Dear fans, we hope you’re doing well in these strange times!

We’ve spent the last few weeks furiously debating and considering all foreseeable angles and can
finally provide you with a bit of an insight into our little IAYP project. I’ll divide this text into two
parts: raw facts (for the TL;DR people out there) and a meandering, in-depth explanation for those of
you that appreciate brutal honesty and full transparency.

SO, WHAT’S THE PLAN?

I’ll start by addressing the elephant in the room: the final version of I Am Your President will not be
released in October – for reasons I’ll get into in the second part. Instead, on the 7th, we will release a short demo available throughout the autumn edition of The Steam Game Festival. We’d love to hear
your thoughts on the features presented in the demo version – not only in terms of bugs or potential
quality-of-life improvements, but also in more general terms. Think of it as a vibe check. ;)

The demo will include the prologue’s storyline; this way we can avoid spoiling the main game, while
presenting a consistent narrative. Relive the election year as the former president: see if you manage
to fulfill political expectations and experience the events that unfold directly before the start of the
main game! And don’t get discouraged if you fail at first – there’s always a strategy or a project you
can invest in to bolster your vulnerabilities.

We’re also considering putting together an early access version of IAYP and providing those of you
that’d be interested in participating with beta keys. We still have tons of ideas we’d love to include in the final version and your dynamic feedback would help us tweak them in real time! And on that note,
we could even prepare a roadmap to give you some idea of what features we’ll be implementing
next, so let us know what you think!

Finally, as per the original plan, the prologue in its final form will be published 2-3 weeks before the
main release. Since it’s a self-contained storyline, it serves as a perfect testing ground for seeing how
adding various features impacts the gameplay.

BUT MR. GAME DESIGNER, WHY WOULD YOU DELAY THE RELEASE? WHAT DID WE DO FOR YOU TO HURT US LIKE THAT?

To quote a famous British chef: it’s <bleep> raw!

Admittedly, it’s a bit embarrassing. We’ve got some good ideas, great ingredients and – most
importantly – amazingly supportive audience waiting for the final product! So, what went wrong?


[*]We do not want to betray your expectations – nor the work we’ve already put into the game.
We can release the full game only once; and as much as everyone in our small team would
like to end the crunch, these final touches often make or break the gaming experience.
[*]We’d still like to work on a portion of the features, and especially the interactions between
various gameplay elements – as I’ve mentioned before: the core story and gameplay is ready,
though we’re not entirely happy with how these cogs align. IAYP needs to pull off this crazy
balancing act of being both narrative-driven and highly randomized, meaning that all the
puzzles must fit together extremely well.
[*]We’re still figuring out how pronounced certain things should be – as with any creative
project, IAYP has evolved considerably throughout its development; we’ve added hidden
stats, emotions, animations, dozens of project and tech trees and so much more. This
requires us to update or interlink the older, plainer content and figure out if we’ve missed or
overemphasized anything. Do people want more graphs? Fewer nukes? Skeletons? Memes?
Only some solid testing will tell.
[*]And lastly – on a more egotistical note – I feel personally responsible for some of the delay.
You see, I’ve been tasked with fleshing out the main plotline and went a bit crazy with it
(duh). I’ve thrown enough temper tantrums to convince my colleagues to prepare a number
of features distinct from the rest of the game. And also include some unnecessarily complex
formulas to make certain plotlines feel more organic. And also have branching out game
endings. And… well, you get my point – and know who to blame in case you find the main
plot dumb.


So, to sum up, we are sorry for delaying the release. At this moment, we’re a bit reluctant to suggest
a new release date – life has taught us that these things are really hard to gauge, but we’ll try to be
ultra honest and transparent with the game’s status. And, most importantly, to do our absolute best
to provide you with a great gaming experience! Anything less would be a disservice to your sustained
interest in and support of IAYP. Once again: thank you for your patience and all the kind words!

~Miłosz (Meatplanter)