Dear Startup Company players, We have some exciting news to share with you. We are introducing a new version of the game that has been optimized for use with controllers. This means that the game will be fully compatible with the Steam Deck and other controller-based devices. We
Dear Startup Company players,
We have some exciting news to share with you. We are introducing a new version of the game that has been optimized for use with controllers. This means that the game will be fully compatible with the Steam Deck and other controller-based devices.
We recommend that players on desktop computers continue to play the regular version of the game as it provides the best experience in terms of gameplay, modding, and overall performance. However, if you prefer to play using a controller, the new controller-optimized version of the game will provide an equally immersive and enjoyable experience.
Please note that the controller-optimized version of Startup Company will not support modding, and savegames between the two versions are not compatible/shared.
To choose between the two versions, simply start the game as usual and you'll be prompted to select the desired game version:
Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm for Startup Company. We hope you enjoy the new controller-optimized version of the game!
Hi everyone, We're incredibly happy and equally scared to finally release our new game, Big Ambitions , into Steam Early Access. Big Ambitions is a revolutionary role-playing business sim Big Ambitions is the successor to Startup Company . While Startup Company was all about larg
Hi everyone,
We're incredibly happy and equally scared to finally release our new game, Big Ambitions, into Steam Early Access.
Big Ambitions is a revolutionary role-playing business sim
Big Ambitions is the successor to Startup Company. While Startup Company was all about large internet-based businesses, Big Ambitions focuses much more on the small retail businesses that grow to become huge empires.
To quickly give you an understanding of the game, here's a list of its key features:
Huge Business Sandbox - Go from nothing to the most prominent tycoon in New York. Whether one business or multiple, work smart and make them thrive.
Grow any Business - Start your own gift shop, supermarket, coffee shop, or law firm. Whether it’s a single shop or making millions developing websites from a basement.
Incredibly In-depth - Take out a loan, rent multiple buildings, design their logos, renovate your stores, grab stock, manage your money, hire staff, and create your infrastructure.
Life Sim on Steroids - Need a delivery truck? Travel to a dealer and buy one. Need food? Head to a supermarket, just make sure you have a refrigerator back at home.
Own New York City - Enter any building in New York and buy it. Go from a small apartment to a dream penthouse in midtown or buy a series of skyscrapers.
Fast Cars or Investment Funds - Spend your wealth however you wish. Buy a big SUV, a speedy sports car, or the new luxurious Mersaidi S500. Maybe even risk it all at the casinos.
Make it to Retirement, or don't - Make sure you get enough sleep and stay healthy and happy. Enjoy the journey, for as you grow older, you’ll discover that money can’t buy you time... or can it?
If you want to read more about our journey developing Big Ambitions, as well as its Early Access Roadmap, I recommend checking out the official Steam announcement:
Hey everyone, We have exciting news to share! Startup Company will expand business to PlayStation 5|4, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023! It is available to wishlist now: Xbox: Playstation: Nintendo: If you’ve been a fellow entrepreneur with us on PC
Hey everyone,
We have exciting news to share! Startup Company will expand business to PlayStation 5|4, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023!
If you’ve been a fellow entrepreneur with us on PC over the years, we can’t thank you enough. We’re so happy that over 400k of you have been enjoying the businesses you’ve built. When bringing this dynamic corporate environment to consoles, we will present Startup Company in a new light with new UI/UX features.
While the original version of Startup Company was built using HTML/Javascript, Startup Company Console Edition was developed in Unity. You’ll be creating a fresh company from scratch with the features you know and love, all perfectly suited for console platforms. Get ready for a new class of corporate competition!
We can't wait for you all to experience our new console edition. As always, we are available via Discord, Twitter, Email, Instagram, or the comments below. Thanks for reading, and thank you for your continued support!
Hi everyone, Long time no talk! I hope you're all doing amazing :schappy: After 1 year of development, we're proud to finally announce our next upcoming game: Big Ambitions is a revolutionary role-playing business sim Big Ambitions is my personal successor to Startup Company. It'
Hi everyone,
Long time no talk! I hope you're all doing amazing :schappy:
After 1 year of development, we're proud to finally announce our next upcoming game:
Big Ambitions is a revolutionary role-playing business sim
Big Ambitions is my personal successor to Startup Company. It's the game I always wanted to play, both as a kid and as an adult.
As of today, you can now access and follow our Steam Coming Soon page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1331550
Remember to wishlist & follow!
Similar to "Startup Company", I'll be covering all development through devlogs, both on the website and the Steam page. There are already 16 devlogs waiting for you.
As I'll stop posting about "Big Ambitions" on the "Startup Company" community hub, I really hope you'll take your time to click the wishlist and follow me on the Big Ambitions store page. That way I can keep you updated on all the exciting stuff coming in the future 😊
I can't wait to hear what you think of what we have made so far. If you have any questions please don't hold back asking! Discord, Twitter, email, Instagram, the comments below, whatever channel you prefer 😎
Hey there! After working on my first game Startup Company for more than 5 years, I’m finally ready to announce the title of my next game: Big Ambitions The website is online too: To give you a better understanding of what Big Ambitions is all about, we should take a look at the b
Hey there!
