This week we bring you an in-depth look at the new sponsorship system through brands and contracts. After seeing how little the previous system was used during Early Access, we decided to rebuild it from scratch. It is now a mechanic mainly designed for the mid-late game, when you’re already a well-known YouTuber and must manage your relationships with different brands to keep growing.
Brands
We have reorganized all the brands in the game, and now each one is clearly associated with a type of product: video games, technology, food, drinks, etc. We’ve also added rivalry and affinity relationships between them—something to keep in mind when interacting with any brand. For example, Honey and NicoSoft have the highest possible rivalry: if you have an active contract with Honey and decide to attend a NicoSoft event, your reputation with Honey will drop.
The most important brands are the four dedicated to video games. Each has its own attributes that influence its behavior in the game. For example, Mantendo stands out for the quality of its games, but isn’t exactly an expert at dealing with other brands.
Relationship with Brands
As YouTubers, besides having affinity with certain brands (as shown in a previous devlog), when you sign a contract you must maintain your reputation with them. This relationship rises or falls depending on your actions: recording videos related to the brand or its rivals, attending events, completing promotions… Your relationship level affects how well the brand values you and the benefits you’ll unlock later when we get into the contract section.
Brand Events
Although we’ll talk about them in more detail in a future article, we can already say that we’ve added a wide variety of events organized by the brands. Among them is the Playcon, a huge gaming event full of activities and content, organized by one of the major brands in the industry.
Contracts
To access the contract system, you’ll need to hire a manager, who will help you handle sponsorships. As before, to hire employees you’ll need to expand your house and unlock an additional room. We have also adjusted the costs of both the first expansion and salaries.
Each contract belongs to a specific brand and comes in three levels: A, B, and C. Depending on your employee’s level, you’ll gain access to some contracts but not others. You can have up to 2 contracts of type C, 2 of type B, and 1 of type A simultaneously.
Type C Contract
Food, drink, entertainment, and recording accessory brands. Any manager level grants access to these contracts. They offer short, quick missions that reward you with items meant to help professionalize your YouTuber career. These mostly provide economic benefits.
Type B Contract
These higher-level contracts are made with tech brands. To sign them, you’ll need a specific manager level and must attend a tech event where the brand representative will give you tasks. As in type C contracts, you’ll find missions that generate income, but also, as you improve your relationship with the brand, you will unlock new PC components in the shop.
Type A Contract
The most important contracts belong to video game brands. To access them, you’ll need the right manager and must attend a Playcon, where the brand representative will ask you to complete a small challenge. In addition to money-earning missions, these contracts offer especially attractive rewards if you improve your relationship with the brand.
Among the most notable rewards you’ll find exclusive features:
🎮Develop Your Own Game
You’ll be able to create your own game within the Youtubers Life 3 universe. When you reach a certain level, the brand will allow you to develop a title under its label. You’ll need a token, which can be obtained in several ways. Each created game consumes one token.
The interface lets you define name, genre, style, price, and number of copies. A cover will be generated using AI based on your choices. Once you publish the game, it will appear in all players’ stores and become a permanent part of the Youtubers Life 3 universe.
🕹️Customize a Console
You will also be able to customize an exclusive console with any color you want.
The result will be a unique console, not available in the shop, which you can gift to your friends. Only one can be customized per brand.
👔An Exclusive Outfit
Conclusions
All in all, this is a complex and very deep system that you’ll need to discover as you play. In the coming weeks, when we talk about the new events, we’ll explain the final pieces that tie this mechanic into the gameplay loop. We hope you find it engaging and make the most of it in your life as a YouTuber.