BREAKING: On Friday, we will be providing a sneak peek of the character art for Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem i cannot wait for friday.

I saw this announcement on Her Interactive's Facebook page - it's good to be getting this reassurance that they are working on the game. It would be even better if we could get some idea of a release date, but whether or not that will happen on Friday as well is anyone's guess.

It was funny to read the poster comments in response to this on Facebook. Kind of like a pack of wild dogs waiting to pounce on the tiniest morsel of food offered.

Thanks, family.

you are welcome, one character is up on the:r facebook mel parris second character next week.

they have the preview trailer for this game on their facebook with the characters. but the page isn't up. never mind they pulled it.

I just looked at the new (and presumably last) character reveal. I was hoping for some more information about the game (screenshots, idea of a release date, etc.), but I am not finding anything.

they didn't release anything but the characters, they had a preview trailer, but they pull it, with the one from sea of darkness ending, i think it is coming out next year.

I agree that it is probably coming out next year. The biggest favor they could do us right now is to just let us know whether there is a chance that the game will be released this year. I would feel so much better knowing, one way or the other. And I would think it likely at this point, with only four months left of the year, they could tell us that.

i agree and i disappointed with them for not telling this, i just got throught emailing them, i hope they say something. this is what they said.Unfortunately, at this time, we do not have a more specific ETA for Nancy Drew: #33 Midnight in Salem than what was provided in our December 2015 letter on our website: http://www.herinteractive.com/about-us/news/ ; nor have we set the date for pre-orders. I'm sorry we do not have more information to share at this time and hope we will have an update for the fan base soon.

There has been a bit of buzz around the office, which leads me to believe we may share some additional artwork from the upcoming game (for the past few Fridays we have shared character images on the Amateur Sleuth Blog as well as our Facebook page), Nancy Drew: #33 Midnight in Salem, in the coming days.....so, please keep an eye on our social media channels (particularly Facebook and Twitter) and the Amateur Sleuth Blog.

Thank you for your patience and for supporting HeR Interactive and Nancy Drew Games!

Thanks, family. It would be nice to get some additional artwork, anyway. I sure hope that they will be able to give us an update in the next month or so.

you are welcome, that is what they wrote me.

when does the game midnight in salem comes

We do not know. It sounds like they might be announcing a release date in November. I would not get my hopes up for the game coming out before sometime in 2017, however.

the page is up on her interactive

Wow - thank you for the heads up! No release date announced yet, but it's still good to see this.

Here's the link for anyone who is interested:

Midnight in Salem webpage

you are welcome.

They have also released an October newsletter, which reads as follows:



At least they are finally saying *something*. It doesn't sound like the new game will be out until next year sometime, though.

I received my Nancy Drew Newsletter today. No release date but Nov. 1 seems plausible! It's been a long long wait! Hopefully HerInteractive will go back to producing 2 new games a year as they have in the past. I have always thought that Salem would be a perfect venue for a Nancy Drew game.I sure do hope that Midnight In Salem will be worth the wait!Happy Halloween everyone!

Nice to see you, Marlene.

I don't think November 1st is a plausible release date at all, though I wish that were the case. Unless they are misrepresenting their progress in order to surprise fans, it sounds like the game is still a good ways off.

Hi Marian!
Yes , I think you're right. I was referring to earlier posts that October was out of the question so I guess it is wishful thinking on my part to hope for a November release. What in the heck is going on with HerInteractive? I never really got to know the facts. If they keep this up people will lose interest. I have been a faithful customer and have all of the ND games. What we are getting is the shaft! Shame on them! Was the company bought out or something? What is the hold up ? I do know that Lani Minella well no longer portray Nancy. That right there will be hard to get used to. But I think that was Lani's decision? Well, thanks for your input and hopefully we will get our new game before the year is over. Those good old days of two games a year seem to be history!

It wasn't Lani's decision to leave; the company decided they wanted a different voice for Nancy. Her Interactive has been going in a new direction and thus far their loyal fans are not seeing anything to jump for joy about. They have branched out and released a mobile app for kids, which has taken up most of their time for the last year. I don't think the company will ever be the old company that we remember, with 2 adventure games released per year. I believe those days are gone for good, unfortunately. It was great while it lasted. The company got a new CEO in 2015, a lot of staff was laid off, and it was decided that sweeping changes needed to be made.

A lot of the loyal fan base feel they have gotten the shaft - you are not alone in this feeling.

I think that Midnight in Salem was basically put on hold while they focused on the mobile app for kids, Codes and Clues, and thus no adventure game as yet.

Oh! I am so sorry that Lani was dumped. I hadn't realized how many changes were going on at Her Interactive. Seems like these things happen when some "genius" takes over. I am almost tempted not to purchase Midnight in Salem. But I probably will just to see what they've done. Stupid Stupid people!

