A Letter from the Developers of SPARK IGNITES

To Everyone Supporting SPARK IGNITES:

Hello, this is the team at Ignicorvus Studio.

First of all, thank you all for your support and for the feedback you've given us on the game.

We’ve rewritten this letter many times—stripping away the formalities—because we wanted to speak to you honestly.

Two years ago, our studio started with just three people.

We came together for one reason: we love games, and we have ideas. At first, we just wanted to try making a small game. But as we got deeper into development, we noticed that the global indie scene was already crowded with Roguelikes and Card games. We wanted to do something different.

We dreamed big—at one point, we even talked about making something like Game of Thrones, but set in a Chinese-inspired world. Reality quickly humbled us. With such a small team, no matter how hard we worked, we didn’t have the resources, experience, or bandwidth to pull off something that ambitious. Maybe one day we’ll take another shot at that vision, but for now, our priority is to make SPARK IGNITES the best it can be—and not let down those who believe in us.

In 2024, most of our time was spent figuring things out as we built: how to make the game both fun and unique, how to craft an art style that players would love. We chose to focus on art first. We spent two weeks just on a single scene in Brightsheaf—not to show off, but because we truly wanted to bring this world to life. There were missteps along the way. Last May, the animal-character version got labeled as “furry” by players—which caught us off guard, since we just thought animal designs were more memorable and distinctive. After seeking advice from industry veterans and listening closely to player feedback, we decided to scrap it and redesign the characters as humans. That process took months, but seeing the positive reactions now, we know it was worth it.

To be honest, our first Demo and Steam Next Fest performance were wake-up calls. Combat pacing, UI, performance—issues surfaced one after another, and we took notes on all of them. It became clear that beyond art, other parts of the game needed serious improvement. After Steam Next Fest, we reworked the combat system, rebuilt the prologue, and improved the growth system and entry descriptions. In February, the second demo revealed more issues—audio, mouse/keyboard controls, tutorials, and a lack of content to show system depth. We’ve been tackling those ever since.

By the time of our April 2 Early Access launch, most of the major issues players raised will be addressed. The rest—we want to finish together with you.

To be upfront: this isn’t a perfect game. But we’re working hard to make it better.

So, what’s in Early Access, and when will the game be finished?

The Early Access version includes the prologue through Chapter 2, with approximately 10 hours of content. We’ve spent a lot of time refining the narrative and combat for this section, and while it’s stable, it’s not yet where we want it to be. We’ll keep polishing.

The full version is planned to offer over 40 hours of content, and we expect it to take 9 to 15 months to complete. We’ll prioritize updates based on your feedback—so if something feels off, tell us.

We’ll fix it.

We wish we could launch with a complete game, but the realities of development led us to Early Access. We’re gamers ourselves, and as developers, we want to deliver a complete, satisfying experience. We’ve addressed the feedback from both demos one by one, and going forward, we look forward to refining the game together with our players—no more working in isolation.We know Early Access still has rough edges. We want to be transparent about that upfront, so no one buys the game and finds dealbreakers after crossing the two-hour refund window.

Where we still fall short:

• Tutorials are not clear enough — New player guidance is still too basic (reach out if you're confused!)

• The content quantity of each gameplay is insufficient - the structure and depth of the gameplay have been set, but the produced content is not enough to reflect the depth and strategic nature of this set of gameplay

• Narrative pacing is a work in progress — We’re still fine-tuning the rhythm of the story

• Music and sound effects are still being developed — We’ve brought on a professional audio team, but the results will take time. Some early scenes in EA won’t feel complete yet

• Future chapters are still in development — The full story is outlined, but it will take time to build and polish

What we really want to say

Over the past two years, we’ve come to realize something important:

We know what kind of game we want to make—but this game isn’t just for us. We want to create a game that players will truly enjoy. That’s why we need to listen to your feedback, and take our game from something that some people like to something that everyone can love. So we have to listen to the players' suggestions, make the game well with our heart, and make everyone like it.

During the process of playing, no matter where you feel something is wrong, where you feel irritated, or where you think is pretty good, please tell us. Help us figure out what to stick with and what to avoid.

Whether it’s criticism or even negative reviews, as long as it comes with honest feedback about what’s working or not, we’ll take it seriously.

Every member of our team reads the community feedback. We don’t just glance at it—we really try to understand what you’re saying and how we can improve the game. Your suggestions help us move forward with clarity.

So in order to show you the changes in the game, we make this promise:

• Monthly updates — Each month brings a new version with fixes, improvements, and content

• Open and transparent — We will clearly explain what has been updated.

• Not fool around — We would rather take our time and not cram things into the game that even we ourselves feel are perfunctory

• Story upgrades — We’re continuing to improve the depth and quality of the narrative

And here’s our development roadmap:

Steam post image We would like to express our gratitude to every player who is willing to accompany us during this stage. During the Early Access period, we will continue to update at the following pace:

• Hotfixes (As Needed) — Critical bugs or blockers will be patched immediately

• Minor updates — Experience improvements, loot and combat balancing, additional resources

• Major updates — New chapters, recruitable characters, new ruins dungeons and boss fights, expanded exploration

If you have any questions or thoughts while playing or watching, feel free to reach out.

We’re always around.

• Email: suggestion@ignicorvus.com

• Discord: Ignicorvus Studios

• Steam Community Hub

• YouTube: @IgnicorvusStudios-666

We’ll see your feedback no matter which platform you use. We’re a small team, so we might not be able to reply right away—thank you in advance for your patience.

Price

Our game enters Steam Early Access on April 1. Priced at $12.99 USD, with a 10% launch discount to $11.69 for the first two weeks.

During Early Access, prices may see minor adjustments as we roll out major updates and substantial content overhauls.

Finally,

SPARK IGNITES is a story about ordinary people who choose not to give up amid the ruins.

And in some ways, the journey of making this game has been no different.

Thank you for choosing to believe in us when the flame was still faint.

Ignicorvus Studio

March 31, 2026