On October 11, 2021, the “Early Access” version of the new TMORPG Book of Travels was released on Steam. It describes itself as a “living, fairy-tale world” and has received very positive reviews, but major success has not yet been achieved. Now the developers “Might and Delight” of Book of Travels have spoken out. They have no good news to share before Christmas.
What is Book of Travels? The TMORPG – “Tiny Multiplayer Online Role Play Game” – focuses on exploration and exciting, fairy-tale experiences in an open world. About 30 players can be present with you in the game world, but you will likely rarely meet them. Hence the “Tiny” instead of the typical “Massively” before “MORPG”.
If you encounter other players, you can interact with them, but not chat with them. The encounter is meant to be something special and not an everyday situation.
You can also move freely in the world of Book of Travels: No quests or stories restrict your exploration path. You must find your own way in the hand-drawn environment; no one will guide you. Additionally, you should be mindful of how you shape your adventure – your characters are not immortal.
Studio must lay off 25 of 35 employees
Although it was described by some players as “the game of the year” and has received very positive reviews on Steam so far, the success unfortunately has not materialized. The studio “Might and Delight” behind Book of Travels wrote a post to the community on December 21, openly describing the studio’s problems (via Steam).
Might and Delight describes the experience with the release of the Early Access of Book of Travels as emotional, fascinating, and unique. The Early Access was postponed several times, as the game received continuous feedback and reports during the beta period. The studio wanted to deliver an Early Access they could stand behind.
After the Early Access was released on Steam on October 11, 2021, there were some players who praised Book of Travels highly, but the sales were not enough: Might and Delight had to part ways with 25 employees.
This may initially not sound like much, but for such a small studio, it is a significant burden. After the layoff wave, 10 employees remain, which Might and Delight describes as the “toughest test in their 11-year career”.
In addition, the studio notes that development will of course be affected and take longer. But they still pursue the motto:
Survive and bring the best possible content into the game.
Founders Anders, Jakob & Developer Team
Might and Delight describes themselves as determined and they want to do their utmost to continue to advance Book of Travels.
The developers recently released the game’s soundtrack and also created the “Cup of Kindness” (via Steam). For €1.59, you can purchase the “DLC” for Book of Travels, which practically contains nothing. You are merely supporting the developers in furthering the game if you like it.
How many players does Book of Travels have? The numbers look really bad: The game peaked in December 2018, reaching a peak of 2000 players – on average, there were about 610 players online 3 years ago.
However, the majority of these players disappeared quickly. By March 2019, the game had only 99 players on average online at the same time, and in the following years, the numbers declined further.
In the last 30 days, there were an average of 27 players online simultaneously, with a peak of just 120 players. This is evidently too few to continue employing the full staff.
What happens next? The future of Book of Travels is now uncertain. Might and Delight originally wanted to stay in the “Early Access” phase for about 2 years, but it may well be that this phase will now extend significantly.
What do you think about the TMORPG? Have you played it already or do you want to play it in the future? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