After working on my first game Startup Company for more than 5 years, I’m finally ready to announce the title of my next game:
To give you a better understanding of what Big Ambitions is all about, we should take a look at the beginning of the game.
To give you an understanding of what Big Ambitions is all about, we should start at the very beginning of the game:
The New Beginning
You’re eighteen years old and living in your parents’ apartment in downtown New York. You have big aspirations to make money and become successful.
However, before you can start on your journey, you need to earn some money.
Getting a job
The city offers hundreds of jobs, from flipping burgers to driving New Yorkers around in a taxicab. It’s up to you to decide which path you take.
With a few thousand in the bank, you can finally rent your own space and start working on your empire. Most tycoons start simple: A restaurant, a small supermarket, or even an auto repair shop. It’s up to you, try to choose something that’s in demand for the specific area of the city you’re staying in.
As you continue along your journey to success, both your wealth and life will change. With more money comes more problems.
Objectives and Goals
Your goal in Big Ambitions is to become the biggest city tycoon in New York. Your daily tasks will vary between:
Buying & selling real estate
Setting up and managing businesses such as restaurants, supermarkets, offices and more
Securing deliveries of goods for your businesses
Renovating owned properties
Managing employees
Taking care of yourself by sleeping, eating, working out and more
Lifecycle and limitations
The game comes with a full day & night cycle following a real-life schedule with rush hours, weekends and more.
You have 3 main factors to maintain: Energy, Hunger and Happiness. To function as effectively as possible, you need to keep all three in balance.
As aforementioned, your journey starts at the age of eighteen, but as you play your character will move through the three stages of adulthood (each having their own advantages and disadvantages):
Young
Middle-aged
Old
Engine, controls and perspective
Big Ambitions is my first game developed with an industry-standard game engine: Unity 2020. Unlike Startup Company, the game will be 3D and you will control your character using a point-and-click navigation system (similar to the one found in the Diablo franchise). However, vehicles will be controlled using the keyboard.
The game is viewed from an isometric top-down camera angle and you’ll be able to zoom in, zoom out and rotate the camera which will always follow your character.
The City
The game will be set in the bustling centre of New York City. I focus on ensuring that the streets feel as authentic as possible since I really want you, the player, to feel like part of New York City. As part of my quest to deliver an authentic city experience, I’m making it so that every building in the city can be interacted with and owned. The first public build (Beta 1) will come with the following city map:
I expect the final map to be 4 times bigger.
Development and release date
Similar to Startup Company, I’ll be the only developer working full time on the game. Fortunately, I’ll be hiring contractors to help me produce some core components such as the 3D models, complex Unity systems, UI design, music and sound effects.
I plan to release devlogs showcasing the progress on average once a week. I’ll also continue streaming the development on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/jhovgaard
Since I have, no pun intended, big ambitions for the game, I expect at least 2 years of development before the first build is ready for the public. It’s definitely a long time away but I don’t want to take any shortcuts so that I can provide the best possible experience.
I’m determined to build a game that does more than entertain you - something that makes you dream big after closing the game.
I hope you’re as excited about Big Ambitions as I am. I cant wait to show you what I’ve got lined up for future devlogs, so make sure to subscribe to the newsletter on the website.
Hi everyone! Today is the day! After four years and nine months of hard work, I can finally and proudly announce the Full Release of Startup Company! If you read my special devlog about how Startup Company became a thing , you can probably imagine how excited I am about this. Tod
Hi everyone!
Today is the day! After four years and nine months of hard work, I can finally and proudly announce the Full Release of Startup Company!
If you read my special devlog about how Startup Company became a thing, you can probably imagine how excited I am about this. Today is the day I'm releasing the game I've been dreaming about. Startup Company is now officially out of Early Access.
Introducing Version 1 - Packed with new stuff!
I hope you're ready for this, because this update will be much longer than you're used to. Here's what's new in Version 1...
2 New Website Types
By popular demand, you can now start the following two new website types: Dating Platform & Gaming Platform
New feature: Profile Page
A new Profile Page feature is now available for all Gaming & Dating platforms.
20 New Competitors
With the new website types, I had to add some new competitors too. I asked my colleague Mark for some help naming these new competitors. As you can see, he was surprisingly creative!
New feature: Early Retirement
Some of you really wanted to be able to retire early. I've listened and you can now find a "Retire now" button in your CEO's Retirement menu.
Employees Menu: Mass-Upgrades!
I got more requests for this feature than I could count. Now it's here, upgrade all your employees at once!
Customize the "Days per year"
In order to get a nice balance between simulating a day's work and the progression of years, I've ended up shortening a year to 50 days in Startup Company. Some of you really did not like that, so I added the option to define the length of a year through the Custom Game menu:
New feature: Sell Your Website
This feature request has been so popular that you'll even find mods adding the functionality. I'm happy to report that it's now natively in the game. Obviously websites can only be sold if you've already bought out all the investors.
In-game Achievements
As Version 1 introduces a "direct download" option, I have created an achievements menu in-game, meaning achievements are no longer limited to Steam users.
New office items!
We've now got some new cool items for your office:
Huge Slide: What's a big headquarter without a huge slide?
Game Console Area: Again, a sign of success. You need it.
Large Plant & Rectangular Plant: This is the sequal to the current "plant in a vase."
