THE FIRST BREATH-IVERSARY

hello my chordlings.

CHORDIOID: First Breath released ONE YEAR AGO TODAY! And what a year it's been. We've been a little quiet lately for a number of reasons, and I figured you deserved a little update on what we've been doing over the past year.

2025 has seen a lot of ups and downs for the team and myself, but we'd be remiss if we didn't thank everyone who's played, shared and talked about First Breath since its release. The reception has been wonderful, and we can't wait to show you what else we're cooking up.

So what's up with that, huh? Where's all the CHORDTENT (CHORDIOID CONTENT)? What's up with that rumoured crowdfunding campaign that never materialized?

CROWDFUNDING, and the lack thereof

The crowdfunding campaign was something we'd planned to do all throughout the year. We wanted to give CHORDIOID a proper starting budget to support development of its first act (more on the episodic structure later), but it kept getting delayed because of circumstance, burnout, and other development woes.

In the end, we decided a couple months back that it just wasn't worth the hassle anymore, and that the ideal moment for a crowdfunder was long behind us. That's not to say the past year has been a waste, though! We've been quietly and slowly cooking up new CHORDIOID material the entire time, originally intended to support the crowdfunder in the form of a large demo update.

So where's all that material going, you ask?

CHORDIOID: EARLY ACCESS

CHORDIOID, the game proper, is currently planned to release into Early Access SOMETIME IN 2026. This isn't a promise, but it's a goal we're doing our damnedest to stick to. This initial release will consist of approximately ONE THIRD OF THE FULL GAME, comprising the following:

• AdjustedCHAPTER 1 - The extent of CHORDIOIDFirst Breath, polished up and improved with new side content.

• INTERMISSION 1 - A story-heavy break from the main gameplay, where we meet a crucial new character and get a slightly better look at the world we've found ourselves in.

• CHAPTER 2 - More enemies, more adventure, higher stakes, and a dramatic exit from Ring 3.

We intend for this entire package to be ~3 hours long. I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am.

INTERMISSION 1

Intermission 1 has been the main focus of development for most of 2025. It introduces a completely different side of the game -- and I mean that in every sense of the word. This is nothing like the game you've come to know; I hope you'll go into it with an open mind.

For that reason, it's also been a complete pain in the backside to develop. We had to basically build an entire separate game inside CHORDIOID for this little side tangent of a chapter. I really wanted to finish it by the start of 2026, but for various reasons we didn't quite get there. We're close, though!

I won't be sharing too much about the gameplay. You'll see when it's out.

Anyway, that's pretty much what we've been up to. I'm currently preparing to put out a small patch to First Breath sometime soon that addresses some accessibility issues and modding limitations, but beyond that we should be able to go full steam ahead on Chapter 2 soon -- and by extension, get a lot closer to the first Early Access release of CHORDIOID proper.

Thank you all very much for your patience and your enthusiasm. It's been a bumpy ride so far, but we'll get there in the end. I'm as dedicated to this funny little music game as ever, and I look forward to sharing more of it with you.

-Ash