Escape Line news & patch notes

Hi there：

Uh, actually, this is one of those "I don't know what to do either" situations.

I clearly told customer support to change the price on August 5th, but for some reason, after I submitted the price increase, the review went through yesterday...

I've been on a plane these past couple of days, so I didn't have time to post a new announcement on Steam in time. I've done my best to explain the situation to our player community on every other platform where I can post (Xiaohongshu/Tumblr/X).

It seems like it can't be claimed for free anymore, because the price was set so low that the discount range is very limited (now I can't apply a discount in the backend because it's not a launch sale; if I participate in a sale a few months later, the discount can only be 25% off). Uh, I really don't know what to do now—and I can't switch it back to free either (that would make it permanently free 🤦‍♂️).

I checked the backend data—about 80,000 claims so far. I can only hope most of you managed to grab the free eggs!

Hello everyone,

I'm Mo-Ring, the developer of this game.

I'd like to make an official statement regarding the pricing of Escape Line.

Since the game launched on Steam about a month ago, I've received a fair number of reviews. Plenty of positive ones — but also an increasing number of negative ones, especially from players in the Chinese region. The level of scrutiny toward free works has far exceeded my expectations. Some accused me of using AI to polish the text, and even after I provided hand-written drafts and process evidence, they refused to accept that this game was crafted by hand. Some private-messaged me to criticize the direction of the story. Some left negative reviews as leverage, demanding that I add achievement systems before they'd consider changing their rating. And some played despite clearly not enjoying the genre, and still passed judgment on the work.

I understand — and I support — everyone's right to express their opinion. Without negative reviews, the positive ones wouldn't shine as brightly.

But.

This is not the cycle I want.

Every creator who builds something out of love deserves to be treated with respect and kindness — not drowned in hostility and accusations.

I believe in: Prosperity, Democracy, Civility, Harmony, Freedom, Equality, Justice, Rule of Law, Patriotism, Dedication, Integrity, and Friendship. What I've always advocated for is a respectful, friendly space for exchange. I don't believe I should be treated as a punching bag for baseless hostility. So I'm setting a boundary.

On July 14, 2026, I posted a poll on Xiaohongshu asking whether I should switch to paid pricing. The results are almost in, and I'm finally able to make this difficult decision: