Prerelease:A Hat in Time (Windows, Mac OS X)

This page details prerelease information and/or media for A Hat in Time (Windows, Mac OS X).

A Hat in Time, being in development for just over five years, had plenty of time to evolve and change drastically from its initial conception. ...And that's just what happened. Given its very much public development, there's quite a lot to cover, from the literal first day of development at the start of August 2012, all the way until the last hours before its release on October 5 2017. There's also numerous facts about the development of all of its currently-released DLC.

Development Timeline

Thanks to assets that were imported into the game maintaining their import dates, it's possible to chart essentially the entirety of the game's development by studying these dates. A complete, comprehensive list of every asset that has been available publicly was made, and can be found:
here for the earliest known assets until 2015,
here for all assets imported in 2015 and 2016,
here for all assets imported in 2017, and
here for all assets imported after 2017 until present day.
The lists also contain screenshots, concept art, and links to important events, like interviews and prerelease videos. This prerelease page and sub-pages will go into further details on these events, assets, media, and more.

2012

• August 1st - Development officially begins with the UDK Game map prototyping.
• August 10th - The first version of Mustache Girl is officially modeled.
• August 30th - The game has its first enemy by this point, which is a lava blob creature called "Blob Marley".
• September 8th - The earliest archived version of the Steam Greenlight page explains the game's design and plot, which describes the game's gameplay as a hack 'n slash kind of game, and the plot featured time travel with different time periods for the planned levels. It also states that the game was originally intended for release in early 2013, and would cost $1. Obviously, this changed. Quickly.
• September 27th - The game has received its first piece of original music that has been lost to time called "The City of Calcite and Adventure"
• October 15th - Hat Kid receives a new design, looking much closer to the final version, but still quite different.
• November 22nd - Hat Kid's design is updated again, now looking exactly like the final design.
• December 13th - The game's first hub design is made, which is a giant hourglass.

2013

• January 4th - The first level, "Harbor", has begun to be remade into "Calcite", a more vertical-oriented level compared to "Harbor"'s more horizontal level design. The level is first shown off in footage on January 6th.
• January 12th - The game has received its second known piece of original music, called "A City of Calcite and Adventure". This was composed by Armand Rochette, and is the only known track he made for the game.
• February 28th - Numerous details have been added to "Calcite", and a new trailer is released showcasing these elements.
• March 4th - Development of Subcon Forest begins.
• March 9th - The hookshot ability has been implemented, a new HUD counter for Pons is now present, and Hat Kid can now wear other hats, like Thor's hat.
• March 24th - The first trailer for Subcon Forest is released, showing a vastly different-looking version of the level compared to its final counterpart.
• March 30th - The first version of Mafia Town, which has the layout design seen in the Prototype builds, Alpha builds, and Beta builds, has begun development.
• April 31st - The first Secret Level, "Rectangles", is shown off in video footage.
• May 29th - The game's Kickstarter launches, alongside a video trailer with Jonas himself explaining the game.
• May 30th - The game is fully funded.
• May 31st - A prototype build was sent to Kotaku for review, and their article for the game is published. The Co-op Mode and Developer Commentary stretch goals are reached. The game reaches 200% of its initial monetary goal by the end of the day.
• June 3rd - 6th Bonus Chapter stretch goal met.
• June 5th - The GoBoiano Prototype is compiled and sent to the GoBoiano website for review. The Voice Acting stretch goal is met.
• June 9th - 7th Bonus Chapter stretch goal is met.
• June 12th - The game is featured in playable form at SpilBar Copenhagen, and the build that was playable is very similar to, if not the exact same as, the GoBoiano build.
• June 19th - The prototype build sent to Gaijin Goombah is known to have been likely compiled. Another prototype build is featured by Youtuber Northernlion. Jonas shows off Subcon Forest in a mini developer walkthrough, showcasing some of its elements.
• June 20th - A prototype build of the game is showcased live on stream by Youtuber farfromsubtle.
• June 22nd - Another prototype build of the game is featured by Youtuber Josh Jepson.
• June 23rd - New Game + and Voice Mumble stretch goals met.
• June 25th - The stretch goal for Hat Kid's spaceship hub is met. Every $15000 above $200000 at this point had a promised Grant Kirkhope tune that would be implemented into the game. The Cosmo Prototype is compiled, and showcased live on stream.
• June 28th - Kickstarter ends. A prototype build is featured by IGN.
• July 4th - Work on Vanessa's Manor begins.
• July 10th - One last prototype build is featured by Youtuber Brutalmoose.
• July 19th - Giajin Goombah shows off the prototype build sent to him in a Game Exchange video. This is the only known press prototype build that contained Subcon Forest.
• July 25th - A Hat in Time is officially greenlit on Steam Greenlight. A video showcasing a very early version of Queen Vanessa's Manor is shared as celebration.
• August 3rd - Trainwreck of Science Chapter begins development.
• August 31st - Rainy Mafia Town is revealed for the very first time. The footage is dated July 27th, however.
• October 16th - The earliest known assets for the spaceship hub are made.
• October 20th - The spaceship hub is shown off for the first time.
• December 26th - The release for the Alpha build of the game is set in stone: February 20 2014.

