Discussing with you about the future funding of Sonic & The Olympus Heroes

Hello there,

I’d like to take a moment to talk about the future funding of Sonic & The Olympus Heroes.

(There's a TLDR at the bottom)

The Odysseus Chapter is now complete (at least on Patreon. It'll be released publicly later)—thank you so much for following along! It’s been a real pleasure working with Ebetto, Baban, and Miitara to bring it to life. The team has been wonderfully efficient, and I think the final result speaks for itself.

That said, even though the comic has been warmly received, the financial reality is becoming more challenging. Our initial goal of €600 per month now feels like a distant memory. Each page costs around €300 to produce, with each person involved earning between €50 and €100. Honestly, given the quality of their work, I wish I could pay them more—they truly deserve it.
Beyond the pages themselves, there are also cutscenes, which are essential for storytelling since 10 pages per chapter don’t allow enough space to go in-depth without cutting the action short. On top of that come character and monster designs, as well as location concept art. We could, however, cut down on Miitara’s amazing “level” illustrations if necessary, since they are mostly there to enhance the atmosphere.

At the start of the chapter, we were fortunate to receive very generous additional support, and I want to sincerely thank everyone for that—with special thanks to the supporter who contributed $1000, which made a tremendous difference. Still, those were one-time contributions, and as grateful as I am, unless things change, the funds will eventually run dry.

That said, people unsubscribing from the Patreon isn’t really the issue—that’s perfectly normal on this website, and people may leave for any number of reasons, mainly because of life changes. The real challenge is that we’re not attracting enough new subscribers to replace those losses, likely due to a lack of perceived value. I also realize that, given some unfortunate experiences in the past, many Sonic fans are understandably hesitant to back fan projects financially.

Nevertheless, thanks to your support, we managed to finish the Odysseus Chapter. But unless things change, we risk running out of funds midway through the next one. Continuing a project of this scope for free simply isn’t possible. Even if every artist chose to work out of passion alone, sooner or later one of them would understandably need to focus on paid work to cover their bills, which would slow their contribution and eventually force them to step away. Finding replacements under those conditions—professional-level work with no pay— would be extremely difficult. After more than a decade making fan comics, I know this all too well.

Slowing down production to just one page per month isn’t a viable solution either. At that pace, the project would drag on far too long, risk being forgotten by the audience, and drain the motivation of the team—even if they are paid.

That’s why I’d like to discuss possible ways to keep the project sustainable. Here are a few ideas I’ve been considering:

• Adding another donation platform (like Ko-fi or even DeviantArt), for those who don’t wish to use Patreon.

• Resetting the funding goal with each new chapter, so we can begin every stage of the story with a clean slate.

• Relying more on a smaller number of higher-tier supporters (for example, 25,50€, which is how I fund my other comics). In return, these supporters could be credited directly on the pages, forever linking them to the project. (We won’t add paid OC cameos, since the story doesn’t naturally allow for them, and it wouldn’t feel fair to charge for a brief background appearance.) To make this sustainable, we’d need at least 20 people per month at that level.

• Working with donation goals. Producing a full chapter costs around €3000—including designs and cutscenes (writing excluded, which I cover myself). One idea would be to hold off until that goal is reached, so the chapter can be produced in full without financial strain. This way, whenever we do continue, we know we can deliver the story as it deserves to be told.

• Other suggestions from you. I’d really like to hear your input.

• Ending the project if funding cannot be secured. Some people have expressed frustration that this project requires funding, but since it cannot realistically be done for free, stopping would be the only alternative. At least we kept our promise and fully completed the Odysseus Chapter.
  Given how well the team works together and the generous support we’ve already received, we’d much rather avoid that outcome—but it still remains a possibility to consider.

You might wonder how long we plan to carry this project forward. The goal, if everything goes smoothly, is to have "one world for each Chaos Emerald" (they don’t appear in this story, they are the Heroes instead, but you get the idea), plus one for the final boss, and maybe a special “last stage.” Each chapter are supposed to feature 10 pages and two cutscenes. (Ideally, I’d also love to add more cutscenes to give extra context between chapters.)
These are already drafted in concept form, and only need the green light.
The prologue was chapter 0, and Odysseus was the first chapter.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments—your feedback will help us decide on the best path forward.

And once again, thank you so much for your continued support.

TL;DR: The Odysseus Chapter is complete thanks to your support, but funding is running out. Each page costs ~€300, plus designs and cutscenes. Unless we find new ways to sustain it (Ko-fi, chapter-based goals, or higher-tier backers), the project risks stopping mid-story. Your ideas and feedback are welcome!