Today Klang emerged from the atonal depths of development and was thrust into the wilds of Steam for everyone to feast on its euphoric beats and intense gameplay. Or, as anyone other than our Chief Marketing Officer (who was very proud of that intro) would say: “Klang has released on Steam. It’s awesome. Go buy it!”
Of course, Klang’s Steam release is not the only historical moment of note today. Today also marks the turning point of a three-year relationship between a parent and child. Yes, today Tom-Ivar, Klang’s sole developer, watched his child, Klang, take its first steps into the world.
For the past three years, Tom-Ivar poured his heart and soul into Klang: Meticulously designing and developing it the right way so Klang would become the game Tom-Ivar always hoped it would be. But as release drew near, Tom-Ivar grew restless. He obsessed over whether people would like Klang, forcing Klang to go through months of excruciating QA and play testing. He hovered over Klang 24/7, constantly fussing with it, even in public! It was embarrassing and taxed Klang’s ability to be cool. Tom-Ivar had become the dreaded helicopter parent!
Thankfully, Klang had a pretty cool uncle in bLiNd, its soundtrack composer. bLiNd took Klang to his hometown of Las Vegas and brought Klang to the hottest clubs, showed it how to properly use glow sticks and bought it its first Jägerbomb. bLiNd gave Klang an edge, some street smarts and an epic soundtrack. At the same time, however, bLiNd impressed upon Klang how much Tom-Ivar loved it and what a good Dad he was.
When Klang came back, it had changed. It had met someone: A Norwegian named Snow Cannon Games. Klang was more mature and independent. It told Tom-Ivar that Snow Cannon brought out the best in Klang and made Klang want to be an even better game. At that moment, Tom-Ivar knew it was time. After three years of being coddled in a warm development environment, Klang had become a good kid. A great kid even. At expos, Tom-Ivar saw that people liked Klang, standing in lines waiting to play. The press liked Klang too, calling it “an amazing rhythm platformer,” “incredibly impressive” and “one of the best indies this year.”
Today at 10 a.m. PST, with these things in mind, Tom-Ivar pressed “Publish” on Steam (under the careful supervision of Snow Cannon). As he watched Klang slowly climb from the “Upcoming” tab to Steam’s “New Releases” section, he quietly whispered into his mouse “Do Daddy proud, Klang.”