Covenant of Morn | Development Canceled
As of today, I’m officially canceling the development of Covenant of Morn and shifting my full focus to My Girl Loves Handcuffs.
This has been a decision I’ve struggled with for weeks—honestly, for months—and it’s been weighing heavily on me. But after a lot of thought, I’ve realized that I simply can’t keep developing CoM any longer. Financially and mentally, it’s drained me to a point where it’s no longer sustainable.
I want to deeply and sincerely apologize to everyone who supported this project and hoped to see it finished.
Knowing I’m disappointing some of you has been haunting my thoughts—and even my dreams—but I’ve reached the point where I no longer have a real choice.
I’m sorry. You’ve paid money for this project, and I failed to deliver.
That’s hard to admit, but I want to be transparent and explain why I made this decision. There are two main reasons—one financial, one mental—and while both matter, one weighs far more heavily than the other.
Finances
When Itch.io removed adult games from their platform, I lost about half my income overnight.
I’ve always lived simply: a cheap apartment in a part of town no one wants to be in, no car, no expensive hobbies. My only “luxury” is my overpowered PC—which, thankfully, counts as a business expense.
Even with that, I have to stay realistic. Covenant of Morn has been losing money since the start. It never caught on the way MIST did. I knew that, but I hoped it might turn around. I wanted to keep going because I genuinely loved the idea of it.
Now, three years later, it’s still not financially viable.
With half my income gone, I’m facing the real possibility that I won’t be able to keep doing game development full-time if things don’t change.
I hate to say it, but I simply can’t afford to keep developing CoM until completion.
But that’s only part of the story—and not even the most important part.
Mentally
The truth is, I can’t focus anymore.
No matter what I try—different schedules, new methods, mindset tricks—it doesn’t help. I can’t stay concentrated on CoM for more than an hour. It’s not because I stopped caring; I still love the concept and the world.
But for the last two years, every update has felt like running into a wall. I’d pour everything into it, release it, and feel unsatisfied. Then I’d push myself up for the next one, only to end up disappointed again—by the reception, by the results, by how far it fell short of what I imagined.
From the very beginning, my ideas were too big, too complex, too ambitious, just convoluted. I knew I was biting off more than I could chew, but I believed I could manage it through sheer motivation. I was wrong. Those expectations I built for myself ended up killing the joy I once had for making games.
A few months ago, CoM started to feel like it was crushing me. That’s when I decided to give a small side project a try—a project I’d been thinking about for a while but always put off because I didn’t want to take time away from CoM.
That side project became My Girl Loves Handcuffs—and it changed everything.
Suddenly, I was having fun again. I could work for hours without noticing the time passing. I loved designing the UI, creating minigames, writing scenes. It felt like discovering game development all over again.
When I released the first update, I felt genuinely excited to return to CoM—but when I opened the files again, it hit me.
That same heavy, suffocating feeling returned. The sense that every click and every render was a burden.
I tried to fight it for two more months, but it didn’t go away. Every minute working on CoM was draining the joy from my days—even after I stopped working. It was clear: I had to choose between stopping CoM or stopping game development altogether.
And so, I’m choosing to let CoM go.
Looking Forward
The development of Covenant of Morn is officially canceled.
I know this will disappoint some of you, and I’m truly, sorry. But I’m not giving up on making adult games. I still love creating them, I learned that now—and I want to keep doing that in a way that’s sustainable and enjoyable again.
From now on, I’ve promised myself that every project I take on must be something I can realistically develop within a year to a year and a half. Smaller scope, more focus, more fun and ways to play around and just try things out.
My Girl Loves Handcuffs is exactly that: a project that reminds me why I started making games in the first place. It’s playful, creative, and manageable. And I’m excited to keep expanding it.
After that—who knows? Maybe a fantasy dungeon crawler with a monster girl.
Maybe a survival game on a mysterious island.
Maybe a supernatural farming sim.
Maybe a haunted house with a sexy ghost.
I don’t know what comes next. I’m prepared for Patreon to take a hit after this decision—but I also know it’s the right call. Kind of the only call for my well being.
I’m sad that Covenant of Morn didn’t make it, but I’m also excited again—for My Girl Loves Handcuffs, and everything that might come after.
Thank you for understanding. Thank you for years of your support. Thank you for giving me the chance to keep doing what I love so much.
Comments (23)
I get it. CoM was, to be frank, too dark for my liking. The art was fantastic, though, and I'll miss it. But I've learned that it's not wise to get attached to unfinished games. I have enjoy MGLH, but that's not much my cup of tea either, but perhaps it will evolve. Mist was great, not too dark. Good luck!
Hi Dev at first it I didn't take the news well about the cancelation of CoM but hearing your reasoning I understood why you've come to this decision. I don't know what comes next after MGLH if you will re-work the entire CoM or start a new project but I can tell you that whatever you do in life please enjoy and take satisfaction out of it otherwise you wouldn't love your game the way the players loves it or take satisfaction out of your work the way us players did with Mist and CoM. I don't know what comes next for you Dev but if you did a CoM remake or start a new project don't ever make your work a burden
While I won't lie and say I didn't feel disappointed, I can also say that I would rather you work on something you enjoy then trudge through something that will only cause you frustration. I can say however I was a big fan of that way you made the characters thus far. I can only hope that if you were to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch that the characters in essence stayed the same, or if you moved onto another game that I could find characters that fit their niche. lastly I can happily say in all the work I have seen you create I am excited to see how much you have grown as a person in knowledge as you have even started making characters with a great variety of body plans.
