A new blog on Steam states the team at Recreate Games “can feel the anticipation and anxiety of our players” and will be gradually releasing more information on the game’s progress. The game received an open demo in October 2020 but little has been heard since. However, the game is “still in development and the target release date is hopefully within 2022, with possible delays due to quality and compliance approvals. What I want players to know is that I want the game to be released as soon as possible (after all, this is the only source of income for the game studio), but quality is still the first priority.” In part, that’s because three times as many people are now directly involved in making the game. As such, “when the number of people reached a certain size, communication and process problems led to a significant decrease in efficiency”. The post describes this as “production hell”, comparing to CDPR and Rockstar. In addition, the lockdown in Shanghai - where the studio is based - has had a major impact. The post does at least show a fresh look at the game. That includes a look at some new adorable animal characters, as well as improved fur detail on avatars. The characters also have mouths now, so you can see tongues wagging and teeth chomping. The team has also been taking community suggestions into account, like a cute shark character and a samurai skin. If you’re unfamiliar, Party Animals is an adorable multiplayer party game with cute animals fighting each other - it’s part Fall Guys and part Gang Beasts. It was shown at last year’s E3 Xbox and Bethesda Showcase.
