Launching in early access in 2020 and getting its full launch a couple of years later, Crema’s Pokemon-like RPG Temtem has been around for a while now, but the developer has announced that it’s ending development of future content on the game soon.
In a lengthy open letter published on its website, Crema explains why it hasn’t been able to add new content to Temtem at the speed and in the manner than many in the playerbase have wanted it to. In a nutshell, it boils down to the significant balancing work the developer would have to do on large portions of the game anytime sometime new is added in.
“We didn’t create Temtem with the idea of expanding its limits forever: when we created the Kickstarter page we had a clear goal of 141 minimum Tems (we ended with 165), and 6 islands (we ended up making the Pansun another zone),” Crema writes. “As such, the bases of the game are not built in a way they can support endless content, and as more content gets added, the game risks becoming more complicated, with different systems and variables having to be accounted for with each update, and buggier. This is a concept called technical debt, which roughly means we get indebted to the development decisions we made when we were just giving birth to Temtem. Over the course of the years of development, the debt has grown every time we’ve tried to implement unplanned features, or whenever we reworked an existing feature without proper planning. Anything you add to a game that wasn’t included in its bases, and anything you change on the go, adds to the technical debt of said game.”
Looking ahead, then, Temtem’s next update, patch 1.7, will be the game’s final “normal sized” update, bringing a new season, a new Tamer Pass, balance changes, new features, bug fixing, and quality of life updates. Following that, patch 1.8 will be the game’s final “feature-oriented patch” and will be focused on “ensuring the game’s longevity, with a focus on improving the users’ experience”. There will, however, be no more new Tamer Passes or seasons going forward.
Meanwhile, microtransactions are also being dropped entirely. Update 1.7 will remove the option to purchase Novas (the game’s premium currency), though any Novas you’ve already purchased will still be usable on the Tamer Pass and cosmetics in the in-game shop. All items that are purchasable with Novas, meanwhile, will also become purchasable using Feathers, which is earned through gameplay.
In addition to that. when patch 1.8 comes along, it will allow players to go back to any and all of the older Tamer Passes at any given time and complete them at your leisure, which will include being able to unlock their previously-paid tiers using Feathers.
So what lies ahead for Crema now that Temtem is approaching the end of its active lifecycle? Well, though the studio says it isn’t ready to develop a full-fledged sequel quite yet, it has confirmed that it’s working on another new, unannounced game in the Temtem universe.