Corporate Bonds Update!
Hello, plutocrats! In the new update, we’ve significantly expanded the financial system of Plutocracy — bonds are now available in the game! They can be issued just like shares, bought and sold on the stock exchange and from other characters. We’ve also added new deals with secur
Hello, plutocrats!
In the new update, we’ve significantly expanded the financial system of Plutocracy — bonds are now available in the game!
They can be issued just like shares, bought and sold on the stock exchange and from other characters. We’ve also added new deals with securities holders.
Let me tell you in more detail what new opportunities and manipulations this opens up and what they can be used for.
Company Credit Rating
Companies now have a credit rating that changes dynamically based on several company parameters — its current debt load, investment attractiveness, history of missed payments, and more.
The rating affects bond coupon rates, so maintaining a good rating is critically important if you want access to cheap debt financing.
Bond Features
You can issue bonds if you are the CEO of a company or control it as a shareholder — just like when taking out a bank loan.
But the key difference from bank loans is that bonds are not only a way for a company to borrow money, but also a new investment tool for characters who hold them. When bonds are issued, they are distributed among investors in the game world. Every quarter, all holders of corporate bonds receive a fixed coupon income until the company reaches the bond maturity date.
Among other things, a new bond trading section has been added to the stock exchange, where you can freely buy and sell company debt if its bonds are traded on the market.
Unlike bank loans, you can choose a bond maturity period from 1 to 30 years and set the coupon rate. The lower the rate and the lower the reliability of the company, the less attractive the bonds become and the harder it is to raise a large amount of money from character-investors in the game world.
So before issuing bonds, it’s better to estimate in advance what investor demand for them will look like.
Opportunities for Bondholders
The most interesting part begins when a company can no longer pay coupon income on its bond debt.
Bondholders gain the opportunity to become shareholders of the company that issued the bonds, in proportion to the size of the debt and the company’s remaining assets.
This is a direct way to take control of competitors by buying up their debt and waiting for the first financial problems.
For this purpose, we’ve added a mechanic that allows bondholders to demand repayment of bond debt in company shares in the event of default.
This mechanic works only with bonds, not bank loans.
Perhaps in the future banks will also be added to the list of creditors that can exchange debt for shares in debtor companies. But for now, this is a unique feature of bondholders.
Changes to Deals with Characters
Bonds can be purchased not only on the stock exchange or during the initial offering, but also directly from current holders through negotiations, just like shares, allowing you to bargain for a price that works for you.
We’ve also added the ability to not only buy shares and bonds from characters through negotiations, but to sell them as well!
However, in order to sell any securities to a character, they must either:
already own those securities, or
have an ambition to buy them.
Otherwise, unwanted shares or bonds can still only be sold on the stock exchange.
Why We Added All of This
Our goal was to make debt another full-fledged tool in the struggle for capital and control, just as it is in the financial world.
So now in the game you can:
borrow money in a new way to accelerate company growth;
invest in someone else’s debt for regular income;
trade bonds on the stock exchange;
negotiate their purchase or sale directly with other characters;
speculate on changes in credit ratings;
and in the event of default, turn debt into a stake in the company.
I hope you’ll appreciate the update and find ways to make use of the new tools.
Meanwhile, we continue working on the political update, and I hope that within the next few weeks we’ll be able to share some more good news with you!
Thank you to everyone who supports and appreciates the game!
Until next time!
Changelog v.0260915
New:
Corporate bonds
Buying/selling bonds on the stock exchange
New type of deal with characters — selling securities
Company defaults caused by overdue debt and consequences for creditors
Fixes:
Banks now receive the loan principal back on automatic repayment
A CEO can now sell shares purchased by the company before their appointment
Shareholders with a zero stake have been removed from the shareholder list
Holding company: changes to supply priority now apply immediately
The state laws window no longer opens empty
Fixed a crash in the context menu of a bankrupt company
Fixed a crash in the share purchase agreement
Various minor fixes
Currently in development:
Political update. Presidential elections.
Steam Workshop (event and scenario editor, user translations)
Now companies and characters can be added to favorites. This will make it possible to quickly return to them without having to search for them by state.
The favorites menu appears when you hover over a new shortcut on the left side of the screen.
You can interact with characters and companies using the menu, as in other windows.
You can also quickly go to the information about the character or to the company window by clicking on the desired line.
Now you will not lose the very shareholder who was recently ready to sell a huge stake in a promising company for a song, but you did not have enough funds.
Buttons have been added to the company window that allow you to switch between all your companies. A list of all your companies has also been added to quickly navigate to the one you need.
This list, as well as the structure of companies, will simplify navigation through your financial empire.
A new button on the main panel leads to a new window that allows you to view all the connections of the companies that you own.
Here you can also visually see the financial flows between your companies and quickly switch to one of them if desired.
This interface is just the basis for vertical holdings, which will be released later this year, and so far it no longer has any functionality.
The form will allow you to report an error at any time without leaving the game and attach a screenshot of the current screen and/or save the game to it, according to your choice. Or just send a suggestion to improve the game, why not?
Please note that submitting the form requires an Internet connection, and the time to send the save strongly depends on the speed of your connection and consumes some traffic.
At the moment, I can only share what has been precisely decided to be implemented - a system for nominating candidates from parties, a mechanism for pre-election candidates, as well as a modern voting system based on indirect elections of the President of the United States through the electoral college will be introduced.
In addition to the elections themselves, the system of removing the president before the end of his term - impeachment - will also be worked out.
The question still remains for us, what should we as players receive as a bonus for winning the presidential race? Just the ability to veto the laws of the US Congress? Or something else? Share your ideas and suggestions on our Discord channel 
Contractor offers will be constantly updated - and you will be able to regularly find the best opportunities to expand your companies. Or, as before, transfer everything to the CEO, and deal with other issues.
Having your own bank, as before, will open up opportunities for you to finance your own companies at meager rates without seeking the approval of third-party banks. But, importantly, now you can finance your companies even outside of your bank's state. 