Indoor Tree: Big offices always have indoor trees for some reason. Now you can too.
Privacy Walls: Give your employees a bit more privacy with these walls.
Privacy Box: A box canceling all noise coming from inside it. Very modern.
Egg Chair: Probably the most expensive chair in the world.
Letters (A-Z): Motivate (or unmotivate) your employees with these letter-shaped objects.
All the new items except the letters can be demanded by new employees and come with various new bonuses.
Improved HR Management
Most of you have probably experienced losing a good employee, simply because you didn't accept a salary raise in time. You can now let your HR Managers handle this.
Better Production Plans
The production plans has now been moved to an independent tab of the Inventory Menu. Options to more precisely control production behavior has also been added.
Other Improvements
Fixed components incorrectly shown as locked.
"Game paused" shown when the time machine running.
Slider's maximum salary too low.
Limited Help System to one instance per website.
Reduced organic growth.
Introduced Jeets earlier in the game.
Added logo selector to "new game dialog."
Improved auto-save to save only after further progression.
Added random name generator to "new game" dialog.
HR manager's exhaustion is now easier to understand.
Newly hired employees can no longer be fired right away.
Fixed overlays causing people to get stuck on slower computers.
Fixed bug allowing outsourcing tasks to be completed instantly.
Purchased furniture can now be sold again.
Bugs and balancing
As with any release, there will of course be bugs and changes that need rebalancing. As always, I'll monitor the Steam discussions and apply hotfixes ASAP.
I'm also planning on releasing a few updates to address various UI/QOL issues.
What's next at Hovgaard Games?
So much! As we're now a full-blown company with the resources to explore multiple paths, our roadmap looks like this:
Localizor.com
With Localizor we're revolutionizing the way games are translated by building an intelligent and community/crowd-based platform. We'll continue to invest heavily in improving the platform. Visit Localizor.com
The Next Game
I can't count how many times I've been asked, "Is there another game coming from Hovgaard Games?" I can finally reply with a confident "Hell yes!"
We're already busy creating the first concept art and I can't wait to show you everything. For now, I'll give you a few hints:
It's once again a tycoon/management game.
The camera angle is topdown/isometric and the gameplay is something we're confident you have never seen before in this genre.
The budget for the new game is 50 times (!) bigger than it was for Startup Company.
Hi there, Just a quick update to remind you that the full release of Startup Company is now less than 24 hours away! ːschappyː I honestly have no idea how I'm going to get any sleep tonight. I'm so excited to finally share the full version of Startup Company with you. The time of
Hi there,
Just a quick update to remind you that the full release of Startup Company is now less than 24 hours away! ːschappyː
I honestly have no idea how I'm going to get any sleep tonight. I'm so excited to finally share the full version of Startup Company with you.
The time of release is 10am PST / 19:00 CEST. There will be a release event on our Discord server where I'll be running a small Steam key giveaway to those of you (or your friends) who still haven't purchased the game. You can join us here:
I want to thank all of you who helped translate the remaining strings on Localizor. All languages have reached 100% except Korean and Japanese. Those will be added later. If you want to contribute the link is: https://www.localizor.com/game/1/translations
Lastly, I have to end with a sneak peek. Ready for some new furniture?
Hi everyone, I hope you're all as excited about the full release as I am. There's only 14 days left now and we're super busy fixing the last bugs and issues. I really want to make sure everything works flawlessly when you receive it. However, as the title indicates: I need your h
Hi everyone,
I hope you're all as excited about the full release as I am. There's only 14 days left now and we're super busy fixing the last bugs and issues. I really want to make sure everything works flawlessly when you receive it.
However, as the title indicates: I need your help translating the rest of the game!
Currently the following languages have untranslated content:
Russian, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Japanese, Italian, Turkish and Hungarian
If you speak any of these languages fluently (and have decent grammar skills), I would really appreciate any help over at Localizor:
Hi everyone, I'm super happy to finally share the official release date of Startup Company: April 10, 2020 This means the game will finally move out of Early Access and into full release. I have decided not to increase the price and keep the current $12.99 (or your regional equiv
Hi everyone,
I'm super happy to finally share the official release date of Startup Company:
April 10, 2020
This means the game will finally move out of Early Access and into full release. I have decided not to increase the price and keep the current $12.99 (or your regional equivalent).
Countdown has begun on our new website!
Make sure to visit the official website and sign up for the countdown. By signing up, I'll send you an email 1 hour before Version 1 releases!
Will there still come new content to the game, as usually? No. Version 1 is the last content update.
What if I find a bug, will it be fixed? Yes! All bugs we might have been missed will be fixed as usual through hotfixes.
Will Startup Company continue to work on future Operating System updates? Yes, we'll continue to support the game and bring updates if necessary.
Is there any DLC planned? Not currently planned, no.
Is Startup Company coming to other platforms? Yes. We expect to release on XBox, Playstation and Nintendo Switch. Official annoucement will come later this year.
Can you tell anything about future games coming from Hovgaard Games? No comments ːschappyː
Will there ever be a Startup Company 2? No comments ːschappyː
I'm super excited to show you version 1! Stay tuned :-)
Hi, everyone! As you probably already imagine from the title, this will be a very special devlog. First, let's get right to the practical: the official release date of the Startup Company Full Version will be announced in next week. We'll finally leave Early Access and the Beta p
Hi, everyone!
