Hello Retailers!
I'm GunthorNC, Community Manager at Freaking Games, and I’ve got some thrilling news to share! As many of you know, we’re hard at work on King of Retail 2, a complete overhaul of the original game with a brand-new engine and a slew of exciting features. The scope of this project is huge, and we’re eager to give you a sneak peek of what’s in store:
Build Your Own Store Fixtures with Our New Display Designer!
We’re excited to introduce a game-changing feature in King of Retail 2: our Custom Display Designer! This new tool empowers you to design and build your own store fixtures from the ground up, giving you unparalleled control over your store’s layout and presentation.
With the Display Designer, you can create and customize:
Shelves: Choose the size, style, and arrangement to fit your product range and store layout perfectly.
Podiums: Design display stands that highlight your best-selling or promotional items.
Freezers and Refrigerators: Customize their appearance to seamlessly integrate with your store’s aesthetic and overall design.
Spear’s: Add specialized displays for hanging candy, accessories, and other items that need to be suspended.
Clothing Racks: Design racks to showcase apparel, with options to adjust their size, style, and arrangement to fit your store's fashion needs.
Customize every aspect of your fixtures, including:
Colors: Match your store’s branding or create eye-catching contrasts.
Heights and Widths: Adjust dimensions to suit different products and store layouts.
Materials: Choose from a range of materials to achieve the perfect look and durability.
Designs: Experiment with various designs and styles to reflect your store’s unique character.
Whether you want to create a sleek, modern look or a more traditional setup, our Display Designer offers endless possibilities to suit your vision. You’ll have the freedom to experiment with different configurations, ensuring that your store is both functional and visually appealing.
Design or Download Your Own Custom Maps!
That’s right! Say goodbye to just one static map. In King of Retail 2, you can create your own customized maps or download ones made by the community. And if you prefer, you can always use the diverse map that comes with the game right out of the box.
Your store’s location will impact your customer base and business costs, adding a whole new layer of strategy to your retail empire. You’ll need to consider the various customer segments around your store location. These segments represent different categories of customers, such as high-income professionals or blue-collar workers, each with their own preferences and expectations.
The demographics of these customer segments will influence the types of products your customers are looking for and the level of service they expect. You can choose to cater specifically to a niche customer base, tailoring your inventory and services to meet their precise needs. Alternatively, you might take a broader approach, aiming to appeal to a wider audience with a more diverse selection of products and services.
Choosing the right location and understanding its demographics will be crucial in shaping your store’s success and growing your retail empire. This feature ensures that every new map offers unique challenges and opportunities, whether you’re customizing your own or exploring the game’s built-in options.
Explore the Surroundings Outside Your Store!
In King of Retail 2, your store is set in a fully realized environment. Opt for a beachfront location, and you’ll find your store right by the sea. Position your store across from a movie theater, and enjoy the bustling activity of a vibrant entertainment district. Each location is defined by its real-world context, providing a rich and immersive experience.
Instead of a static environment, you’ll interact with a setting that reflects the actual surroundings of your store. These surroundings will influence your store’s performance in various ways. For example, a location near office buildings might attract professionals who have higher expectations for goods and services, while a store near industrial areas might see more blue-collar workers who value practicality and value.
Real Animations Powered by Motion Tracking!
We’re taking realism to a whole new level with our groundbreaking motion tracking technology! In the previous game, animations were a mix of pre-made and manual. In King of Retail 2, we’ve moved beyond those limitations by using advanced motion tracking technology, the same cutting-edge equipment found in AAA games and blockbuster films.
In King of Retail 1, animations were created through traditional methods, which sometimes resulted in less fluid and less realistic body movements—or even clunky and silly-looking animations. With King of Retail 2, we’ve embraced motion capture to record every nuance of real human movement. This approach provides a significant upgrade in animation quality, delivering more lifelike and fluid character interactions that enhance your game-play experience.
You can see the difference in how characters move and interact, showcasing a new level of realism and immersion that sets King of Retail 2 apart from its predecessor.
Expanded Product Range – From Tiny to Huge!
Not only will King of Retail 2 have more articles, They will be much better looking as well! We’ve started out with supermarket articles, but that’s just the beginning. We’re introducing new systems designed to support all kinds of products, each with its own unique storage and display requirements.
For example, frozen goods will need specialized freezers in your back room to keep them fresh, while large items like cars will require dedicated display areas that can’t be managed on standard shelves. Our system is built to accommodate everything from small everyday items to sizable appliances, ensuring that each product type is handled appropriately.
This new system adds significant depth and complexity to your store management, requiring you to carefully plan your layout and storage solutions to handle a diverse range of products effectively. Get ready to manage everything from tiny trinkets to massive appliances, each with its own distinct needs!
Overhauled Staff System – Coming August 31st!!!
We’re deep into reimagining our staff system, and it’s going to be a game-changer. Expect staff to be a richer and more engaging experience with features like:
Recruitment agencies
Task preferences
Employee benefits
Personality traits
Skills
Personal lives, hobbies, and relation's
We’re excited to dive deeper into these features in the next update, so stay tuned!
Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm! Hundreds of players are already enjoying and testing out the game early in its current (unreleased) state, and their feedback is incredibly valuable in shaping the development of the game. If you’re interested in joining them and contributing your own insights, then you should:
We also host monthly contests on our Discord where you can win exciting rewards! Join the community to participate, showcase your creativity, and have a chance to be one of our lucky winners.
Check out our Discord to stay updated on what’s coming next and find out how you can try out King of Retail 2 as well!, be sure to Wishlist the game on Steam. We’re thrilled to have you with us on this journey and can’t wait to share more exciting updates soon!
Feel free to drop your questions, comments, and excitement below. Let’s build the future of retail together! :crown::shopping_cart:
Warm regards,
GunthorNC
Community Manager, Freaking Games
