Three Cheers for 2024!

Hello fellow sleuths! 2024 has been one CRAZY year. I want to do some summarizing as we head into 2025!

When I started 2024, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know that HeR Interactive was going to release a new game. I didn't know I was going to be doing the least amount of content creation I've ever done. Life always has plans that we can NEVER anticipate.

For those that have followed me and my YouTube channel with devotion, I'm sure you'll have noticed my disappearance off and on this year, especially starting after KEY launched. I gave my reasons here and there, but I did have a proper reason for my disappearances which is still my reason today. If you know you know, but if you don't, then you'll have to keep on guessing! Regardless, I want to say that I haven't disappeared completely, and I haven't gone away because I don't want to make content anymore. I've just been in the middle of a LOT of real-life stuff which has been such a joy to experience. I still follow the latest HeR Interactive news very closely despite not being as involved in the community as I have been known to be. I've also been working on stuff behind the scenes, and one project in particular for the last few months that I'm VERY excited about. I'm hoping to release it next year. I've been dreaming of this project for several years and am excited to finally have it underway. Next year also marks the 10 year anniversary of my channel which continues to blow my mind, so I've got some stuff planned for that, too!

HeR Interactive, on the other hand, has had a bit of a... tumultuous year. They launched Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys on May 7th. It was one of the most highly anticipated games that they had ever launched. They had a crazy marketing campaign that spanned more than a year, and some fans started to express strong concern about how long it was lasting without a definitive end. When the game finally released, it had a bit of a rocky start as there were game-breaking bugs that happened within the first 10 minutes of the game when it launched in a specific game mode. They also didn't launch the game immediately on Steam or open physical pre-orders until the following month. On top of that, when the game launched on Steam, it was getting several negative reviews VERY quickly. To this day, the steam score sits at about 60% giving the game a "Mixed" rating on Steam. The physical copies had several issues, too. The biggest concern for fans was that the pre-order copies were all "made to order" which means that they opened pre-orders for a set period of time, calculated how many copies to make based on how many pre-ordered, then got them printed. It took several months for the physical copies to actually print and get shipped. It was a little distressing for some fans as HeR Interactive would never provide a concrete date or give solid updates on the production. When the games finally did ship in September, Digital River cancelled about 7% of the pre-orders because they couldn't actually authorize the credit card purchase for some customers. HeR Interactive released a statement about the unfortunate situation, and some fans felt that HeR was putting some of the blame on fans for not having updated their credit cards, not having enough funds, etc. Just to cap it all off, Digital River stopped paying their clients and HeR Interactive switched storefront hosts earlier this month. I cannot wait to see what's in store for HeR next year!

In short, I think that because of all the craziness that conspired because of the launch of the 34th game, HeR Interactive might have some ground to cover in terms of fixing things with their fanbase. KEY didn't surpass fan expectations, and for some, didn't even come close to meeting the bare minimum of expectations. I even saw a multitude of fans say they preferred Midnight in Salem over this game. Personally, I really loved Mystery of the Seven Keys. There were some things I didn't love about it, but there were other things I thought were fantastic. I know that HeR took all the feedback from MID and did their best to translate it into the new game. I'm hoping they do the same with game 35, while also really taking into account why the first 32 games were incredibly successful compared to the last 2 releases. I really want to make a video talking about all the things I liked and disliked about KEY, and I need to finish making that list of stuff (it is a work in progress, I promise!).

Anyways, I still love Nancy Drew and I still love HeR Interactive! What kind of things are you hoping to achieve in 2025? Is there anything that you are hoping to see from HeR Interactive? I would LOVE to hear all the things y'all have in your plans, so let me know in the comment section down below!

I want to say, too, just how thankful and humbled I am to have the most amazing community surrounding me. I couldn't have ever expected to have had stumbled upon such an incredible group of people, and I've been so blessed by it all. Thank you, and I cannot wait to share in more amazing adventures next year!

That about wraps it up for this post. Until next year, detectives!

​Huw

P.S. - I'm still trying to get a job with HeR Interactive. I feel like I'm making slow progress, but we'll have to see!