100K Wishlists, Community Gameplay Test, and December at Ashborne Games

Greetings, Guildlings!

The holiday season is upon us, which will bring joy and festive fun to us at Ashborne Games! We’d like to shed some light on how development for our upcoming game, The Guild - Europa 1410, looks like in December, with festivities in full swing. We spoke with various members of our development team to learn how their tasks and responsibilities may unfold throughout December and the holiday season, and we’d like to share their perspectives and thoughts with you!

But first, we’d like to share that we surpassed 100k wishlists on Steam - big thanks to our lovely community for your unwavering support! We are touched by your excitement for The Guild - Europa 1410, which was also evident in the overwhelming interest in applications for our Community Gameplay Test. We sent out the first wave of invites this week, but if you didn’t receive an email so far, don’t fret - there will be more waves of invites to be sent out in the future. Thank you once more for all your support!

Steam post image A photo from our Ashborne Games Christmas Party

Now, onto our development team members' thoughts on December! We spoke to some members of our Ashborne Games team to learn what they’re up to during the holidays, and what their tasks looked like in the last month of 2025. Here are some of their thoughts:

“I think about the game all the time, and when ideas come, I immediately note them down - the game never leaves my head! I can be easily reminded of the game in my everyday life, and my brain quickly makes connections on how we can improve or implement something similar into The Guild - Europa 1410. I would love to say that December is calmer in terms of work, but it really isn’t - we have milestones to fulfil almost every month, and we worked hard for the Community Gameplay Test build.”

“I am looking forward to feeling refreshed after the holidays! I am looking forward to playing many board games and video games, as well as spending time with my family and friends.”

• Radim “Trpa”, our Creative Director

“Planning around the holidays gets a little bit tough, as colleagues tend to overestimate or underestimate their own desires and capacity to work before having time off during the holidays - so we have to take this into account when planning development tasks, and adaptability is definitely key to successful planning.”

“People in our team can use the holidays to be creative for The Guild - Europa 1410; they can take time to rest, think a little bit, and then turn their creative ideas into reality! As for me, I plan to learn Czech, listen to audiobooks, and solve some puzzles - all while covered in cats, of course.”

• Crina, our Managing Director

"December’s tasks for me were more general - I focused on many things, like voiceovers, designs, and texts for The Guild - Europa 1410. There were fewer people in the office because of the upcoming holidays, which made it a bit more relaxing in the office this December.”

“I’m missing home and thinking a lot about my family in Brazil. I would like to do some work over the holidays, but the truth is that I should probably sleep more."

• Rafa, our ninja and localization expert

“There’s work to be done for sure, but I don’t have to worry about the planning - I only ought to focus on doing my tasks. Our Production Team definitely took the holidays into account, and all my deliverables will definitely be done by the 22nd or so.”

“I will be happily resting over the holidays, knowing that everyone in the team is resting, too. I will rest without any guilt, knowing that I won’t need to work or help out during this time.”

• Lukáš “George”, our Programmer

“The work in December is a bit more relaxed, as it’s all planned with taking the holidays into account - so our deadlines are either set before the holidays, or after the holidays.”

“I will be resting for sure, but I take comfort in the fact that I can choose to add some things to The Guild - Europa 1410 over the holidays. It’s my free time, I can decide to add some things into the game if I want to!”

• Tomáš “Nesquick”, our Programmer

“Everything in December slows down; you feel like this means that there are fewer people in the office, but that’s not really the case in our team because we have some milestones and deadlines to work towards. Though there are indeed fewer tasks flowing in, because the holidays are just around the corner, I’m glad that I can get more things done before the holidays.”

“I intend on spending the holidays with my family, and we will visit other family members too! We will definitely bake gingerbread together, and most importantly, get some rest.”

• Jakub, our Artist

“We have been giving our very best as a team for The Guild - Europa 1410. December was very busy as we were doing plenty of planning and work towards preparing the build for the Community Gameplay Test, so I hope that everyone in our team will take their well-deserved rest and recovery over the holidays! This is important so that we all can continue doing our best again next year.”

“As for me, I am still getting used to December’s cold weather, because in Brazil, where I come from, it’s usually hot in December. Thankfully, working together with our Ashborne team feels so warm, as we are all friendly with each other - it definitely helps with not feeling alone. I hope to play very many video games over the holidays, spend some time with the family we’ve built away from home, and also put together the Ashborne-themed puzzle at home!”

• Sara, our Producer

Steam post image Our Ashborne Games puzzle, put together in our office

That’s all from us for now! Thank you for reading through this developer-focused spotlight. We at Ashborne Games wish you all a joyous and restful holiday season - we’ll see you in 2026!