Why Early Access?

“Is Gambling Bad for Business? is made by one person, and the full single player game is already playable from the first hire to a $10 billion win or bankruptcy. What one developer can't test alone is the balance of a game built on risk: how fast money should grow, how hard the casino should bite, and whether the Board is fair. The online cities also need real players to find out how land prices, rent and blackjack takeovers behave in a living world. Early Access lets players shape those numbers before the game is called finished.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“About 12 months. The game leaves Early Access when the content below is in, the economy is balanced from player feedback, and the online cities have run smoothly with real players.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“- A bigger HQ: new building types, skybridges that affect staff happiness, outdoor items, building exteriors, room styles and office layouts.
- Many more manager decisions: today there are about 50 situations; the plan is 200 to 300.
- More risk cards, crises and events.
- Balance changes to the economy, the casino, the Heat meter and Board meetings, based on player feedback.
- Online cities tuned with real players: plot prices, rent, the rich list and the blackjack takeover rules.
- Native-speaker-checked Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish translations, and Traditional Chinese.
- Bug fixes, performance work and quality-of-life improvements.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The full single-player game is playable from start to finish:
- Hiring from CVs, hiring tasks, staff files and firing, with a hard office capacity limit
- Coin flips, blackjack and slots played with company money, plus the Heat meter and "Win it back?"
- A side-view HQ tower built with gambling winnings, with rooms, furniture and room upgrades
- 20 crisis mini-games and nearly 600 risk cards
- Board meetings, a manager who brings real decisions, 91 skills, a stock market and six promotion tiers
- Bankruptcy hearings, permanent game over and a $10 billion win
- Six online cities (London, New York, Tokyo, Istanbul, Dubai, Shanghai) where players buy land, draw pixel-art logos and take plots at blackjack
- 64 Steam achievements and cloud saves tied to your Steam account
- English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish (translations are being reviewed by native speakers)

Expect balance changes between updates, and rough edges in the online cities while they fill up with players.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The price will be the same.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Players can report bugs and suggest ideas in the Steam Community discussions, which I read myself. Balance changes will be based on what players say and how runs actually go. Each update will come with patch notes on Steam explaining what changed, and big decisions, like new building types or online city rules, will be put to the community before they are built.”