Homestuck 2.0 (term)

Homestuck 2.0 was an umbrella term used at one time to describe the plan for the continuation of the Homestuck franchise.

The term was first introduced by actor and What Pumpkin Studios collaborator Dante Basco in an interview with the company "Loot Crate", mentioned again by Basco in an interview article by The Nerds of Color, and finally was used as the title of a video on the Homestuck youtube channel in May 2016, describing the project. This video was later removed by What Pumpkin in October of that year, and it seems that the term, and at least some of the planned projects it encompassed, have been discontinued.

Dante Basco interviews
The term "Homestuck 2.0" was first used by Dante Basco, in a brief interlude in an otherwise unrelated interview with Loot Crate. Dante had long been a fan of Homestuck, being introduced to it due to its use of Rufio, the character that he had portrayed in the movie Hook. When asked about what projects he was working on, Dante replied:

"DANTE: “I recently signed on as a creative consultant for a fandom that I’m very much a part of called Homestuck. Becoming part of the team in helping to conjure up what Homestuck 2.0 is gonna be and bringing it to television or digital content, and a new game’s coming out that we’re–” INTERVIEWER: “You said it started as a webcomic?” DANTE: “Started as a webcomic seven years ago, and Rufio is actually in the webcomic!”   INTERVIEWER: “Really?”  DANTE: “That’s how I got involved. I’m helping them– I’m bringing kinda Homestuck to Hollywood.”"

- Loot Crate interview

This pronouncement triggered much speculation amongst fans, the reference to "Hollywood" causing many to suggest that some sort of Homestuck movie or TV show might be in the works, involving Basco. These speculations were further fueled when Basco gave another, more in depth interview about his collaboration with What Pumpkin with The Nerds of Color, potentially in response to the attention that the brief clip from the Loot Crate video had gained. In this second interview, Dante stated:

"They’ve brought me in on the Hollywood-side to help set up what that team is going to be,” says Basco. “Homestuck is one of those cool, culty comics — one of those ‘Are you in on the inside jokes of this whole secret society world?’ That’s what it’s been since the inception of it. In the last six years, there are now millions of Homestucks all over the world. It’s at a place where we want to let more people in on the secret. Now how do we go about doing that?"

- The Nerds of Color interview

In addition to this, a reddit user claimed to have asked Dante about "Homestuck 2.0" in person, wherein he reportedly stated that "Homestuck 2.0" referred more to the future development of the franchise and the creative team collaborating on it, but again hinted that a "TV series" could be in the works. The user also said that Dante was particularly involved with attempting to foster community engagement in a Youtube channel.

Official Youtube video
On May 9th, 2016, the official Homestuck Youtube channel was newly rebranded, and a video entitled "Homestuck 2.0" was posted to it. This video has now been removed from the channel, but a mirrored copy of it can be found here.

The video, which was backed by Hiveswap music, featured Dante Basco and former What Pumpkin business developer John Warren discussing Homestuck 2.0, noting the speculation that had been taking place since Dante had "opened his big mouth" (sic) in the Loot Crate interview. In this video, Warren describes "Homestuck 2.0" as being "really just a collective of stuff we're doing after the webcomic's over". Basco goes on to say that the project consists of "digital" (illustrated by the Youtube logo), "video games", and "stuff we can't talk about yet". The two go on to discuss Hiveswap, detailing more about the content that would eventually release as Hiveswap: Act 1.

After this, Dante turns the discussion to community engagement. He states, "maybe you'd like to see a specific show, or maybe you'd like to make a show, and put it on this channel. And we'd love to make that happen". This leads into a request for fans to submit "submissions and suggestions" regarding content that could be put on the Homestuck youtube channel, and, more specifically, for them to send in videos discussing how they feel about the end of Homestuck, and and about the concept of "Homestuck 2.0".

The video ends with a statement that Basco and Warren will be "hanging out online, hanging out on this Youtube channel," and "putting together videos with the help of you guys out there". The video ends with a cameo by Andrew Hussie, who is shown attempting to pet a small horse or donkey.

Status
The Youtube video "Homestuck 2.0" was removed or hidden from the Homestuck Youtube channel on October 24th, 2016. Since the release of the video, many of the promises made in it have failed to come to pass. No community-sourced videos have been featured on the Homestuck Youtube channel, and Basco has made no more appearances in connection with What Pumpkin. John Warren parted ways with the company some ways in 2016. Additionally, no more information about a Homestuck TV/digital web series has come to light. While Hiveswap: Act 1 did release, it was delayed significantly from the initial planned date.

It would seem therefore that "Homestuck 2.0" as described by Basco was shelved by the team at What Pumpkin, due to unknown factors. What Pumpkin's trajectory appeared to change significantly by late 2017 and early 2018, with a series of events that included their partnership Viz Media to release Homestuck content, the delay of Hiveswap: Act 2, and the development and release of Hiveswap Friendship Simulator. However, while it would appear that the specific vision laid out by Basco and Warren did not come to pass, "Homestuck 2.0", in its broadest sense, was billed as a "collective of stuff" to continue the Homestuck franchise following the end of the comic proper. Such a continuation has occurred, with the release of Hiveswap and Hiveswap friendsim media, as well as the release of new Homestuck books by Viz Media. Furthermore, a Homestuck Epilogue has been stated to still be in the works on multiple occasions.