also: the game is marked as paid with demo. That means that someone who has played the demo like me cant leave a positive review. At this point if a player pays but cant play its more probably to leave a negative review than a positive one. I think marking it as free to play would help youre review score as f2p players will help you I hope.

Hi karxarinis,

First off, thank you so much for the kind words. It really means a lot to the team to hear from players who enjoy the vision we had for a PvP 7DTD experience.

You raised important points that I want to address:

1. AI Survivors to fill lobbies: This is a great feature we would love to have. You are right; if you could press a button and play instantly with AI filling the empty spots, it would solve the waiting issue. Coding a Zombie AI is relatively straightforward. However, coding a Survivor AI that knows how to loot intelligently, manage inventory, and most importantly build strategic bases while taking direction from the human player is a massive technical undertaking. It is much more complex than just aiming and shooting. That is why we haven't been able to implement them yet.

2. The Review Dilemma (Demo vs. F2P): You hit the nail on the head here. Because the "Free Version" is technically a Demo added to the game's page on Steam, happy players like you cannot leave a review that counts towards the main store page score. Meanwhile, paid players who are frustrated by the wait times can leave negative reviews. It definitely skews the perception of the game. Switching the game to 'officially' Free-to-Play is a big decision (it changes how the backend and store work permanently), but your argument about the reviews is a very strong one.

3. Regions: Thanks for the feedback on lag. We could offer some guidance to players about server location when they choose a lobby. You are right to say that EU-NA games generally work fairly well, while connecting with Oceania from Europe usually introduces too much lag. This is a function of physical distance and player tolerance to lag. We didn't have the warning messages over the first few weeks of operation, and we had a lot of negative feedback about quality that stemmed from players unknowingly playing with players from opposite sides of the planet.

Thanks for sticking with us!

Originally posted by David181:

Originally posted by karxarinis:

Hi David!
honestly I love your game! it was a mode that i always hoped that 7dtd would have and its the best way to play online pvp 7dtd imo. I think people didnt stay because lobby is dead. I played a few games that i enjoyed but i tried too much to find a lobby to play. This is sad but its also an opportunity for you. If you could work on matchmaking and add AI survivors in a way that a player can just press the auto match button and get to a game in 2 minutes that would be great. The game could even be between 2 players and be fun if AI is not bad. If you combine this with a marketing boost you would have the numbers to have lobbies running without much waiting. You could match people from around world if you experiment a little with lag times. I played America from EU and it was ok. Oceanic was bad from EU.
Also: the game is marked as paid with demo. That means that someone who has played the demo like me cant leave a positive review. At this point if a player pays but cant play its more probably to leave a negative review than a positive one. I think marking it as free to play would help youre review score as f2p players will help you I hope.

Hi karxarinis,

First off, thank you so much for the kind words. It really means a lot to the team to hear from players who enjoy the vision we had for a PvP 7DTD experience.

You raised important points that I want to address:

1. AI Survivors to fill lobbies: This is a great feature we would love to have. You are right; if you could press a button and play instantly with AI filling the empty spots, it would solve the waiting issue. Coding a Zombie AI is relatively straightforward. However, coding a Survivor AI that knows how to loot intelligently, manage inventory, and most importantly build strategic bases while taking direction from the human player is a massive technical undertaking. It is much more complex than just aiming and shooting. That is why we haven't been able to implement them yet.

2. The Review Dilemma (Demo vs. F2P): You hit the nail on the head here. Because the "Free Version" is technically a Demo added to the game's page on Steam, happy players like you cannot leave a review that counts towards the main store page score. Meanwhile, paid players who are frustrated by the wait times can leave negative reviews. It definitely skews the perception of the game. Switching the game to 'officially' Free-to-Play is a big decision (it changes how the backend and store work permanently), but your argument about the reviews is a very strong one.

3. Regions: Thanks for the feedback on lag. We could offer some guidance to players about server location when they choose a lobby. You are right to say that EU-NA games generally work fairly well, while connecting with Oceania from Europe usually introduces too much lag. This is a function of physical distance and player tolerance to lag. We didn't have the warning messages over the first few weeks of operation, and we had a lot of negative feedback about quality that stemmed from players unknowingly playing with players from opposite sides of the planet.

Thanks for sticking with us!

1. I understand the 1# . I thought it would be simpler as you already have great pathing for zombies. The hard part is the building. If there are human players then ai players shouldnt build. If there are no human players then it could build pre-scripted designs. I think its simpler to make 20-30 designs and have ai build this block when it has x resources and then the next block etc.

0 players atm... sadly wanted to try that game when it released, but seeing how it went.. doupt i'd ever play

i was in a 3 man group in that time frame..we are on and playing.