- Thank You for 55k Wishlists! Dev Progress, New Promo Art & Viral 5M Views Reel! - 7 August 2026
First of all, huge thanks to everyone who wishlisted, followed or shared the game. After IGN released our new trailer, we got almost 50k wishlists in just a month, bringing the total to 55k at the moment. I'll share more details about this at the end of this announcement.Development ProgressThe game is slowly shaping up. We did an art pass, improving the look of the environment, adding grass, stones, and many other details to make sure the atmosphere is on point. But this brought optimization issues with all those new elements in the world, and I had to spend some time figuring out how to optimize it further.Additionally, I set up some of the settings menus with plenty of options in the graphical settings, where lowering the settings should make the game playable even on fairly slow computers. Since I was working on the settings, I connected the audio and a few more gameplay settings as…
- A Deeper Look at Dreadwoods Gatekeeper - Design, Gameplay and Plans - Devlog #2 - 6 July 2026
I recently finished the trailer and was lucky enough to have it picked up by awesome folk at IGN. Then I realized that people looking to learn more about the game are finding my first devlog video, which is now more than a year old and very outdated.So, I decided to make a new one and share deeper insights about the design, the story, and everything else.I recorded a video version of this same devlog. It has literally the same info, so feel free to choose whether you'd rather watch it (Warning: I'm not very good at YouTube yet ːsteamfacepalmː) or read this post.Before we start, I want to invite you to our Discord community where we can talk about what you think about the game's design, share your ideas, or just stay in the loop for when the early beta, the demo, and the full game are going to be released.Design, Gameplay and StoryLet's start with some design changes from the previous de…
- Big Updates: Rebranding, New Trailer, IGN Feature, and Demo Timeline! - 3 July 2026
Hi everyone! We're incredibly excited to finally update our two year old Steam page with completely new branding, screenshots, and an al new trailer! Also, a huge thanks to the kind folks at IGN who decided to share our trailer on their channel. If you're coming here from there: Welcome! Feel free to ask me anything you're curious about in the comments. My initial plan was to make Dreadwoods Gatekeeper in just one year, but it has already been about two years of full time work. It took a lot of back and forth to truly find direction. We actually put together a demo around 7 or 8 months ago, but I wasn't happy with it, so we scrapped it and overhauled the design. We have something much better now, but there's still plenty of work to be done before it can go live. I am currently aiming to have a public demo ready in about two months or so. However, we’ll be running alpha testing before th…
- We're Sharing the First Beta Keys! - 1 April 2026
EDIT: We have finished sharing this first round of beta keys. We are now making changes based on all the feedback and working on new content for the next version of the demo. You can sign up for this mailing list to get notified when a new demo or the full game is ready: https://mailchi.mp/7f23d1d0222d/dreadwoods-gatekeeper-email-subscription Or join our Discord. _______________________________________________________ We’ve just started sharing the first beta keys on our Discord. The game still needs plenty of work, and almost every feature needs polish. However, the core concept and gameplay are in place, and a 45–60 minute demo is ready. So I’ve decided to start sharing it to gather your feedback, which will help shape the game as development progresses. If you’re interested, hop into our Discord, message me (Darko), and I’ll send you a key. Alternatively, you can add me as a friend o…
- First Time Showcasing Dreadwoods Gatekeeper Beta At A Local Conference - 23 March 2026
Local Showcase After a year and a half of full-time development (and much longer on the side), I had a chance to show the first demo at a local gaming conference. It was awesome seeing people have fun playing the game. Progress and Discord Beta Demo I haven't shared progress here recently, but the game looks very different from the current Steam screenshots and trailer. I'll share more details in future announcements. Now, I want to review all the feedback, fix the obvious issues, and add a few more things. I found out about the conference two weeks before, so I worked from the moment I woke up until I went to bed in order to get it ready on time. But that means it still has a few issues and is missing a few things I'd really like to include. In a couple of weeks, once it's ready, I'll share beta keys on Discord. If you're curious, you can join us and get your hands on the demo soon. Hi…
