Hello and welcome to the end of another year!
As we bid farewell to 2022, like always, we wanted to leave off with a couple brief messages from members of our team. This has been a busy, busy year and we’ve really appreciated everyone’s support all throughout it. We’ve asked Melanie to put together a quick video to wrap things up, as she looks back on what we did this year and what’s coming in the next one.
Our next big project will be Summer at the Edge of the Universe, and we’re already hard at work on it. The last new piece of art we have to share for 2022 is this illustration of Summer, drawn by the game’s artist adirosa. In 2023, stay safe, stay healthy, and please, be happy.
Messages from Studio Élan
I only officially joined Elan recently, so it’s hard for me to reflect on the past year. Instead, let me express my excitement for the next year: being asked to work on National Park Girls way back when was how I officially got involved in this circle, and Twofold is the reason why that even happened in the first place. They’re both projects that are special to me for different reasons, and having both their releases mark my first full year at Elan makes me really happy. So happy new year, and see you again soon! – caps
Thanks to everyone at Studio Élan for a great 2022, and looking forward to an even better 2023! I’m glad I was able to be a part of Please Be Happy, and even more glad that people have been resonating so much with it! I hope you’ll love what we’re working on next, too! – Sarah
I joined Studio Élan back in August of 2022, so my reflections on the past year will be shorter… but I’m honored to be a part of a development team that I’ve admired for ages. (Like, back when Heart of the Woods was still in development!) I’m really happy Please Be Happy got its full release this year. It’s a beautiful, polished work and I’m glad everyone can finally experience Miho’s heartwarming story. I’m also intrigued by the new updates on Summer at The End of The Universe and Lock and Key – it’s nice to see them again after so long! I’m certain that 2023 will be a fantastic year for Studio Élan – and I look forward to doing even more great work for them in the future. Onwards and upwards! – Mado
It’s been half a decade since I started Studio Élan, and I remember at the time thinking I’d be lucky if I was still doing it now. I am, and I feel even more fortunate than I did back then. Every year getting to make these games alongside some of my favorite people in the world is a real honor, and I’m proud of everything we achieved in 2022. I’m even more excited about what’s coming next, and I really think our future couldn’t be brighter. – Josh
What a wild year 2022 has been! It’s crazy to think that our lil Studio has been around for 5 years now; I still remember how exciting it was when Josh first told me about his plans to create this wonderful team. And it’s even more exciting to see things kicking off in a major way! We over on team Magical Girl were thrilled to share our demo for Lock and Key: A Magical Girl Mystery with all of you, and we hope you’ll look forward to the full release next year. But of course, the real star of the show this year was the full release of Please Be Happy! I’m so proud of the team for making such an amazing game, and it was great to experience it myself (team Juliet ftw btw!) While things have been tough elsewhere, I’m going to keep on working hard for all of us! Here’s to a magical 2023! – Rachel
With 2022 coming to a close, it’s been over 3 years since I first started at Élan, throwing tweets your way that are sometimes funny. This year we met a lot of new faces and started working with lots of new people for different projects- some you’ve seen, some you’ll have to wait and see ♥ The visual novel sphere is rather small but I really love being able to still meet new, incredibly talented people within it and work with them on projects they’re passionate about. If anything, I hope you take a chance in 2023 to become passionate about something of your own and share that wonder with someone else. Here’s to better year for all of us, and congrats on making it another year. – Arimia
2022 has been a super cool year with Studio Élan. I learned how to do many things from everyone, and am still learning to improve. Helping release Please Be Happy weren’t goals I thought I would have back last year, but now Studio Élan and their projects are now apart of my new year’s goals. I’m looking forward to the future with everyone at the studio! -z04
2022 was a very transitory year. You’ve heard of liminal spaces? Well, meet liminal time. It was a lot of moving different people, things, and projects into place to set up the monster that will be 2023. Coattails folding into Elan and Please Be Happy releasing were part of greater incantation cast to facilitate the future, now our present. Going forward. we’re all playing for keeps. It’s like everything we’ve learned and every skill we’ve developed over the last ten years was preparing us for what comes next. It’s not quite tangible yet, but the vibe has shifted. How could I look at the conclusion of National Park Girls and Twofold, and the beginning of Summer, and not feel like there’s something big tiptoeing just beyond our sight? I don’t know what this great giant will look like when its head pokes over the horizon, but there is no better place than this studio, with these people, to face it down alongside of. Make no mistake about it —there is magic here. – Syon
What a year!!! Thank you for the continued love and support. It’s pretty wild to think that this makes 5 years of Élan development. We managed to release Please Be Happy this year, thank goodness – I hope you’ve enjoyed it! It was a creatively fulfilling and hectic year, but I’m not ready to stop just yet… Next stop, the edge of the universe! – adi
