Of the handfuls of video games already scheduled for 2025 — which incorporates a number of the largest franchises and most anticipated titles within the historical past of the business — one specific title stands out for a way uncommon and engaging its premise is: Date Every little thing, the debut title from Sassy Chap Video games. It might not be 2025’s largest title, but it surely’s actually the funniest on premise alone. However the workforce behind it, in addition to writer Team17, is actually critical about its growth and launch, regardless of the market nonetheless being in a difficult place after 2024.
This relationship sim’s pitch is true there within the title: The participant character can — by means of a little bit of magical eyewear — meet, befriend and ultimately date each animated inanimate object inside their dwelling. From the washer and dryer (who’re voiced by David Sobolov and Neil Newbon, respectively), your grand piano (voiced by Pleasure Ofodu) and your doorways (voiced by Ben Starr); to your personal overwhelming sense of Existential Dread (voiced by Sungwon Cho).
Sassy Chap itself was based by a gaggle of voice actors, together with Robbie Daymond, Ray Chase and Max Mittelman. I acquired the possibility to talk with Daymond on the Anime Frontier conference about Date Every little thing and launching such an uncommon title — the studio’s first, no much less — into what by all accounts is likely one of the most troublesome markets in gaming historical past. Beneath is an edited transcript of our interview.
GamesBeat: How are you feeling in regards to the launch up to now? What’s the reception been like?
Robbie Daymond: Our advertising numbers are sort of unhinged for particular person views. That is an indie recreation, so these advertising budgets are at all times enormous, and a lot of the suggestions that we acquired was simply natural. So, you realize, got here out of nowhere — the trailer, I believe, has 400,000 views on, like, one type of it. Now we’re entering into the hundreds of thousands of views. After which we now have a pair viral Tiktoks and Reels, and the subsequent factor you realize, we’ve acquired, you realize, views with Bs. So we’re tremendous comfortable, and the wishlist numbers are superb.
I believe the enjoyable half is all people will get it. That’s good to see. That was the worry. Are they gonna assume that is only a joke, or are they gonna get that it runs deeper? And I believe there was a second the place folks had been like, “Oh, we at all times get these relationship sims the place you may date the bathroom.” And I’m like, okay, that’s one a part of the joke. You don’t write 1.5 million phrases for funsies. We’ve created some actually deep and endearing characters with some clearly shaggy dog story strains, but in addition some fairly critical ones. Once we hope that you may come again to those characters and deal with this as an actual relationship sim. We tried to create over 100 particular person folks.
GamesBeat: Entering into the background just a little bit: I believe I’ve an thought of the place the fundamental thought got here from. There’s an entire historical past of bizarre relationship simulators. Hatoful Boyfriend, I believe, was the inflection level.
Daymond: Hatoful Boyfriend, Monster Promenade, Dream Daddy — proper, Western relationship sims have a enjoyable spin on it. We had been simply riffing on concepts about what we needed to make. And the concept was, what can we do this hasn’t already been achieved? What if it’s simply the whole lot? What if we take this style to its logical conclusion and simply allow you to date the whole lot?
GamesBeat: Since we’re speaking about it, did you might have any skilled or private expertise with the relationship sim style?
Daymond: I performed them, however principally for homework. (Rachel: “Certain you probably did, Robbie.”) I do know quite a lot of the historical past of it, however I might say that wouldn’t be on the highest of my listing for one thing that I might play till I began making one. Then I used to be like, “Effectively, I higher do my analysis.” And we performed quite a lot of them — the nice ones, the heavy hitters. And we kind of discovered, I imagine, the place a number of the weaknesses are within the format, after which how we will strengthen that, after which learn how to play into the issues which can be that individuals get pleasure from most about relationship sims. And as I mentioned earlier than, like one of many issues is forming these significant relationships.
GamesBeat: It’s not nearly sizzling folks.
Daymond: It is in regards to the sizzling folks, however that was one thing that we needed to try this leaned into extra like Jap and conventional relationship sims, the place it’s such as you’re actually relationship somebody. I used to be like, yeah, we will do this. Each expertise could be intense. Some characters are simply humorous, however principally they go fairly deep.
GamesBeat: Did you might have any background as a recreation developer earlier than this?
Daymond: No, that is our first recreation. We — “we” being me, Ray Chase and Max Mittelman — have been doing different artistic endeavors outdoors of voiceover for the higher a part of a decade. About six years in the past, we determined we needed to make a factor, a tangible factor. Is it going to be a present? Is gonna be a podcast? Is it gonna be a recreation? Ray Chase, who’s the lead designer and recreation director on this, had at all times had an curiosity in recreation growth. He’d been going to PAX and and a bunch of different recreation growth conferences for years. He mentioned, “What a couple of recreation?” And that was the place the concept got here from.
