Dear Retailers
it has been a while, and i hope you have enjoyed the summer months.
It's time to let you know what has happened since the last update.
Table of content
- State of production
- New features
- Run massive marketing campaigns
- You can manage multiple conmcepts
- Custom product discounting
- And several other improvements.
--- State of production ---
As some of you might know, King of Retail 2 is made by my wife and me, with her sister as a freelancer. A little team, trying to make a big game.
It is something we do full time, but unfortunately has it not been something we have been able to actually live off at any point.
While development will continue, there is one important change: it will now happen at a slower pace. That is why I waited with this post, so i could share and show some progress along with it.
The goal was to improve the game to a point where it was stable enough for us to continue development without constant financial pressure. Like everyone else, we need to be able to support a regular life while making the game.
Since the Early Access launch, each month has seen a gradual decline in sales, and throughout that time we've been working toward the point where the game would earn enough positive reviews to improve its visibility on Steam.
We have since EA lifted it from 68% to 78%, with the next milestone being 80%. That will take a while to reach with the current review speed.
We also hoped that larger influencers would eventually discover the game, but that hasn't happened either.
Time has unforunately caught up on us, as the bank has made it clear that they are no longer willing to support us as it is. And we could no longer risk the financial security of our lives on an uncertain future. So after last update we needed to figure out what to do.
The result is that we have said goodbye to my wife's sister, my wife has found a different job, and i needed to find part time work/additional income as well, as the game no longer generates enough income to support even a low full-time salary after development expenses.
And as you know by running your stores in the game. It takes money to make the things go round.
We are of course very saddened by this. It has been 3 years of our life going into this, and we would all prefer to be able to just keep working on the game.
Because to us it is not just a "game" or a job.
We have poured our hearts and souls into this, and the desire to keep fighting and putting in long hours, when we could have had an easier, far better earning, and far less stressful life by finding a different job, was because we loved our game and wanted it to be a success. Which we still do.
But that is unfortunately sometimes how it goes. Life goes up, and life goes down.
Some people understandably worry that this means King of Retail 2 will be abandoned, especially given the history of the first game.
All I can really point to is what I've done over the last ten years. I've dedicated six years to King of Retail and another 3 to King of Retail 2. If my goal had simply been to make a quick profit and move on, I should have stopped just after the release and taken a much better-paid programming job.
Instead, I've spent the past year continuing to improve the game, releasing around ten major updates. I hope that demonstrates my commitment far better than any promise I could make.
And even now, after needing to find additional work just to support myself, I'm choosing to continue developing King of Retail 2, because I still believe King of Retail 2 can become the game we envisioned, and because I want to keep improving it for everyone who enjoys playing it.
I like making games, i enjoy making something that gives people hours of entertainment. That is why i started this, and that is why i will keep on doing this.
Development is slower.
But it will continue.
Here's what we've accomplished since the last update.
--- Marketing campaigns ---
You will now be able to do comprehensive marketing campaigns in your stores.
Choose from several campaign types, each with its own strengths. Make a Grand Opening campaign, or announce a store-wide discount. Encourage customers to focus on specific categories, or hype up certain products.
You'll also choose the media channel, and target segments. Note that depending on the ad type some might like it, and some might dislike it. VIP's do not like ads with a budget working, and pensioners do not go for preium advertising.
You can make a campaign run for a single store, or across an entire concept. And you can also make it exclusive for members of your loyalty club (which is to be implemented soon as well).
You are finally now in full control of your store, and and actively influence customers in the direction you would like.
--- Multiple concepts ---
Last update introduced specializations for your concepts. Niche or full department store. Premium or budget. But with only one concept available, this will undoubtedly average out, if you run stores selling different types of products, Store A will get mixed with Store B, and the benefits cancels out.
Now that has changed. You can now create as many concepts as you like (for an increasing fee of course), and begin to specialize your stores without missing out on other types.
Fill the map with concepts of you choosing, and be the market leader of all categories.
--- Quality-of-life improvements ---
We also added other quality of life things.
- Staff focus
You can now tell your employees wich categories to push to customers. On top of marketing, that is an additional way of controllign your customers to buy what you would like them to.
- Product discounts
You have also been able to "customize" discounts. Halving the price is the same as making a 50% discount, but it doesnt feel the same. Now you can set a proper discount on each product, and make it local or concept-wide.
- Setting prices from profit
Several of you have requested this. To be able to set a fixed profit, that adjusts the price, so you dont have to calculate it yourselves.
- Rounding error bug
I have also solved the issue with rounding errors. When using non-default currency it often rounded it to non-whole decimal numbers. That should be corrected now, so prices now display as clean, rounded values.
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Those are the biggest changes so far. These features will now go through testing while I continue working on the next batch of improvements. Hopefully we can release another update for everyone soon.
Feel free to join our Discord here:
This is also where we coordinate testing and gather feedback on upcoming features if you'd like to join in on that.
That was all for now. Thanks for reading, and following along.
And until next time:
Have some great sales in your stores.
Best regards
Daniel