Political Arena has been in Early Access for one month. Yes, it was a long gestation, and our newborn is keeping us up at night, but when we gaze upon its tangled web of ambitions, outsized personalities, moral ambiguities and shifting alliances, we know it was worth it.
Positive Signs
Wishlists are greatly outpacing wishlist conversions, meaning there’s large numbers of players well beyond our initial community who are interested in what we’re building.
No fewer than one-third of our players are from outside the United States, confirming our longstanding belief that U.S. politics – like English football, American basketball, vikings and samurai – is one of those nation-specific subjects with international appeal. We suspect that percentage will only grow as the game’s scope expands. Put another way, it’s wild how many people in Brazil are interested in what is currently a U.S. legislative cycle sim.
Upcoming Updates
We’re not quite ready to unveil our first major update – 0.2 – but we’re polishing it as we speak, and we’ve already begun work on 0.3.
A couple notes about what’s to come:
- Our first major update is going to be a lot of fun and its dimensionality will only grow as Political Arena itself grows. That said, I think its subject might surprise people a little bit: it’s a prime example of how what matters in the world of politics doesn’t always sync with what you see on the news.
- Our next few updates – well, most of them, really – will greatly increase Political Arena’s “gaminess.” Right now, the game is really just a legislative cycle sim with some RPG flavor. However 0.2 and 0.3 will be centered around features that enhance and deepen the simulation in a way that incorporates engrossing game mechanics.
Smaller updates
Our hope for smaller updates (0.21, 0.22, etc) is to include things like customization options, quality of life updates and even some slightly expanded game mechanics and/or events. And of course bug fixes.
Merch
We’ve ordered our Kickstarter physical rewards merchandise! I’m personally partial to Goodboy McFluffleface – modeled after my dog Charlie. Backers should be getting contacted soon about shipping addresses.
Beta Testers
Though our public beta completed with the launch of Early Access, we are continuing our closed beta and are restructuring how updates will be delivered to testers. If you’re a beta tester, we’ll email you with instructions on how to gain access to our future beta versions.
Beta testing is currently closed, though we’ll be sure to let you know if that changes!