2014

• January 8th - Hat Adult is concepted.
• January 21st - Work on the Winter Bookstore level is started.
• February 20th - The first Alpha build is released. A patch for it is released at least 12 hours afterwards.
• February 22nd - The first update to the Alpha is released.
• February 27th - The second update to the Alpha is released.
• March 5th - The third update to the Alpha is released.
• March 8th - The fourth update to the Alpha is released.
• March 26th - The fifth and final update to the Alpha is released.
• April 11-13th - The game is featured at Pax East in a playable form with updated Co-op features not present in the Kickstarter Alpha builds.
• May 2nd - A trailer for the Alpha builds is released, showing updated level design and features not seen in the Kickstarter Alpha builds.
• May 4th - Work on Sand 'n Sails begins.
• June 1st - Work on Murder on the Science Express begins.
• August 12th - The homing attack ability for Hat Kid appears to have been implemented by this point.
• August 31st - The game's UI Loadout is concepted.
• September 9th - More Loadout concepts are made, which are much closer to the version that appears in the Beta builds and final game.

2015

• February 26th - Beta build launch date is announced: March 7 2015.
• March 7th - The first Beta build is released.
• March 10th - The first update to the Beta builds is released.
• March 12th - The second update to the Beta builds is released.
• March 30th - The third and final update to the Beta builds is released.

2016

• January 1st - A trailer for Mafia Town is released, showing numerous progress made in development of the Chapter since the Beta builds.
• January 16th - Subcon Forest got a trailer, showcasing the newly-added contract system.
• February 27th - The first game development stream, this one featuring refining puzzles in Subcon Forest.
• May - Trainwreck of Science begins its rework into Battle of the Birds, adopting the movie theme seen in the final game.
• October 15 - The second game development stream, this one also featuring Subcon Forest. This focuses on the newly-added swamp area of the level.
• October 29 - The third game development stream, once again focusing on the swamp of Subcon Forest.
• November 12 - The fourth and final game development stream, this one focusing on Deadbird Basement, although that wasn't revealed at the time the stream first aired.
• December 5 - Sand 'n Sails is being torn apart at this point, and the level now features sand pillars above a bottomless pit instead of a vast and open desert.
• December 16 - Battle of the Birds (here still called Last Bird Standing, an early name) got a trailer.

2017

• January 1st - Sand 'n Sails has continued development and now has clouds and zipwire trams in its level design.
• January 9th - The first Alpine Skyline concepts are made.
• January 23rd - Alpine Skyline officially begins development, initially called "Alps 'n Sails".
• March 11th - Pax East footage was uploaded to Gears For Breakfast's Youtube channel.
• March 31st - Alpine Skyline is officially revealed for the first time, and its name has been finalized at this point as well.
• May 16th - A new trailer is made that showcases Murder on the Owl Express.
• June 8th - Another trailer that focuses on Murder on the Owl Express is released for E3.
• July 6th - A Hat in Time is announced for Playstation 4 and Xbox One for release in the Fall of this year.
• July 26th - A new trailer is shown for the game's release on Playstation 4 and Xbox One.
• August 6th - The game's lead 2D artist (at the time), Jenna Brown, holds an art development stream in which she draws and nearly completes Mafia Town Act 1's titlecard art.
• August 23rd - The game's official PC release date, October 5, is announced on their Kickstarter during Gamescom, which the game appeared at in playable form.
• September 10th - The Speedrunning Event is announced.
• September 15th - The first Speedrunning Event build is released.
• September 20th - Estimated build date for the initial console releases of the game on Playstation 4 and Xbox One.
• September 24th - The Speedrun Performance build is released as an update during the Speedrun Event.
• September 30th - The Speedrunning Event ends.
• October 5th - The game is released on PC, Mac, and Linux.
• November - Development begins on Death Wish.
• December - Development has begun on The Arctic Cruise.
• December 5th - A Hat in Time is released on Playstation 4.
• December 7th - A Hat in Time is released on Xbox One.

2018

• March 13th - Modding support is fully implemented into the game after spending months in beta testing.
• May 28th - Several DLC 1 maps are leaked early.
• June 19th - The earliest known model for Bow Kid is added to the game files.
• July 10th - The earliest known Nyakuza Metro assets are made.
• August 22nd - DLC 1 is officially announced and revealed.
• September 9th - Gears For Breakfast records their developer commentary for the base game's levels on Twitch.
• September 10-11th - Youtuber Failboat gets an early build of DLC 1 and showcases some parts of it on stream.
• September 13th - DLC 1 releases.
• September 27th - Gears For Breakfast records their developer commentary for The Arctic Cruise on Twitch.
• September 29th - Very early blockout maps of Nyakuza Metro are leaked.

2019

• April 2nd - DLC 2 in its entirety is leaked early.
• April 25th - DLC 2 is announced.
• April 27th - DLC 2 sneak preview stream is held by Community Manager Sara Holmes and Creative Director Jenna Brown.
• May 10th - DLC 2 is released.
• October 18th - A Hat in Time is released on Nintendo Switch.
• November 21st - Nyakuza Metro is released on Nintendo Switch.

2020

• March 6th - The earliest known assets made specifically for Vanessa's Curse are made.
• November 10th - Released on Xbox Series X.
• November 12th - Released on Playstation 5.

2021

• March 31st - DLC 1 and DLC 2 release on Playstation 4/5 and Xbox One/Series X.
• November 12th - 'Believe' posters are added to the spaceship hub in anticipation of Creator's DLC and Vanessa's Curse reveal.
• November 16th - The Creator's DLC program is announced and Vanessa's Curse is revealed.
• November 27th - Vanessa's Curse is released.

2022

• October 5th - Some members of Gears For Breakfast, including Jonas, Jenna, and Koidrake, hold a small birthday celebration stream on Twitch that includes lite developer commentary on the game, with most of it focused on the DLC Chapters.

Pre-Release Years

2012 Attack of the Pringles Man

2013 Timelord what now?

2014 Cel-shading begone!

2015 Starting to look quite a lot more like the final game

2016 The year of so little and yet so much

2017 Let's redo the whole inventory system!

Post-Release Years (DLC Development)

2018-Present So I hear you have a Death Wish...