Hello everybody, hope you’re all doing well.

If you’ve followed this project for a while, you’ll be aware of the ongoing difficulties relating to creative burnout and the continually slowing rate at which new content is being produced. It’s a lengthy tale, but the short version is that I’ve been completely creatively exhausted for quite some time now which is largely why things have been moving at such a glacial pace. I’ve long known that the correct action to address this issue would be for us to take a significant break from the project and only return once we’re feeling recharged and excited to get stuck back in.

Back in 2021, my employment at the time dissolved as a consequence of Covid-19, and thus Sileo became my full-time job. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long after that point that the creative burnout began to creep in and our progress began to slow. I tried a downright ridiculous number of things to tackle the burnout issue and get things back on track, but nothing worked. And because Sileo was the sole thing putting a roof over my head at the time, time off was simply not an option. I had little choice but to keep squeezing blood from that creative stone. And sadly, I think that stone has long bled dry.

Then, in recent months, Patreon made significant changes to their policies regarding NSFW content. I won’t go into the nitty gritty as these things have been discussed at length already by creators in the fandom and I’m certain almost all of you already know what it’s all about, but these changes have put us in a position where it feels as though we’re waiting for a guillotine to drop. Many of the changes necessary to comply with these new policies would severely compromise the kind of experience we want Sileo to be and the kind of content we want to deliver, and several of the other new policies are practically impossible to comply with at all.

Many other creators in the furry space have already been banned from Patreon as a consequence of these draconian policies, and terrifyingly, those creators have all lost access to any and all funds remaining on their Patreon accounts. This has resulted in financial ruin for a bunch of creators in this space already, and so, Sileo’s existence on Patreon has been living on borrowed time.

With circumstances being what they are, it became clear that my top priority needed to be breaking my financial dependence on the Patreon platform and Sileo as a whole. Thankfully, these efforts bore fruit, and I’m now back in regular employment. The threat of a sudden ban or continued burnout no longer threatens the roof over my head, and so I can breathe a sigh of relief. Phew. It also means that taking a much-needed break is now possible.

And so, that brings me to the crux of this post.

Effective immediately, our Patreon will be frozen. No more payments will be taken, and no new members or subscriptions will be accepted.

The Patreon will remain up for approximately a couple of weeks. You can use this opportunity to take copies of any previous Patreon-exclusive posts and content should you so wish. We will then be shutting the Patreon down for good. I'll post up-to-date collections of the artwork over the coming days for those who want them.

Please also know that you will still receive the final Patreon update as promised. Please ensure that the email address associated with your Patreon subscription is up to date prior to the Sileo Patreon Page going down. Everybody who has subscribed at any time since the last Patreon build was released will receive the final Patreon build via email upon its completion.

The Final Patreon Update will be the largest update we’ve ever released, but please understand that we cannot offer any kind of ETA at this time. Our first priority going forward will be taking a much-needed break to restore our creative energy so that we can come back refreshed and recharged when the time is right. When that time comes, we will work on this update behind the scenes and only reveal and release it once it is ready to go. The way I see it, the scale of such an update means that if we can’t pull that off, then we’re not ready to return. And if we are ready to return, then pulling this off will be the best possible proof that we’re back in action!

On the future of Sileo following the shutdown of our Patreon and this extended break, I want Sileo to go back to being a passion project and not something I need to do to pay the bills and what not. When doing what you love becomes a necessity to your survival, your relationship with that thing can change and twist into something very different indeed. I haven’t loved making Sileo like I used to for several years now, and there’s nothing I want more than for that to change. With that in mind, I strongly doubt we’ll pursue avenues of funding similar to Patreon in the future, though we’ll make any specific financial decisions together as a team at that time. Personally though, the idea of finishing Sileo because I want to and because I love what I do and not out of necessity for survival sounds pretty good to me.

So, with everything said, I want to thank you all so, so much for your support of us and our project. It has genuinely meant the world to me that so many of you love what we do enough to chip in and help us make the best visual novel we can. I’m sorry we’re in this situation and I take full responsibility for that. Things like making Sileo my primary source of income back in 2021 were decisions made with the best possible intentions, and choices that seemed right at the time. Of course, you know what they say about hindsight. Mistakes were made, and lessons were learned. I’ve always said that the last thing I would ever want is to leave Sileo unfinished, and that sentiment remains. This is not the end, we will return when the time is right, and we will come bearing gifts!

Thank you all once again.

With Love,

Xevvy~