We've been quiet for a couple of months as things have been brewing and it's never quite felt like the right time to share, but as we get into spooky season we have a few exciting pieces of news to share with you all. We'll go into detail in a moment, but to not hold anything back:
- The Haunting of Joni Evers is back under creator control! We have reclaimed the publishing rights and are excited to control our own destiny moving forward.
- The Haunting of Joni Evers is on sale (30% discount) during Steam Scream Fest. We're also bundled with Arctic Awakening from our friends at Goldfire Studios for a limited time.
- We won three Collision Awards this Summer - Voice Performance (Gold), Narrative (Silver), and Audience Choice, thanks to your support!
- Joni made it to the audience voting phase of the Horror Game Awards Players' Choice award!
- We've updated Joni with a number of quality of life features (full patch notes on Steam).
- We're holding an interactive developer commentary live event in our Discord server on November 1.
- We've expanded our leadership team with two experienced developers!
Award-Winning and Self-Published
The Haunting of Joni Evers is now an award-winning game! This Summer, we were recognized for excellence in Voice Acting (for Kelly Pekar's breathtaking performance) as well as Narrative, all alongside winning the Audience Choice award thanks to your votes and support. We hope this is just the beginning for our hidden gem.
We also made it to the first round of voting for the Players' Choice award as part of the Horror Game Awards! This first round runs until Saturday, November 1st, so please cast your vote for The Haunting of Joni Evers today!
Beyond the awards, we have also reclaimed the publishing rights to Joni and are self-publishing the game going forward. We've learned a lot over the past year and are excited to be in control of our destiny, especially as we start to make plans for our next title.
Now is an excellent time to pick up our award-winning game, or to share it with your friends! Joni is 30% off for Steam Scream until November 3rd.
Break Down: A brand-new vignette from the Worlds Across the Causeway
The engine of a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air squeaks and puffs as it putters down a lonely highway. Erin Olsen grips the wheel with a single hand, unable to relax. She stares out at the wide open alpine plains of the San Luis Valley, mountains looming in the distance. Her thoughts wander.
It’s colder here than she expected. Her dear uncle would kill her if he knew the condition she’d let the car degrade to. She couldn’t explain what she’d seen, or why she’d ran — there it is — her knuckles grow white and her mind races to find another train of thought.
Over the radio, a signal finds purchase. “Nothing I Need” by Lord Huron begins to play.
The sun falls below a high peak of a distant mountain. Erin didn’t realize so much time had passed.
A loud POP jolts her and a small stream of black smoke seeps from under the hood.
She pulls into the driveway of a structure she didn’t remember seeing. It’s dark now. Neon signs for the combo Hotel and Drive-In bathe the car’s interior, creating an otherworldly glow.
“I got everything I want, and I got nothing that I need,” Erin says in a trance.
Something calls to her. Seeing a movie couldn’t hurt. It’s not like she had much of a choice. She’d reached the end of the road.
A Live, Interactive Developer Commentary
This Saturday we'll be kicking off a Director’s Commentary event in our Discord server. Joni was a labor of love with deeply personal connections for each of us. We’re going to peel back the layers as Creative Director Greg Rogers and Studio Director Kjartan Kennedy walk us through the game, share development learnings, and discuss the challenges and successes of shipping our first game.
If you’d like to attend live, please join us in our Discord server, where we’ll be holding this event on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 10 AM PT / 11 AM MT / 12 PM CT / 1 PM ET in the Causeway Studios Discord server. We’d love for you to join the Discord server and participate in this exciting event.
Don’t worry if you can’t join us, though. We’ll be sharing the video on demand after we have time to edit and post the footage.
Expanding the Team
As we get further into development on our next game, we're excited to share that Amanda Farough (Director of Production and Principal Narrative Designer) and Mike Futter (Director of Operations and Publishing) have joined our leadership team! We're delighted to have their experience and expertise helping guide the development of our second title.
Beings From Beyond - The Skull Man: A vignette from the Worlds Across the Causeway
No one knows from whence this baleful being came, nor what his true name might be. What we do know is this “man” travels with sinister intent. Eye-witnesses have described him as “sharply-dressed” in a three-piece suit, his barren skull often adorned with a porkpie hat. Facts about the creature are slim, as the Skull Man seemingly reveals himself only to those for which he already has plans — plans that rarely end well for the witness.
We hope to see you on Saturday for our live developer commentary: come prepared with your questions about the game, the story, development, and the Worlds Across the Causeway!
Until we meet again along the Causeway,
Kjartan Kennedy, Studio Director