What sort of recreation will we wish to make? We had zero programming expertise. All of us discovered learn how to work with all of the programming instruments, learn how to construct in Unity. We’re utilizing a language-writing software program referred to as Inky. And, you realize, it’s a wild expertise, doing one thing we’ve by no means achieved earlier than. We’ve additionally by no means managed a workforce of 40-something folks. We’ve by no means labored with a longtime online game writer. It began as three guys in my storage, however now we now have an organization with staff that we’re accountable for. I’ve actually loved watching all people step as much as the plate and produce. Our programmers, our artists, our musicians, the voice actors that landed their voices. All people’s simply superior on this. So, yeah, we’re actually pleased with the place we landed.
GamesBeat: I admit, when this was first introduced, there was part of me that thought… that is such a weird setting for this type of recreation, proper?
Daymond: Who’s making an enormous relationship sim in 2024? I believe it’s been lengthy sufficient the place we want, like, an enormous banger relationship sim to leap again within the zeitgeist. And I believe, in accordance with the suggestions, you realize, we’ll see after launch day, but it surely looks like persons are going to play it, which is actually thrilling.
GamesBeat: It’s most likely one of many higher genres to place out proper now — doesn’t require the huge finances of an enormous RPG or an open world Soulslike.
Daymond: I really feel like we’re just a little bit above the true “indie low-budget” finances, however we’re kind of hovering on this decrease double-An area the place we will get gifted folks on board, and we will make one thing that feels high-quality and hold our overhead low. Our total workforce is distant. Our publishers are within the UK, so you realize that that offers us the flexibleness to make one thing high-quality, after which what we now have to promote to recoup isn’t as a lot as say, you realize, for those who simply poured $50 million right into a recreation or one thing like that.
However right here’s the factor too: We additionally discovered we’d get actually gifted folks on board if we shared just a little bit. So we now have a wholesome rev share program inside our growth workforce, so folks that have contributed essentially the most to the sport will get some actual back-end, together with our efficiency, our expertise, our musicians, our artists, a few of our programmers, you realize, not all people, however the core members, if the sport does effectively, they’re going to get a chunk of that, and it comes out of our pockets as executives. However for me, it’s value it. Not solely is it the fitting factor to do, but it surely permits, it motivates folks, and it offers them, permits them the eagerness to work on one thing. So, yeah, I believe we will develop a tradition of that inside video video games the place, you realize, these enormous properties are making billions, and you realize our recreation received’t, however we’re small, and if we will share, the massive canines can share too, proper?
GamesBeat: What are you most curious to see after the sport launches?
Daymond: Clearly the primary query is who will get essentially the most love.
GamesBeat: Who finally ends up being the most well-liked?
Daymond: It’s a reputation contest if you create 100 folks. That’s simply human nature to be inquisitive about it! However I’m truly curious. The sport tracks your metadata of the way you play, which is one thing we actually had been vital about placing in, and we’re working proper now and making a sharing platform, probably for a publish launch, for you to have the ability to present somebody IRL, “Hey, that is how I performed!” And, you realize, clearly we now have to have that information. We’re not farming it. We will’t take a look at it as an entire proper now, however will probably be cool simply to see how the populace is enjoying. And you realize, each datable, you will get three totally different endings with 4, for those who embody the truth that you could by no means meet them.
GamesBeat: There’s a shoebox in a closet someplace who’s like *checks watch.*
Daymond: There are some exhausting characters to seek out. A few of our secret characters require, like, actually particular in world, issues that you simply’ve acquired to do to unlock them.
GamesBeat: These folks higher be actually sizzling, Robbie. I’m simply saying.
Daymond: They’re tremendous sizzling, and however they’re going to be value it, as a result of they’re enjoyable and in contrast to the opposite characters. So the cool half is, I’m principally trying ahead to seeing how folks play after which assembly different folks throughout the neighborhood discussing how they performed. The percentages of assembly somebody who has the very same play by means of are actually virtually one-in-a-million. However that’s what I’m most enthusiastic about: Listening to suggestions. I’m excited to see how folks play. I imply, I’m a theater child. I wish to know what my viewers is feeling. And we actually tried to permit quite a lot of totally different voices to be heard. We had a bunch of various writers and artists all like creating these these characters from their views. So I wish to understand how folks reply to them. And clearly all people at Sassy Chap and Team17 loves all of our characters.
GamesBeat: Anyone’s gonna should be the least fashionable.
Daymond: It’s gonna be any person I voice, I simply comprehend it.
Date Every little thing launches on February 14 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X/S and Nintendo Swap.