About
Hard Times
Midway through 2025, we secured a two-part investment deal that would guarantee us runway for at least a full year and allow us to fully launch Sparkball in 2026. Unfortunately, after several months of finalizing the paperwork, we were informed that the second, larger portion of the deal was no longer happening.
Given we had been building for full launch rather than early monetization, Sparkball is now in an incredibly tough spot with extremely limited funds and a tight timeline based solely on how much longer we can continue to keep the servers online. You can read our full announcement here.
But we wouldn't be very OPTI if we gave up that easily...
Operation: Save Sparkball
In two months since the news, and with only $100k, we've completely transformed and evolved Sparkball based on lessons learned from Steam Next Fest:
New dynamic Ball mechanics
Pro League + Fantasy Sparkball
Complete UI Refresh
Brand new FTUE
Training Bots
and a LOT more
These improvements are only a fraction of our final vision for a full release. Operation: Save Sparkball aims to prove that the world deserves to see that vision realized.
'Great Sparkball'
Our thesis for Operation: Save Sparkball is simple:
When you finally feel and experience Great Sparkball, you'll understand.
There's this magical moment that happens during playtests with players who have only played a few matches. They're finally starting to feel more comfortable and suddenly they find themselves deep in a competitively-matched round with buttcheeks clenched and hands sweating. And somehow, the entire game slows down for them. They start to see a few seconds into the future, identifying passing lanes and where their enemies will move. And regardless of which team scores the final goal, it's impossible not to lean back in your chair and say "omg that was intense"
We call this moment experiencing 'Great Sparkball' for the first time. It's when ballin' and brawlin' combine to become just... Sparkball. The game is fun even prior to this moment, but it completely transforms into an entirely new addictive experience afterwards.
Rather than simply aiming to acquire players, we're instead focusing exclusively on shepherding as many players as possible to experiencing that magical moment. This means deep and precise engagement rather than wide; a major shift in our former community and GTM strategies.
Why Save Sparkball?
We'll be the first admit that Sparkball's path to get here has been bumpy to say the least.
But throughout that journey, it's been undeniable that there's something uniquely magical about Sparkball. It's something that simply doesn't happen often anymore - it feels FRESH, like something you've never played before. A feeling you haven't had for awhile.
So despite starting as a bunch of idiots and building under constant uncertainty - each roadblock has forced an adaptation that's resulted in a massive leap forward each time. Operation: Save Sparkball is the culmination of all those evolutions that we believe showcases the massive opportunity and our ability to deliver on it.
How can I help?
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