New Year's 2025 Update (Patreon)

Happy New Year's Patrons!2024 is now behind us. The new year is ahead of us all. I wanted to take the time to make a detailed update on what is going to happen this year. Where we are, and where we're going, and all in-between.2024 was a lot of ups and downs for the channel. Seeing the release of "Sonic in Jurassic Park: T-Rex Chase" was an exciting time, and I'm glad it was overall well received. I had fully intended to finish "Sonic in JAWS: The Finale Reanimated" in September, but due to a bad flu that knocked me out for nearly 3 weeks, and some issues with the ocean simulator have caused a huge delay. I also had a previous obligation to do my part in the collab project and that took time away from JAWS. At the moment, I am working full time to get the video done as soon as I can. I do not have an exact release date, but it should be finished by the end of the month.After JAWS is complete, I will be moving back to working on "Sonic in Scared Stupid: The Final Chapter" full time. I have ambitions to finally finish the project that I started so long ago. When I originally announced the project, I had fully intended to work full time to finish it within a year or so. Unfortunately, that is right when YouTube's "Made for Kids" came and nearly destroyed my channel. It was a knife through the heart of the entire production. We had spent months getting models and assets ready only for our work to be deemed as toddler brain rot. Now that we've had more experience with dealing with MFK, and your generous pledges, we are ready to get back to work. I will see this project done even if it is the death of me. The story is going to be the best I've ever told. We've already gotten so much feedback about Mel and it's been nothing but love for her. We've had so many fans send us so much love for Mel. I can't wait for you to all see her in the movie.I currently have plans to attend this year's Sonic Revolution convention here in California. At the convention I plan to show off a new clip from the movie. So if you'll be attending this year, I hope you'll be excited!I have absolutely no release date window for the project, but I promise I won't wait around for Halloween to release it. I'll release it as soon as it's complete. Whether Valentines, or 4th of July, I will not leave you waiting. I do not expect it will be released this year, but 2026 is a safe bet.So now I have a bit of unfortunate news. We have unfortunately fallen way below the minimum stretch goal for the Patreon.I'm sure a few of you remember a few months ago when this Patreon shot up from around $2K a month, to $4K, to $5K. Much celebration was to be had. We made it. We did it. Sadly as I feared, it didn't last. This generosity was done by one amazing individual who truly believes in the future of this channel, however they have come into financial issues and had to back out. So as we stand right now, we're just scraping by $2.15k a month. This is a 60% decrease in revenue, and it has caused a lot of issues behind the scenes. This is why I cannot stress enough that we can't rely on just one person to keep this going, we need everyone. The more patrons we have, the more secure we are.Now, there is some hope. This individual is confident they will be able to bring their pledge back very soon. So for now, we have to suspend the Gold Member benefits such as Game Night, Movie Night, and Private Streams. There will still be the scheduled animation stream this Saturday for Gold Patrons, but after that they are on hold until we reach the goal again. I will still honor making a new "Christmas with Sonic" this year, however if the goal isn't reached after that then unfortunately they will have to be suspended as well.For anyone who is Bronze, or Silver, this may be a good time to consider upgrading your pledge. For Gold Members, if you wish to pledge more you can always do a custom pledge: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044376211-Managing-members-with-custom-pledgesI am currently running a week long sale on annual Gold Membership as well, so if you want to pledge annually now's a great time to do so!There is still hope left, but the odds are against us. I still have a lot left in me for years to come, but unfortunately in the current climate I am a relic, outdated, and just not made to survive in the age of Tik-Tok and YouTube Shorts. You are all that is keeping this channel alive, and I cannot thank you enough.Starting next week you will see the return of two updates a week. Every Tuesday a full render, and every Thursday a WIP animation (for Silver and Gold Members).If you have any questions, leave a comment or ping me on Discord.Take care-Steve