And speaking of Lani Minella, you might be interested in this as well.

We also did an interview with Lani, which you can read here. She talks a little about being "let go" from Her Interactive.

Thanks Marian!

Does anybody know if Nancy drew midnight in salem pc when its sapposed to be out

charlene, same answer as earlier in the thread. No one knows one yet. When we do, it will be posted.

I have something to add to this.

In the past week or so, someone posted a question on the Amateur Sleuth Blog of Her Interactive, asking the employee of Her Interactive who actually writes the Amateur Sleuth Blog, if they could confirm or deny that Midnight in Salem was actually being *worked* on - and the response was that she could neither confirm or deny this. This, after having put the game up on their product page, no less.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions, then, as to the status of Midnight in Salem.

All I can do is laugh Marian!

That is no doubt the best reaction for the sake of the mental health of Nancy Drew fans everywhere, Ana.

You may want to check the system requirements before you buy.
They decided to change to a 3D game engine, so system requirements that can be met by pretty much any Nancy Drew fan with a computer are probably a thing of the past.

I am hoping that since upgrading to Windows 10 that the game will be compatible. It seems like HER is trying it's best to sabotage their own company. What a mess!

is midnight in salem out yet

charlene, you do realize we have answered you twice in this thread already?

Because Her Interactive was confronted on Facebook this past week with their "cannot confirm or deny" that they are working on Midnight in Salem comment, as of two days ago they are now saying that they are actively working on Midnight in Salem. I really don't see why coming out and saying this prior to a week ago was somehow a problem, but apparently it was (unless they just started working on it in the last seven days, of course - at this point nothing would surprise me).

Maybe we will see the game next year.

do we have to buy a new computer for this game.

The system requirements for the game haven't been released yet - those will be determined after the game is completed.

They did say on Facebook the other day that the price of the next game should be the same as it was before.

thank you very much.

I am so disgusted with the "new" HerInteractive. Is this game coming out this year(2017) or not? After being treated to 2 new games a year from the former company this really stinks!

They say they are working on the game, but no one really knows for sure what the status is. There have been big changes at this company (unfortunately, and not for the better), and we are seeing the "results" of this now. It's a frustrating and disappointing situation. The new CEO appears to be much more interested in mobile apps and kids games than she is in the adventure game series. A lot of the fan base is seething at this point.

In other news, the game designer of all of the ND games since Shadow at the Water's Edge left the company in September, and the speculation is that if the game is being worked on that it is being outsourced rather than worked on in-house. From what we can tell, there are very few actual employees left at Her Interactive.

I have a small piece of info about Midnight in Salem, for those who care:

We have suspected for months that if this game is being worked on at all, it was being worked on elsewhere and not in-house, as Her Interactive has hardly any employees left as far as we can ascertain.

The fans have been asking for months now what the status of the game is, and it was finally admitted on the Amateur Sleuth Blog in the last couple of days, after repeated questioning, that the game is indeed being outsourced. This may be at least part of the reason why they aren't giving us any timeline as to a release date.

I'm still not convinced the game will ever be released at all, but there's the update.

Thanks Marian(I think!) I wonder why they are doing what they're doing? Are they going to kill the Nancy Drew games? I cannot figure this out. They were very popular and sold well as far as I know. I am assuming that "outsourcing" means another company is going to finish the game? They sure aren't up front about things are they? I'm totally disgusted with HER. They got some 'splaining to do!

Thanks, Marian! They had such a great thing going. I just don't get it.

Ana

Mind boggling, isn't it ??

Someone has now put a petition up regarding these issues:

Answers about the future of Nancy Drew games

Anyone that cares, I encourage you to sign it.

Signed it !!

Me too!

Signed and commented. I hope that this petition will get things cleared up and moving!

I signed it!

Yes! I signed it!

Tracy

My grand daughter(my fellow sleuth) signed too!

i sign, but i am not paying 5 dollars, and it didn't take it. i have 2 change orp.

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.

family - I'm on 18 also though I haven't started playing it. It will be next.

I am not re-playing these. This is my first play through. I am SO behind!!

i hope you enjoy it and the dancing is going to be a problem.

Thanks for the warning.

#18 is a good game, oldbroad. I actually got through the dancing the last time I played - the part of the game that I have the most trouble with is the end sequence. In some ways it's a very different experience than the other games - but that is what I have always liked about the ND games: the fact that there is so much variety to them.

I tried the "fix" offered for Stay Tuned For Danger. https://www.herinteractive.com/2016/08/nancy-drew-2-stay-tuned-for-danger-installation/ It installed but won't play.Actually this fix was for Windows 7 . A window comes up with an error message that my sound card might be out of date or something like that. I'm not a "techie" so it's all Greek to me! But as I stated before, this is one of my least favorite games so I don't really care. Thanks anyway Marion. Maybe I'll find something in the Glitches thread that I will be able to figure out! Anyway, all of the older games that I downloaded from Big Fish work great so BF must have updated versions?(except for STFD.)