As you probably already imagine from the title, this will be a very special devlog.
First, let's get right to the practical: the official release date of the Startup Company Full Version will be announced in next week. We'll finally leave Early Access and the Beta program. To celebrate, I'd like to share my story with all of you, who have been following my game for the last couple of years. It's a long read, so if you're only curious about game updates, you should probably stop reading now ːschappyː
Let's get started. It was back in 2015...
The Beginning
I was working a 9-5 corporate job as a Lead Developer. My primary task was to build websites, and I knew absolutely nothing about game development. But I loved tycoon games, and I had the desire to make one myself.
One evening, around July 2015, I was casually playing around with combining web technology (HTML, CSS, and Javascript) with some free isometric game assets I had found online. I had no goal at all. I was just curious if it was possible. Slowly, I started understanding how I could layer multiple PNG images on top of each other and make the website look like a game. It was incredibly simple, but it felt real. I continued testing ideas and researching possibilities. After a couple of weeks of investigation, I came to a conclusion: I could definitely build a game entirely in HTML, CSS, and Javascript. I was experienced in all these technologies. The only limitation was that I had to keep the animations simple.
The Idea
Back when I was younger, I had tried starting up two companies. The first was a hosted e-commerce platform, basically a competitor to Shopify. We spent a year developing the platform in our spare time, but failed miserably when we learned that developers can't sell anything and that marketing is important. After that, I built a platform to manage web servers. It failed, too, because I still hadn't learned anything. However, with my newly found knowledge about game development, I was ready for my third adventure. I knew that I could build a game. I just had to decide what I would build. Fortunately, it couldn't have been more obvious: I needed to build a game that would allow me to succeed in starting a company. I quickly jumped on Steam and searched for "Startup Company"...0 results. Boom, that was it.
Livecoding
I had been working on the concept for a couple of months. I even found an up and coming artist from India, who was willing to provide me with cheap assets (I think I paid $20 per item) to get started. At the time, I was working mainly in the evenings, after work. That left me with 2 problems. First, I had already programmed for 8 hours, so I was tired and slow at solving complex problems. Second, I procrastinated too much by watching Twitch streams, chatting with friends, etc.
To overcome these issues, I decided to start streaming my development. Exactly like regular Twitch streams, but with me writing code.
Game development streams weren’t really a thing on Twitch at the time, but there was a site called Livecoding for exactly that. I signed up, got my OBS configured, and went live Saturday, October 17, 2015. I was too shy to use a webcam or even have a microphone. (English is not my native language.) Instead, I would reply to viewers directly via chat. I don't remember the duration of my first stream, but I remember the feeling: I had been incredibly productive. Because someone was watching me (between 0-1 viewers), I couldn't chat with my friends or watch stupid videos on YouTube. Instead, I had to work and keep them entertained with my progress.
I continued streaming and my followers started climbing. I got confident and eventually added both a microphone and a cam to my stream. At my peak, I had up to 100 viewers every night. People even donated me money to invest in the game.
Here's the first preview I made of Startup Company:
As more and more people started following my development streams and signing up for my newsletter, I started to believe that I really had something.
With new motivation, I started to really put in the hours. Weekends were now dedicated to the game. I even had a rule that I had to work more hours on the game than on my full-time job, which obviously resulted in 70+ hour work weeks.
Beta 1
After working on the game for almost 6 months, I was finally ready to release Beta 1. On February 21, 2016, I made Beta 1 available to everyone who had signed up.
I remember feeling not only excited, but also very nervous. What if they didn't like it?
20 minutes later I got the first feedback. I remember it clearly: "lol, it's so boring." The feedback continued: "It feels like real work"; "This is spreadsheet simulator"; and so on.
At this point, I was seconds away from giving up completely. I didn't reply to anyone, and I didn't touch the game for days. To this day, I'm not sure why I picked up the game again. But, fortunately, I did. I reached out to everyone who had given me feedback and started questioning them about everything. I wanted to figure out what they expected and wanted from the game.
Over the next year, I ended up rewriting the game completely two times. The root cause of the boring gameplay was my desire to make it complex and realistic. I tried to simulate real life "development models" and "deployment processes." Geeky stuff that sounded cool on paper, but was awful in a game.
At last, I finally figured out that a game had to be simple enough for the player to fully understand what was going on. When playing a game, you want to understand exactly what is going on, so that you can make smart decisions. This is also the reason that I have insisted on keeping the game casual and sometimes unrealistic. I tried the opposite.
It wasn't good.
The Early Access Release
Fast forward a year. It's Summer 2017. The game had evolved a ton. It was a good experience, and people were playing it for an average of 2 hours.
I had already set the release date: August 11, 2017. The game was up on "Steam Coming Soon." I knew from my earlier failures as an entrepreneur that marketing was the most important thing, especially now, 3 months prior to the release.
At this point of time, I completely stopped working on the game. Instead, I went into full-blown marketing mode. I literally sent more than 500 emails with Steam keys to YouTubers and Twitchers. If they didn't reply to me, I would message them on Twitter or even crash their live stream on Twitch. I would even appear in their comments section. If you were contacted by me back then: I'm sorry, I know I must have been annoying.
