In a candid video update, Inflexion Games CEO Aaryn Flynn and Art and Audio Director Neil Thomson acknowledged that the studio is not satisfied with the current state of their gaslamp fantasy survival game, Nightingale. Since its early access release six months ago, the team has focused on quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and introducing the much-anticipated offline mode. Despite these efforts, the game has struggled to meet both the developers’ and players’ expectations.
Flynn expressed the studio’s disappointment, stating, “We are not satisfied with where the game is at, we’re not satisfied with the overall sentiment, we’re not satisfied with our player numbers.” This admission comes as the game, which once boasted an all-time peak of 47,500 concurrent players, now sees only a few hundred daily active users.
Inflexion Games is now reassessing what elements are core to Nightingale and what can be adjusted to better align with their original vision. A major update is planned for the end of summer, aiming to address the game’s shortcomings and enhance the overall player experience. Key changes will include adding more structure and clearer progression paths, as the developers admit that the game is currently too open-ended, requiring players to be self-motivated in setting their own goals.
Additionally, the update will introduce higher build limits, allowing players to create larger and more complex structures. There will also be more variety in the game’s fantastical realms, reinforcing the central theme of adventure that the team is eager to fulfill.
Flynn and Thomson expressed their gratitude to the community for its support and emphasized the importance of positive and constructive feedback. They assured players that their input is crucial in shaping the future of Nightingale.
In his impressions of the game, Bertie from our team noted his disappointment post-release, describing the experience as a continuous pursuit of excitement that always seems just out of reach. He wrote, “Mostly, I’ve been in dogged pursuit of an excitement that eludes me, hoping it’ll be around the next corner I turn, in the next gear tier I unlock. But every corner seems to just bring another corner, and so around and around I go, getting somewhere but never there.”
With these upcoming changes, Inflexion Games hopes to turn the corner and deliver an experience that fulfills the promises made to their players.