Please post in glitches to discuss technical issues.

I don't doubt it's a good game Marian. I won't be playing it for awhile though. I can't play any series straight through. Need to play other games in between.

Sorry, I was just responding to Marian's post.I should have included her quote in my post.

I would feel the same, oldbroad.

Anyway, I would love to be able to provide an update on MID, but it's still the same runaround. HeR Interactive posted an announcement on Facebook about a month ago that they hoped to provide a substantial update very soon. Since then they have said...nothing at all. It seems like their responses, when they do give any, aren't done so much as to provide information (which is scant to nothing at all), but to try to placate the fan base.

I didn't realise Big Fish had so many Nancy Drew games !!

Are they the original, full length games ??

Have they been "doctored" ??
[Shortened - or maybe adapted so as to include achievements and the like ??]

Cheers.

Mad

They are all the complete games, Mad, with no doctoring or alterations. Big Fish has every single game save for the original Secrets Can Kill (Big Fish has the remastered version) and Stay Tuned for Danger.

Marian, you said that Stay Tuned For Danger is available on Big Fish but I don't see it there. A link please?

Penny Lane, the original Secrets Can Kill and Stay Tuned for Danger are the two ND games that Big Fish does not have.

Oh! I misread your post! LOL

i got them from the old dreamcatcher, which became the adventure company which went out of business.

Someone has posted an article online entitled, "Midnight in Salem, or HeR Interactive's Marketing Nightmare."

Part one, which deals with the way the company used to be, can be found here.

Part two, which talks about HeR Interactive since the new CEO took over, can be found here.

For anyone interested in what exactly has been going on the last two years, and particularly in regard to the company's now dismal/virtually nonexistent "communication" with the fan base, I recommend it as a worthwhile read.

Thanks, Marian! It all just leaves me shaking my head.

Ana

Thanks Marian.

The writer of the articles doesn't say much we don't already know, and is certainly more hopeful for the future of the Nancy Drew games than I am.

I still think the blew their development money away on the lowest bidder, which turned out to be an inexperienced company that couldn't do what they promised, and the CEO is only keeping the company open until she drains any remaining money with her undeserved salary.

Their so-called poll was so biased.

They asked questions like
"Do you want longer games?"
"Do you want games with more exploration?"

What they should have asked is
"Do you want two games a year or do you want longer games with a longer wait between?"
"Do you want games that work on your current computer or do you want games with more exploration that might require a new "gaming" computer to play."

As far as I know the fans were never asked if they wanted HerInteractive to fire Lani.

As far as I know the fans were never asked if they wanted HerInteractive to fire their development staff and outsource development overseas.

I expect if they'd been asked "real" questions instead of misleading ones, fans would have chosen to keep things as they were, with two games a year using the old game engine, Lani as Nancy Drew, and an American development staff.

Of course the CEO had already decided what she was going to do before the so-called poll was created -- hence the misleading questions.

Time for a new company to start making these games......

Thanks Marian.

Very well stated, Jenny.

As far as there being nothing new in the article, that's true if you have been keeping up with this train wreck. I did, though, think that the link provided in the article to the compilation of statements by HeR in response to fans did a good job of showing how downright inane and nonsensical things have become, even insulting to the fans' intelligence - worth a read if you hadn't seen them already.

I doubt we will ever see Midnight In Salem unless another company takes it over. And I agree. The fans should be consulted on their decisions. When HER produced 2 games a year the graphics and story lines were good. No improvements needed as far as I was concerned. There is no excuse for these delays in production.

So sorry, Marian !!
I didn't realise I hadn't thanked you for the reply.
Anyway, here I am, better late than never

Thank You

You are welcome, Mad.

Maybe fans should start writing to Simon & Schuster.

That's an interesting suggestion, one which has been proposed by some fans on Reddit (there is a very active community of angry and disgruntled fans there). Some say that if HeR doesn't release a new game by the end of the year that they will lose their license with Simon & Schuster to make ND games, but I don't know enough about the situation in regard to their licensing agreement to comment on the validity of that statement.

someone posted on her forum midnight in salem was on hold for codes ans clues. midnight in salem this is the link they posted.

That is an old newsletter from a year ago. Obviously the company decided to release Codes and Clues after Sea of Darkness rather than Midnight in Salem, but the Codes and Clues excuse for not seeing an ND adventure game since then is long gone, unfortunately.

It will be interesting to see what they say in the next newsletter, if there ever is one. Halloween and Christmas are coming, and the fanbase will be expecting an update. So far the "updates" have consisted of telling us all there is no update.

that is true, but they better update people are getting mad that there isn't one.