A lot of small YouTubers covered the game. It started slowly. Most had fewer than 1,000 subscribers. But then, my game was covered by "GrayStillPlays" on YouTube. The whole thing went nuts from there. The number of people wishlisting the game began climbing like never before.
On Friday August 11, 2017, I pushed the button on Steam and Startup Company went live. Within an hour, the game was on the frontpage of Steam. At its peak, the game had more than 1,400 people concurrently playing the game.
It took me a couple of days before I fully understood what had happened. The upcoming Monday I knocked on my boss' door, only to tell him that I would like to resign.
Life as a Game Developer
I had to stay in the job for six weeks after my resignation. It was a stressful time. The huge increase in players caused a lot of bugs to show up. I couldn't accept it, if any of my players had a question that was unanswered or a bug that wasn't fixed right away.
At the same time, I had no experience in community management. I was way too emotionally attached to my game, and a single bad review would literally ruin my whole day, especially if it was valid.
Fortunately, I learned, over time, to handle all that stuff. Today, I work a healthy amount of hours, and I've read enough negative reviews for them to not change my mood.
After the release, I started documenting all development progress through the devlogs here on Steam. (You can check them out, as they are all still available).
The Next Chapter
Right now, I'm working on Version 1 of Startup Company. Obviously, I can't make a full release, without also bringing you the biggest content update for the game ever. So far, Version 1 contains more new content than the last 5 beta updates, and I'm only halfway done. If there's a time to be excited as a Startup Company player, it's now!
I'm also actively negotiating with another studio to help me bring Startup Company to Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. There will, of course, be an official announcement about this later.
And finally, me and my colleague Mark are working on Localizor, our new community translation platform, which has really started to take off lately. You can check it out here: www.localizor.com
Thank You
No matter how long you've been following me and Startup Company, I just want to say thank you for all your feedback, bug reports, ideas and suggestions, negative and positive reviews, mods in the workshop, and comments and likes on my devlogs.
Having a community like this is truly a blessing. Startup Company would never had been possible without you.
That's all for today. Remember to keep an eye on the announcements at the end of next week. Something is coming...
Hi there! Beta 29 is now available. Restart Steam to get it right away! It's been 42 days since the last beta update. While Beta 29 isn't the biggest update, it delivers some important changes. One of these changes has been in the pipeline for more than a year! Let's jump right i
Hi there!
Beta 29 is now available. Restart Steam to get it right away!
It's been 42 days since the last beta update. While Beta 29 isn't the biggest update, it delivers some important changes. One of these changes has been in the pipeline for more than a year!
Let's jump right into it and see what's new.
CEO Backstory
The CEO's backstory allows you to select which skill your CEO had before becoming a CEO. You'll be able to choose between developer, designer, or manager. No matter which role you choose, the CEO will still be able to participate in recruitment. All you have to do is manually switch between his roles.
The CEO is the first and only employee type that can handle multiple skills.
New Fusion Hardware
Beta 29 introduces brand new "Fusion" hardware. Both new hardware items are very expensive, but are also the most efficient seen so far.
Fusion Server
Generates a lot of heat, but it's also the first server to produce all three types of throughput.
Fusion Heat Transformer
Incredibly expensive but reduces temperature by a stunning -55 Celsius (-67 Fahrenheit).
New Enhancement Feature: Help System
This headline might be confusing. It's not an in-game help system – it's a new enhancement feature you can add to your website. Adding the Help System will not only allow you to increase overall satisfaction (it counts as a regular feature), but it also greatly reduces the number of generated support tickets.
Tidal Power Investment Project
A third investment project is now available: Tidal Power. It will unlock both the Fusion Heat Transformer and the Fusion Server. The upfront payment is $28 million and the minimum daily budget is $1.2 million.
Minor changes
Beta 29 also contains a lot of bug fixes and improvements. The most exciting ones are
Employee Menu: Order by age added
Retirement warnings added
New achievements: "The Wave" & "Dangerous Future"
Help us translate!
Even though the community has been very busy translating Beta 29, there are still a couple of untranslated strings. The following languages are incomplete: Portuguese (BR), French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Turkish.
If you want to help out, whether it be voting for suggestions or writing your own, simply click the button below to get started:
As always, I'll be monitoring the release very closely for any potential issues that might arise or that we might have missed during testing. If you encounter any issues or bugs, please send me a message on our Discord channel (link provided below) or create a post in the Steam discussions.
I really hope you like all the new changes and features!
Hi everyone, This devlog was originally planned for last week. Fortunately we had some good progress on Beta 29, which allowed me to postpone the devlog till today, but also include the official release date of Beta 29! Beta 29 Sneak Peek: Fusion Server The Fusion Server is here!
Hi everyone,
This devlog was originally planned for last week. Fortunately we had some good progress on Beta 29, which allowed me to postpone the devlog till today, but also include the official release date of Beta 29!
Beta 29 Sneak Peek: Fusion Server
The Fusion Server is here! It's expensive and generates a lot of heat, but it's also the first server to produce all 3 types of throughput.
Beta 29 Sneak Peek: Tidal Power Investment Project
The new Tidal Power investment project will unlock both the Fusion Heat Transformer and the Fusion Server. The upfront payment is $28,000,000 and the minimum daily budget is $1,200,000.