- We’re a Part of Serbian Games Week! - 22 September 2025
We’re part of Serbian Games Week! Discover awesome games at a discount all week long. https://store.steampowered.com/sale/SerbianGamesWeek2025 Serbian Games Week Serbian Games Week - over 120 titles on the Steam sale event featuring Serbian games From Monday, September 22, gamers around the world will have the opportunity to browse, buy, or wishlist games made in Serbia. Some of over 120 games will be heavily discounted, while others will soon be published. The Serbian Games Association (SGA) has curated and launched Serbian Games Week, seven days of promotion and celebration of the success of the Serbian gaming ecosystem on Steam. There are more than 120 games on the list. It includes a wide variety of titles: from action, strategy and adventure, AA and indie projects, to games inspired by Slavic mythology. The search for the perfect game is made easier through categories and filters b…
- Breef Development Update - 13 September 2025
Hi! I wanted to share a quick update on the game development. I haven’t posted much here because many of the things I’ve been focused on weren’t very exciting to show, like task and progression structure, save game systems, refactoring, and dialogue system updates. Since this is my first 3D game, a lot of work has gone into making sure the small town can change and adapt as the player progresses through the story. The good news is that development is moving steadily forward, and we’re getting closer and closer to the demo!The 2D artist who worked with me on my previous games (Like: “Gladiator Guild Manager”), has really leveled up in 3D. He created a dozen characters and prepared the town and forest assets with style we’re going for.I don’t want to spoil too much yet, since I’ll be preparing a brand-new trailer that will serve as the actual game reveal. The current trailer and screensho…
- Progress After 4 Months of Development - Video Showing Gameplay - 7 April 2025
Hello! It’s been 4 months since I started working on Dreadwoods Gatekeeper full time, and here’s the progress. In this video, I show all that’s been made and talk about plans for the game as we play through the simple demo together. I’d love to hear your opinion. I am still working on some parts of the design, so your feedback can influence the game now while it’s still this early in development. Note that the Steam trailer looks better than the demo at the moment because we created a separate project specifically for the trailer and for exploring the art style we liked. But then I started a new clean project for the actual game. We’ll make it look even better than the trailer eventually, but for now, the focus is on gameplay. Development Progress I made very basic features that cover many of the currently planned gameplay. The game will lean heavily into the story, but I want to make s…
- Dreadwoods Gatekeeper in Full Production: Development Plan, Dates, and Progress - 23 December 2024
Hello everyone! Happy holidays and a wonderful New Year to you all! I’m excited to share that I’ve officially started working on Dreadwoods Gatekeeper full-time. What Is Dreadwoods Gatekeeper? Story It’s a narrative horror game set in a medieval fantasy world. You’ll step into the role of a new gatekeeper in the eerie town of Dreadwoods. Here, the townsfolk believe many things. They barricade themselves during the “Witch Hour,” signaled by the bell tolls of the ominous Skyward Minister, believed to curse anyone who looks at it directly. The old guard has been found dead, fueling new rumors of a monster hunting the townsfolk. Gameplay The game combines light simulation gameplay with a horror mystery narrative. As the gatekeeper, you’ll meet a variety of characters, manage the gate by inspecting and taxing wagons, patrol the town, and defend against threats using your bow. The protagonist…
- Dreadwoods Gatekeeper's Steam Page Is Now Live! Discuss Development Plans! - 4 April 2024
Dreadwoods Gatekeeper's Steam page is finally live! I've been designing, writing, and doing a bit of coding on this project for the last 2 years whenever I found time between my full-time project. I've had a desire to make this sort of gritty, story-driven game for a long time now, but each idea or story script just wasn't good enough and ended up being discarded. Several months ago, I finally arrived at a story, style, and gameplay that I am very happy with, so it was time to get back to it, set up the Steam page, and make it official. I’ll be busy for the next 3 months, so there won’t be many big updates until then. But after that, I’ll be doing monthly updates. You can follow this Steam page to see the progress or join our Discord. As soon as the first demo is finished, I'll share it with the community here. And I'll keep sharing the progress and beta versions during development for…
