Resuming Full-Time Development

Overview

Hey everyone,

This is a quick announcement to let you all know we are focusing 100% full-time on game development again. We have had too much to do and not enough time to get it done, so we are going to be spending significantly more time than before. We are fortunate that we are able to do this right now, especially when so many others are struggling across the world. It is our hope that we can create some fun experiences for you during these difficult times.

Plans

Our first priority is updating this website. The last time we made any major changes was in 2015, and I've learned a lot about web development since then. Once the new site is up, I'll go over how it all is going to work. But basically what I'm wanting to do is bring together all the different aspects of Goldbar Games (the website, the store, our games, and our streams) and connect them. Some progress has already been made on this, but I wanted to at least mention this ahead of time. Hopefully the new site can be ready by the end of August.

At the same time, our game engine is pretty much ready for use. So that means most of our development efforts are going toward content creation, and with significantly more time on our hands, this should go at a much faster pace. People have been really clear that they want more Detective Butler, so that is what we'll be working on. A long time ago, we had written a lot of content for the sequel, but never released it. I am currently on the fence between how much of that old content should be re-used, or done away with altogether. It's been hard to think about while being distracted with so many other things, but now with time on my hands again, I can take another look at it. Although I also have a lot of new ideas, I don't want to get stuck in the trap of creating new things for the sake of it. And sometimes you don't even need to come up with anything "new" but just stick with doing things that have already proven themselves to work well in the past.

Our streaming schedule had been gradually reduced over time because I was getting burnt out. Now that I can dedicate my full focus to Goldbar Games again, I feel like I could go back to streaming every night. However, I'm not sure that's the best idea. It would probably be better to spend some of that time creating content for YouTube instead. So a possible plan is to stream on Tuesdays and Thursdays and release videos on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'm going to have to experiment with this and find out what works best for me.

Conclusion

I just want to emphasize that during the past year I have really missed being able to work on Goldbar Games full-time. I have had many fans reach out to me who say they are still rooting for us to succeed, even after all this time. I was especially touched when we released the DLC in April and people truly loved it. I've learned a lot of lessons during the past year and will be going forward with more confidence than I've ever had before. I'd gone through a lot of times where I questioned what I was doing, and whether it was worth doing. But the reality is that people value different things in life, and I need to cultivate an audience that values the same things I do. And this will only happen if I continue to create new stories and new games, or whatever else I might come up with. The continuous support coming from the viewers of our streams and the fans of our games has proven to me that I am doing something really special here, and that I need to continue on this path more than ever before.

Thank you, and I hope it will not be too long before our next update!