Beta 29 Release Date
I think you'll like this one: Beta 29 will be publicly available this Friday (February 7) at 20:00 CET (11am PST).
The update contains the following:
CEO Backstory
Tidal Power Investment Project
Fusion Heat Transformer & Fusion Server
New enhancement feature: "Help System"
New achievements: "The Wave" & "Dangerous Future"
And other smaller improvements and fixes
There will be a small happening over at our Discord server. I'm looking forward to see you!
Remember the translations!
I'm continuously uploading new strings for translation to Localizor. So if you want to help translate the game, this is the place to go: https://www.localizor.io/game/1/translations
Thank you for reading and see you in Friday! ːschappyː
Hi everyone, I had some great progress on Beta 29 recently. Everything is coming along much faster than expected. I even hope testing will begin at the end of next week. I'll keep you updated in the next devlog. Beta 29 Sneak Peek: CEO Backstory This week I finalized the most pop
Hi everyone,
I had some great progress on Beta 29 recently. Everything is coming along much faster than expected. I even hope testing will begin at the end of next week. I'll keep you updated in the next devlog.
Beta 29 Sneak Peek: CEO Backstory
This week I finalized the most popular change in Beta 29: The CEO's backstory. Basically you get to select which skill your CEO had before becoming a CEO. This will allow him to act as a Developer, Designer or Manager. He'll still be able to do recruitment. All you have to do is manually switch between his roles. As you can see below, I added a small icon for that.
Beta 29 Sneak Peek: Help System
The headline might confuse you. It's not an in-game help system. It's a new Enhancement Feature you can add to your website. Adding the Help System will not only allow you to increase overall satisfaction (as it counts like a regular feature), but it also greatly reduces the amount of generated support tickets.
Beta 29 Sneak Peek: Order by age
A small but useful update. You can now order by age in the employees menu.
Beta 29 Sneak Peek: Retirement warning
Another small but useful update. You now get a warning 1 year before an employee will retire.
Beta 29 Sneak Peek: New Fusion Hardware
Beta 29 will also introduce new servers and airconditioners. We categorize them as "Fusion hardware". Bruno did his best to make it look as badass as absolutely possible. He nailed it, don't you think? ːschappyː
That's all for this week
Also remember I'm continuously uploading new strings for translation to Localizor. So if you want to help translate the game, this is the place to go: https://www.localizor.io/game/1/translations
Thank you for reading and see you in the next devlog ːschappyː
Hi there! Beta 28 is now available. Restart Steam to get it right away! I'm happy to once again present you another big update for Startup Company. This update is really for you, as every single change and feature is based on community feedback. Let's jump right into it and see w
Hi there!
Beta 28 is now available. Restart Steam to get it right away!
I'm happy to once again present you another big update for Startup Company. This update is really for you, as every single change and feature is based on community feedback.
Let's jump right into it and see what's new.
Dynamic DDoS Attacks & DDoS Protection
In Beta 28 I have greatly increased the effect of DDoS attacks both in duration, strength and how often they happen.
To help you counter these attacks we're introducing another Enhancement Feature: The DDoS Protection. Similar to the Adblock Obfuscator you can improve the feature from 0-100%. At 100% you'll be almost invincible to DDoS attacks.
DDoS Protection has a flaw though: The system will automatically ask users if they are a robot or not. This will annoy your users and result in increased dissatisfaction.
Introducing Jitter
Understanding your users is a vital part of succeeding as a startup. This is why we're introducing Jitter. Users will send out Jeets expressing their feelings.
You'll also get weekly updates from the StockTraders account giving you hints on what companies to invest in.
I'll introduce even more types of Jeets over the next beta releases.
Updated Stock Market and UI
After a ton of requests (you guys really like investing in stocks), I've finally fixed the buggy stock market. Beta 28 will introduce brand new mechanics that makes the stocks much more dynamic.
The UI has also been updated:
Added a transaction log to better track whether you're making money or not.
Added a 1% trading fee for both buying and selling.
Increased the amount of days stock prices are tracked.
Fusion Power Plant & Fusion Framework 2020
The second investment project is now available: The Fusion Power Plant. Once you have completed this investment you'll unlock the Fusion Framework 2020 which allows to reach even higher feature levels and add more features to the same website.
The projects are incredibly expensive therefore it's only for well-established companies.
Other minor changes
Decreased the effect of Viral Boosts.
Increase hours to recruit intermediate and expert employees.
Decrease the chance of headhunting superstar employees.
Added support for UI scaling as a replacement for "Big UI" (moved to top left corner of the main menu).
Do you have suggestions or ideas for the game? Check out our Conflux board.
As always, I'll be monitoring the release very closely for any potential issues that might arise or that we might have missed during testing. If you encounter any issues or bugs, please send me a message in our Discord channel (link provided below) or create a post in the Steam discussions.
I really hope you like all the new changes and features!
Hi everyone, Intro.... Beta 28 Sneak Peek: UI Scaling After being in the pipeline for a long time I finally found time to add a UI scaling feature. The old "Big UI" option has been removed. Beta 28 Sneak Peek: Fusion Power Plant & Fusion Framework I'm happy to present the sec
Hi everyone,
Intro....
