So...what now?

Well, by now, you guys have probably already heard about everything.

https://yanderedev.wordpress.com/2023/09/25/im-sorry/ 

https://yanderedev.wordpress.com/2023/10/01/moving-forward/ 

I did something careless that has resulted in a massive controversy, and as a result, a lot of Yandere Simulator's volunteers have departed from the project. In some cases, they've even asked me to remove their contributions from the game, as well.

How will this impact the future of the project? Well...

In order to make an educated and informed decision about how I should move forward from here, I will need to evaluate a lot of information:

• How many volunteers have departed from the project? Which ones specifically requested for their contributions (animations, art, models, music, textures, voice lines) to be removed?
• How many assets will need to be replaced? How difficult and/or time-consuming will it be to replace those assets?
• How many people are still willing to assist me? Are they capable of replacing the assets that need to be replaced?

The answers to these questions will determine the best way to proceed forward with the project. Will it be possible to replace everything that has been lost within the span of a few weeks, or is it something that is going to take months? Should I drastically reduce the scope of the project in order to reduce the number of assets necessary to finish it?

The only way to arrive at the answers to these questions is to look through all of the correspondence that I've received over the past week, and evaluate the situation. So, that's what I'm going to be doing in the immediate future. Until I've had ample time to develop a full understanding of the situation, it's just not possible to make a meaningful decision about what should happen next.

At this point in time, there are only four things I can say for certain:

• I've received an avalanche of supportive messages over the past few days, begging me not to give up on the game. A lot of people are deeply attached to Yandere Simulator, and don't want it to end like this. Their worst nightmare would be to see me cancel or quit the project - and I feel the same way.
• A lot of the people who reached out to me over the past few days were animators, artists, composers, modelers, and voice actors who want to help me recover from this massive setback by providing any assets I need in order to restore the game to the state it was in before I had to pull a bunch of assets. It's too early to say anything for certain, but making a full recovery is starting to appear feasible.
• I consider the notion of giving the project to another developer to be the absolute last resort. I'm too attached to the game to let it go. It's not like I'm completely unwilling to consider the possibility, but I want to consider all other possible options before I accept it as a valid choice.
• It was probably a massive mistake to allow the game's scope to grow as large as it did. I put myself into a position where I'm completely reliant on a massive team of volunteers, and can't finish the game without a massive budget requiring a successful crowdfunding campaign. Perhaps the smartest thing to do right now would be to simply reduce the scope of the game to something that can reasonably be expected of one man.

Perhaps, back in 2015, I never should have made the choice to add voice-acting to the game. It was a decision that has only served increased the number of assets, money, and people that would be required to finish the game. Perhaps reducing the game's scope to "a game without any voice acting" would be the best move for the project. No more need for a crowdfunding campaign if I don't need to worry about hiring dozens of voice actors, after all.

I wish I could paint a clear picture for you of the future of the project, but I won't be able to form a complete mental image of the situation until I've finished going through all of the correspondence I've received. (Seriously, hundreds of e-mails. I'm not exaggerating.) I still don't know who has left the project, who remains, who wants me to pull their assets, how many new volunteers are stepping up to help, how much positive sentiment remains, etc. I just need to keep going through e-mails until I've developed a comprehensive understanding of the situation.

If you're reading this post, it means that you saw me as being worthy of your support. I apologize if I've disappointed you, and I promise you that - at this moment, at least - abandoning the project is the last thought on my mind. I genuinely do want to continue development...I just need time to analyze the situation and form a plan.

I apologize for any disappointment, and I thank you for supporting the development of Yandere Simulator.