Pre-Order Update: June 2025

Pre-Order Update: June 2025

by My Store Admin
This update, directly from founder, Jean Simonet, has been adapted from the communication shared with our Kickstarter Backers and contains transparent, detailed information about Pixels production. Some details may have been adjusted to focus on Pre-order info vs Backer Rewards. These updates are published at the end of each month and will continue to be re-published on the Pixels Blog with information relevant to Pre-order customers.


Dear Backers,
 
We’re juggling a few big things right now, and I want to walk you through what’s going on behind the scenes. While there are some exciting things that I'm not ready to talk about yet, I want to make sure and give you as much information as possible about what we're doing, especially around international shipping, business operations, and the broader path forward for Pixels.
 
 

🛠️ Production Update

As some of you may remember, Pixels production doesn’t happen in a single factory. It involves multiple facilities and suppliers, many of whom are now under pressure due to the U.S.–China trade war. We’re hearing that some of our partner shops are experiencing financial strain due to other U.S. customers pulling out. It’s a precarious time for everyone in small-scale hardware manufacturing. And while dice production has been ticking along, other areas have slowed down and/or are costing us more than we expected. I've mentioned the unusually high scrap rate in my last update, and our efforts to salvage as many parts as possible but we still need to do better.
 
That’s why I’ll be going back to China next month, working alongside our partners to identify and remove cost drivers and streamline production for the remaining sets. We will also be working on some exciting things including a clever way to salvage the misaligned led dice that gave the workers so much trouble to fix.
 
 

📈 Tariffs Update

We've seen a lot of questions about what will happen to U.S. backers. Will we give you an option to pay extra to offset the tariffs? (No.) Will we refund your pledge? (Also no, we can't, sorry.) Questions like this.
 
For the moment we still wait. The current 30% rate is technically a temporary pause on the previous 135% rate and should expire in the middle of August. And while there is no predicting what the administration will decide to do after that, I am expecting that something will give. The quarterly economic reports are bound to be disastrous and so the administration will either back out of their stance or set a new rate and timeline that we will be able to plan around.
 
 

📦 What about non-US shipping?

We've heard from many of you outside the U.S. wondering why shipments haven’t started in your region.
 
The short version: we're trying to save as much money as possible and as a result are working on the most economical way to do a one-time large-scale international shipping batch. That means:
 
  • Exploring fulfillment partnerships in Europe (vs. shipping each parcel directly from Hong Kong) 
  • Watching changes in tariffs and trade policies—tensions shift weekly, if not daily 🙁
  • Monitoring instability in other regions, including Canada, where the postal system is reportedly under major strain.
With the unexpected setbacks since reward selection, this is the only way for me to square the circle.
 
This all takes time to do right, too. And because we’re a small team (x3 full-time employees at present), time spent solving logistics is time not spent elsewhere. We’re constantly balancing.
 
 

💸 On sustaining operations

Until recently, most of my time has been consumed by engineering and manufacturing challenges (as anyone who’s followed our open-source journey knows). But we’re now at a turning point. With the global trade environment this chaotic, and Kickstarter funds stretched thin, it’s become just as much a business puzzle as a technical one.
 
We’re fortunate to have been approached by several companies asking us to manufacture dice for them. These are standalone projects, where we’d be helping others bring their custom designs to life.
 
I really hesitated on this. Starting other projects before backer fulfillment is complete isn’t what anyone wants, least of all me, I promise. Delivering what you backed is my #1 priority on every level.
 
Again, I’m proud (and relieved) to say that half of all backers have now received their dice. I also know that if you’re still waiting (likely for a full set), you don’t want to hear about anything else. You want your dice. You don’t need the backstory anymore, I get it and I definitely understand.
 
But these updates have always been transparent. Month after month, for four years, I’ve shared every challenge, learning curve, and step forward with you. That includes this one.
The truth is, taking on a few of these external projects is now necessary. Similar to selling the extra D20s, this will help stabilize operations and support the final phase of fulfillment. 

They won’t delay backer sets. They’ll run in parallel and should see the light of day shortly after we finish reward fulfillment, or at least 90% of it. 

No matter what, Backer production will not stop until it's wrapped.
 
This is the business side of Pixels. It’s not the part I’m the best at, definitely not that part I'm the most excited about, but it’s the part where I have to make tough calls on if we’re going to stay on track and deliver everything we’ve promised. And we are!
 
Pixels is still here because of you, and for you. 
 
 

✅ Support Desk Update

Some good news: our support desk is nearly at inbox zero. That means:
 
  • Every open ticket has been reviewed and responded to
  • Some are now in active resolution, or waiting on a specific production queue (like a replacement or color swap)
  • If you haven’t received a reply, please reach out again at support@gamewithpixels.com—it’s possible yours slipped through the cracks 
We had thousands of tickets over the past few months. We’re doing our best to make sure no one is left behind.

 
 

🧠 Made by the Community

Back to spotlighting some of the creative solutions and resources shared by backers and community members. Whether you’re troubleshooting, customizing, or just sharing something fun, thank you for helping Pixels grow beyond what I ever could’ve built alone.

If you have something to share, post it on our Discord, or email us at makers@gamewithpixels.com! 

This month:

🪶 Roll Feathers App
This one’s from community member ungawatkt on Discord, who built a cross-platform companion app for Pixels using Flutter—just for fun while learning the framework. It tracks rolls, lets you control dice, and even hooks into Home Assistant for lighting triggers. Works on web (Chromium browsers), Mac, Windows, and Android.
 

Try it here: rollfeathers.ungawatkt.com
Source + builds: GitHub

Super cool to see projects like this taking shape. Huge thanks for sharing it with the community.

Screenshot of Roll Feathers

 


🧰 Pixels Dice Box
Loved this one! Jonathan Diamond built a custom dice box that pairs Pixels with WLED using an ESP32-S3 board—and it looks amazing. It tracks rolls, triggers lighting effects, and even includes a tiny screen with Pathfinder stats and a full GUI.

The whole thing is open source, and beautifully documented. You can explore the project here: https://www.robopenguins.com/pixels-dice-box/

Jonathan, thank you. I hope to improve our own animation system in the future so it can work better with projects like yours.





As always, thank you. I know it continues to be a long journey, but I’m still here, still deeply committed to every backer, and still giving this everything I’ve got.

More soon,
Jean Simonet
TAGS: Annoucement