Beta 28 Sneak Peek: UI Scaling
After being in the pipeline for a long time I finally found time to add a UI scaling feature. The old "Big UI" option has been removed.
Beta 28 Sneak Peek: Fusion Power Plant & Fusion Framework
I'm happy to present the second investment project: The Fusion Power Plant. The upfront payment will be $22,000,000.
By completing this project you gain access to the new Fusion Framework 2020. The framework allows you to upgrade your features all the way to level 7000. You also get a total of 12 feature slots!
In Beta 28 I have greatly increased the effect of DDoS attacks both in duration, strength and how often they happen.
To help you counter these attacks we're introducing another Enhancement Feature: The DDoS Protection. Similar to the Adblock Obfuscator you can improve the feature from 0-100%. At 100% you'll be almost invincible to DDoS attacks.
DDoS Protection has a flaw though: The system will automatically ask users if they are a robot or not. This will annoy your users and result in increased dissatisfaction.
Beta 28 Release Date
We're busy testing Beta 28 right now. If you want to help out, come join us on Discord. The official release date is: December 27 at 19:00 CET (10am PST).
That's all for this week
Also remember I'm continuously uploading new strings for translation to Localizor. So if you want to help translate the game, this is the place to go: https://www.localizor.io/game/1/translations
Thank you for reading and see you in the next devlog ːschappyː
Hi everyone, 2 weeks ago Beta 27 was released. It has been very successful! Reviews has been more positive than ever, thank you! The build was also very stable, I have only spent 1 week on fixing bugs: Fixed bug where retirement sequence didn't start from step 1. Fixed bug making
Hi everyone,
2 weeks ago Beta 27 was released. It has been very successful! Reviews has been more positive than ever, thank you! The build was also very stable, I have only spent 1 week on fixing bugs:
Fixed bug where retirement sequence didn't start from step 1.
Fixed bug making it impossible to unlock "The Sun Is The Future"
Recruitment: Changed max value of salary and bonus slider to support new superstar employees.
Show daily payment when negotiating ad contracts
Added "In stock" value to Production Plans
Updated localization files
Fixed yet another "Employees not retiring" bug
Fixed bug where retirement tax percentage didn't update after transferring.
Fixed bug where both main menu and game soundtrack would play simultaneous
Fixed issue where "years till retirement" could go into negative
Fixed bug where new candidates would contain fire demands right away.
Fixed bug making it impossible to upgrade to new office for some old savegames.
Fixed error being thrown if employee was fired while having their dialog open.
Beta 28 Sneak Peek: Jitter and the in-game browser!
Beta 28 will introduce a new in-game browser. The first website you can visit is Jitter. From here you can get:
Info on how to improve your website and what annoys your users.
Which companies might be interesting to invest in.
Random rages from angry people.
If you have some cool ideas about things users could "jeet"about, feel free to submit your suggestions in the comments section.
Beta 28 Sneak Peek: Updated Stock Market and UI
After a ton of requests (you guys really like investing in stocks), I'm finally fixing the buggy stock market. Beta 28 will introduce brand new mechanics that makes the stocks much more dynamic.
The UI has also been updated:
Added a transaction log to better track whether you're making money or not.
Added a 1% trading fee for both buying and selling.
Increased the amount of days stock prices are tracked.
Beta 28 Sneak Peek: Tidal Power Plant
The next investment project will be the Tidal Power Plant. Once you have completed this investment you'll unlock the Fusion Framework 2020 which allows to reach even higher feature levels. I'll talk more about this in a future devlog.
That's all for this week
Also remember I'm continuously uploading new strings for translation to Localizor. So if you want to help translate the game, this is the place to go: https://www.localizor.io/game/1/translations
Thank you for reading and see you in the next devlog ːschappyː
Hi there! Beta 27 is now available. Restart Steam to get it right away! It has been 72 days since the latest beta (26) was released. I'm super excited to announce Beta 27, which is the biggest update to the game, both for content, and lines of code. Let's jump right into it and s
Hi there!
Beta 27 is now available. Restart Steam to get it right away!
It has been 72 days since the latest beta (26) was released. I'm super excited to announce Beta 27, which is the biggest update to the game, both for content, and lines of code.
Let's jump right into it and see what's new.
Career Mode
Beta 27 introduces a brand new Career Mode, which is also the new primary game mode.
When you start the game, your CEO will be 18 years old. As the game progresses your CEO will now age along with your employees. At the age of 67, you will retire and the game is over.
As you're playing, your main objective is to move money from the company account to your retirement fund to secure your future.
Custom Game
"Custom Game" allows you to configure the game exactly how you like. Don't like investors? Turn it off. Don't like the new retirement feature? Turn it off. Hate that you have to research everything? Turn it off! Wanna go crazy and build your dream? Turn up your starting money.
Retirement Fund
From the CEO window you'll now able to access the Retirement tab. From here you can move money from your company account to your personal retirement fund. You'll have to think this through as your investors need to receive an equal cut (unless you have bought them out).
You'll also have to consider taxes. Paying out everything in the same year will hit you with a huge tax charge.
Investment Projects
If we look at the world today, most successful entrepreneurs are investing in massive projects which move the world forward. Elon Musk with SpaceX and Tesla. Jeff Bezos going to space with Blue Origin and Mark Zuckerberg is aiming to provide access to the internet to everyone with internet.org. In Startup Company Beta 27 you'll be able to do the same. Each investment project will give you access to special abilities. Investment Projects are accessed via the city map.