While the new game is not for my taste, I respect that you were open with your decision and have willpower to share it with our audience, instead of hiding behind a rock. Best of luck for you!
A shame, I enjoyed CoM. But I know whatever you end up making will be great.
I will sadly miss my favorite maid but I wouldn't have had her in the 1st place if you felt you were making something out of obligation instead of passion, so i'll respect the decision. did enjoy the new game as well, so can't wait to see how you expand on it.
I hadn't said anything before because I didn't want to be a downer, but I was not enjoying CoM. I was hoping at some point it would turn around and I could enjoy it, but I haven't gotten there yet. I don't know if it's that I just don't have more than 30 minutes a day to invest in a game, or if the fantasy is just too much for me, but I really just wasn't getting it. In spite of that, it's still better to fail at this, and continue something else, rather than do what most artists do and keep pushing until total failure and give up entirely. I deeply enjoyed your other project, so as far as I am concerned, I would rather this outcome than the other option. And if you ever feel the need, that old project is still there, but with no pressure now. So if you ever feel like your skills are desperate for a challenge, you could knock out a half hour or more just to see if you still have it. Or if you open it back up, and feel that same dread, just close it again. No harm done. So thank you for giving up on it, but not then lying to us about "going to get xxx done this week, then release some next week" only for that to not happen over and over. I've already dropped 8 devs that felt just like you, but would lie about releasing something next week, then 2 months later, they drop a wall paper.
If there is only one thing I have learned in the world of AVN's it is that if you do not love what you are doing, you have to give up and move to something you do love. You will do yourself a favor, and your fans as well. Mostly because you do a much better job when you love what you are doing. I personally think you have always done a good job with your games and I really like your art a lot. Hopefully you will be successful enough to continue. I have seen that it is still possible to still be successful, even now, so there is always hope.
My disapointment would be bigger if i didnt love MGLH so much. Maybe focus on smaller projects.
It’s great that you decided to do what was best for you and pull the plug. Com didn’t catch like mist did and honestly it’s better just to abandon a sinking ship than desperately trying to keep it afloat.
Really I may be one of the few here, but I'm sad to hear CoM is being discontinued. That said, it's understandable given the community history. Looking forward to your future works!
CoM kinda went tits up from the start tbh, was constant drama from the begging and despite liking Mist i never felt compelled to play CoM, hell i didnt play it till like a year ago. It didnt have the broad appeal of mist either.
hope it ll get better to you man. I know the struggle and how enlightning it is when you finally found back a project you love. Don't bash your head too much on the wall about it. CoM didn't made it through, but i know you ll.
I'm chalking this up to recognizing CoM wasn't panning out like you hoped and I appreciate that you could bring yourself to pull the plug on it instead of keeping what would likely be a dead project anyway on life support. I'll stick around a while longer to see how your new project will turn out.
I very sad Covenant of Morn didn't make through, i know most of the player expected something like a MIST sequel for this game, maybe that's why it didn't get more attention. I really hope one day when you'll feel better, when you'll have a better financial situation, when you'll have the desire to work on it, that this day Covenant of Morn will come back to life even if it means to start from scraps and redo everything. I love your games, don't lose hope and continue to do what you like, as long as you are feeling fine and love your passion everything will be alright ! I wish you the best.
The itch.io incident really hit us hard, I'm just lucky that our base game is free so we survived. I liked Mist a lot but the new one isn't really my thing. And the possibility of monster girl game? Hell yes! I'll try helping but upping my membership by a little until at least after the announcement on the next game. It's not much but let's help each others during these trying times~
Hope you're doing okay. Mist was great, and I kind of just... never actually started Morn, I wanted to wait until it was finished. Not been in a position to support, but I will try and chip in a month at some point to pick it up, and play what is there. Sorry it didn't work out - hope the new project keeps you going, and hey - maybe one day you'll look at the old folder, and feel the inspiration to dust it off
I'm so sorry you are going through all of this, and its totally understandable, even if some people might lack the ability to understand and empathize, a large (possibly silent) majority will. The puritan attack on payment processors has hurt a lot of people. I can only hope that a seperate payment processor will enter the field, and allow developers like yourself to thrive, rather then survive. Either way, your mental health comes first like Jay said. I am happy to read you have found the spark again, and wish you good luck.
Your mental heath comes first.
MIST is atmospheric and good. CotM was atmospheric, but not so good. It's sad, that another story rich game sunk, but let's be realistic - if you, as an author can't deal with it, how we as player's will? :-D So recharge and recuperate, plan ahead and most importantly - have fun!
Understandable, when's there's little pros, it's hard to keep doing it. I understand your decision.
Sad to hear but understandable decision hope it works for you
... Great, ANOTHER game I like shit canned. .... Sorry. I'm canceling my sub. I'm just... tired of this.