I signed. I don't understand this extreme delay between ND games and it does seem like the Nancy fans do at least deserve a strait answer on a timetable for release even if that answer is 'we're not even working on it right now'.

Thanks for signing, Outlast.

HeR isn't really telling us anything, but if you read this article from May 2015 it's pretty easy to put two-and-two together. A little research/googling, and a lot of things become more clear. Lani was let go in late 2014 after she did the voice work for SEA and a few months after the new CEO was hired. That article was from May 2015, around the time that Sea of Darkness was released. Checking Linked In, where you can view an individual's employment history, gives you an idea of how many of the key players in the development team of the ND series were let go. For the next year, all attention was focused on Codes and Clues (most of which was presumably outsourced). They basically had no development team left save for the game designer, who apparently provided some design assistance on Codes and Clues. During this time, Midnight in Salem was obviously put on the back burner. Finally HeR Interactive put up a webpage for Midnight in Salem last year which consisted of character art and descriptions, along with a game description (which was a rough draft that had been written by the writer of SEA before she also left the company - since rewritten by someone else after comments that it didn't sound very polished - the writer herself on Twitter lamented the fact that it had been posted in that condition). I honestly think that the game page was put up in an attempt to placate fans who were continually asking questions about Midnight in Salem, or else we would not have seen that at all. Subsequently the game designer left HeR Interactive, seemingly the last person who was still there from the core team. Now we have learned that the game is being outsourced. They are telling us that outsourcing is nothing new for the ND series; that all of the work done on prior games was never 100% internal. What they are not mentioning is the fact that outsourcing for music, VA, and some character art is a far cry from outsourcing the entire game, which appears to be the case. And yes, the new Unity game engine might have made development take a bit longer, but not this long.

The big mystery now is why they are seemingly so reluctant to provide fans with an update. Surely they know what is going on concerning the status of the game, even if they are not the ones actually making it.

I love the last line of the article I linked to, by the way:

"A big part of my job will be to accelerate our ability to bring innovative games and apps to our customers more quickly.”

They probably just don't want to admit they made a HUGE mistake (or three or ten).

Yes. But despite everything, I would still like to see the company get back on track. There may be too many obstacles to overcome at this point, though.

The "new CEO" killed the company, and is probably laughing all the way to the bank with her paycheck. Too bad she can't be sued for her idiotic mismanagement.

There's a lot of discussion about all of this on Reddit. One ex-employee that was part of the 2015 layoffs said that the whole team had been excited and enthusiastic at the prospect of developing Midnight in Salem. It's all very depressing.

ive been waiting ever since 2016 and here its 2017 dont they know that were waiting for it to come out lol

They certainly do know - people are bashing them and complaining about it pretty much every day on Facebook. All they are saying at the moment is that good progress on the game is being made but that they can't give us a release date as yet. The game is being outsourced, so who knows what will ultimately happen.

they still will not, all they have is characters and one screenshot on the page nothing else.

Something weird is going on! Why all the mystery? No reasonable explanations or information. I have a feeling we might never see Midnight In Salem. I go to the HER forum but nothing is being said. There are a lot of young fans of the Nancy Drew games who must be very upset and frustrated. This is just plain ridiculous! There would be a lot of revenue coming into the company. Why are they dragging their heels? I don't get it!

I guess I'll pull out my copy of "Curse Of Blacknoor Manor" (my favorite) and get my Nancy Drew fix!

After many months of fans posting on HeR Interactive's Facebook page, pleading for answers/news about Midnight in Salem, the company posted this two days ago:

"Dear Fans,

Please know that we are still in the process of developing Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem but do not have any additional news or a release date to announce at this time. We apologize for the delay as we are updating the game engine, UI, graphics and more to improve the overall quality of the games. We thank you for your patience."

And also this:

"Despite our best attempts to answer everyone's emails, posts, tweets, blog posts, etc. about Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem...we admittedly do miss some. And hey, we’re only human, so sometimes we inadvertently miss responding to a post. Hence, we felt it would be appropriate to post the attached message. Our goal is to have a more substantial update for you very shortly. We appreciate your patience during this unprecedented shift at HeR Interactive. Please know that we are not ignoring you but we are a very lean team and simply can't respond to everything. We are doing the very best we can. Also, please know that just because we offer a new Nancy Drew puzzle or start a new Nancy Drew contest, that it has no impact on the development and progress of our next title. Our fans mean the world to us and we appreciate you sticking by us during this longer than usual wait time between titles. As always, we thank you for your support and stay sleuthy!"

Nothing really new here, but I thought I would pass this along for those who do not read HeR Interactive's Facebook page.

Thanks Marian!

My sentiments exactly, MaG.

The "very lean team" reference - the irony of that does not escape me. The team is that way because the CEO let everyone else go. Not to mention the fact that the game is being outsourced and not being developed in house.

Thanks, Marian! They said a lot and nothing at all.

Bingo, Ana!

thanks a lot HER!

why in the heck is it taking so long? HER used to put out 2 games a year! Is ineptness the reason? HER has been run right into the ground.

Maybe a different company should take over the Nancy Drew franchise.

There are people who have expressed a wish that this will happen.

I get regular newsletters and here is the latest.
https://www.herinteractive.com/community/contests/

All we are getting is this [blip]! No news of a new game. I just had to share!


I got "blipped"! Well you get the message.

I've honestly given up on hearing news about Midnight in Salem for now. Maybe someday we will hear more, but thinking about it all the time was just depressing me, so I have tried to move on.

At this point I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if their next game announcement is Codes and Clues 2.

I'm giving up too!

i am not i am doing 1-32 i am on 18.

I have seen several people say that they are playing the entire series in order, in the hopes that when they are done there will be some news about MID.

I am replaying my ND games. I am now playing Curse Of Blackmoor Manor . (My favorite) Now that I am using windows 10, which I dislike, some of the older games won't play. So I downloaded the games from Big Fish Games for $6.99 each and they are all playing except "Stay Tuned For Danger". I can find nothing online that will help the game function. But it is not one of my favorites anyway. So no great loss. All of the other old games play perfectly. I'm glad that I can download them so cheaply from Big Fish Games.

Penny Lane, if you want to discuss how to get all of the ND games to run in Windows 10, feel free to post in the Glitches forum. Many Windows 10 users have reported that they have gotten all of the games to run, and Her Interactive says that the games will all run on Windows 10 by using a different installation method.