The projects are incredibly expensive therefore it's only for well-established companies.
Beta 27 introduces the first project out of 3: Space-based Solar Power.
Superstar Employees
Have you ever worked with someone that was incredibly fast? In Beta 27 you'll now be able to hire those superstar employees.
The superstar employees are very rare and can only be found using expert-level Recruiters. They require a very high salary, but can also reach base speeds of up to 900%.
Improved Inventory
The Inventory Menu is probably the least used feature in Startup Company. Hopefully, this will change with Beta 27.
You'll finally be able to see both consumption, demand and production for each component/module.
This new information will allow you to make your office more efficient and cut down on overproduction.
Other minor changes
7 brand new achievements.
Ability to disable workstation limits (be aware of lag).
Designed Company & Benefits menu.
Increased game speed (twice as fast in 3x speed).
Beginner Kits for all employees are automatically researched.
Sliders/UI for Sales Executives has been improved.
27 various bug fixes.
Do you have suggestions or ideas for the game? Check out our Conflux board.
As always, I'll be monitoring the release very closely for any potential issues that might arise or that we might have missed during testing. If you encounter any issues or bugs, please send me a message in our Discord channel (link provided below) or create a post in the Steam discussions.
I really hope you like all the new changes and features!
I have to go now, It's time to get started on Beta 28 ːschappyː
Hi everyone, Another week went by and another Daily Deal has come to an end. The impact on our Review Score has been enormous this time. From 100% out of 18 reviews to 61% out of 41 reviews in 2 days. I won't lie, the "demotivational impact" is equally enormous. I'll keep my eyes
Hi everyone,
Another week went by and another Daily Deal has come to an end. The impact on our Review Score has been enormous this time. From 100% out of 18 reviews to 61% out of 41 reviews in 2 days. I won't lie, the "demotivational impact" is equally enormous. I'll keep my eyes away from the reviews until things are back to normal. If you have any issues with the game, please reach out to my directly ( [email protected] or Discord). The game is 100% stable and if you have any issues with the game I guarantee to fix it within 24 hours.
With that off my chest, let's look into some exciting news!
Improved Contract Filters
A lot of you have probably struggled with setting the right max impressions for your Sales Executives. Beta 27 changes how max impressions is calculated, so it won't suddenly drop to lower amounts. I also added a textbox to easily enter the desired amount.
No more researching beginner kits
I had a lot of complaints that players found it annoying that you had to combine the "Beginner Kit" after researching the a new employee type. All beginners kits are now instantly available in all new savegames.
7 new achievements
Beta 27 comes with 7 new achievements mainly focused on the new features:
Achievement
Goal
Fast Support
Reach an average response time lower than 2 hours with more than 500 tickets
The Average Worker
Secure a retirement fund of more than $500,000
Upper Middle Class
Secure a retirement fund of more than $1,000,000
Biggy Shot
Secure a retirement fund of more than $45,000,000
Mister Biggy Biggy Shot
Secure a retirement fund of more than $200,000,000
Mister World Wide
Secure a retirement fund of more than $3,500,000,000
The Sun Is The Future
Invest 100% of Space-based Solar Power
Changes to game speed
I have decided to increase the speed of the game, mainly to reduce waiting time in stale periods of the game.
The following changes has been applied to Beta 27:
In-game minutes changed from 200ms to 150ms
2x Speed ticks changed from 2 to 5 in-game minutes
3x Speed ticks changed from 5 to 10 in-game minutes
These changes will dramatically increase the speed, especially when playing in fast-forward mode. I hope these changes makes you feel more in control of the game's progression.
Release date of Beta 27
I can finally announce that Beta 27 will be publicly available November 2, 2019 at 10:00am PT (18:00 CET). You can participate in the countdown on our Discord server. Make sure to subscribe to the CEO role by writing !subscribe in any channel.
That's all for this week
Also remember I'm continuously uploading new strings for translation to Localizor. So if you want to help translate the game, this is the place to go: https://www.localizor.io/game/1/translations
Thank you for reading and see you in the next devlog ːschappyː
Daily Deal! Grab it while you can! For the next 48 hours you can snatch up a copy for yourself, or a friend, at 50% off! This means that Startup Company will be available for purchase for only $6.5 (or your regional equivalent)! Need help? Got any questions? Then don't keep it to
Daily Deal! Grab it while you can!
For the next 48 hours you can snatch up a copy for yourself, or a friend, at 50% off! This means that Startup Company will be available for purchase for only $6.5 (or your regional equivalent)!
Need help? Got any questions?
Then don't keep it to yourself. There's a huge community around Startup Company including a lot of amazing people who're ready to help you out.
Our Discord server have more than 5000 members often with more than 500 online users. You can join by clicking the button below:
The next update is just around the corner and it's a big one!
This might be the perfect time to purchase Startup Company. The next update is Beta 27 and we're busy finding and fixing all the bugs right now. The test is public. Once you own Startup Company you can join the test team by reading the pinned message in the #testing channel on our Discord server.
I hope you’ll have a ton of fun with Startup Company!
