Sassy Chap Games is launching Date Everything in a tough market

Among the many games already planned for 2025 – which include the biggest titles and the most anticipated titles in the history of the industry – one title stands out for its unusual and impressive nature: Every dayThe first title from Sassy Chap Games. It might not be the biggest title of 2025, but it’s pretty funny on its own. But the team behind it, and the publisher Team17, are very interested in its development and implementation, although the market is still in a difficult place after 2024.

This dating sim is right on its head: The player can – through magical costumes – meet, befriend and eventually interact with any inanimate object in their home. From the washer and dryer (voiced by David Sobolov and Neil Newbon, respectively), your grand piano (voiced by Joy Ofodu) and your doors (voiced by Ben Starr); to your overwhelming sense of Existential Dread (voiced by Sungwon Cho).

Sassy Chap itself was founded by a group of voice actors, including Robbie Daymond, Ray Chase and Max Mittelman. I had the opportunity to speak with Daymond at the Anime Frontier conference about Date Everything and the launch of such an unusual title – a first for the studio, no less – in what is by all accounts one of the most difficult markets in gaming history. Below is an edited transcript of our interview.

GamesBeat: How do you feel about the launch so far? How has the reception been?

Robbie Diamond: Our product numbers are not customizable so they can be viewed individually. This is an indie game, so the marketing budget is always huge, and most of the feedback we got was organic. So, you know, it just came out – the trailer, I think, has 400,000 views, like, the look of it. We are now entering millions of ideas. And then we have a bunch of viral Tiktoks and Reels, and the next thing you know, we have, you know, views and Bs. So we’re really excited, and the wish list numbers are really good.

I think the fun part is that everyone gets it. That’s nice to see. That was fear. Do they think this is just a joke, or will they find something deeper? And I think there was a moment where people were like, “Oh, we always get these sims where you can sit on the toilet.” And I’m like, well, that’s part of the joke. You don’t write 1.5 million words of fun. We’ve created deep and interesting characters with funny stories, as well as some serious ones. While we hope that you can return to these characters and treat them as a true dating sim. We tried to make more than 100 people.

GamesBeat: Going into the background a little bit: I think I have an idea of ​​where the original idea came from. There is a whole history of amazing dating simulators. Hatoful Boyfriend, I think, was a turning point.

Diamond: Bad Boy, Monster Prom, Dream Daddy – right, Western dating sims have fun. We were always brainstorming ideas for what we wanted to make. And the idea was, what can we do that hasn’t been done before? What if it’s all? What if we take this version to its extreme and let you have it every day?

GamesBeat: Since we’re on the subject, have you had any professional or personal experiences with the SIM?

Diamond: I played with them, but mostly for homework. (Rachel: “Of course you did, Robbie.”) I know a lot about it’s history, but I’d say it won’t be at the top of my list of things to play until I get around to making one. Then I said, “Well, I have to do my research.” And we played a lot of them – good, big hitters. And we thought, I believe, where some of the weaknesses are in the interface, and then how we can strengthen that, and then how we can play the things that people really enjoy in dating sims. And as I said before, as one of the things is making those important relationships.

GamesBeat: It’s not just hot people.

Diamond: They and about hot people, but it was something that we wanted to do that leaned in more like the East and social dating sims, where it’s like you’re actually dating someone. I was like, yeah, we can do that. Every event can be powerful. Some people are just joking, but most of the time they are serious.

GamesBeat: Did you have a background as a game developer before this?

Diamond: No, this is our first game. We – “we” being me, Ray Chase and Max Mittelman – have been doing something creative outside of the word for ten years. About six years ago, we decided we wanted to create something, something tangible. Will it be a show? Is it a podcast? Will it be a game? Ray Chase, who is the director and game director for this, was interested in game development. He has been attending PAX and a bunch of other gaming conventions for years. He said, “How about a game?” And the thought came.

What kind of game do we want to make? We didn’t have the ability to make zero. We all learned how to use all the software development tools, how to build in Unity. We are using a scripting program called Inky. And, you know, it’s a wild experience, doing something we’ve never done before. We’ve never led a team of 40 people. We’ve never worked with a regular video game publisher. It started as three guys in my garage, but now we have a company with employees that we manage. I’m so excited to see everyone step up to the plate and bring it out. Our programmers, our artists, our musicians, the voice actors who released their voices. Everyone is amazing at this. So, yes, we are very happy with where we landed.

GamesBeat: I’ll admit, when this was first announced, there was a part of me that thought… this is an amazing place for a game like this, right?

Diamond: Who is making the biggest dating sim in 2024? I think it’s been a long time since we needed, like, a big banger sim interface to jump back into the zeitgeist. And I think, based on the reviews, you know, we’ll see after the release date, but it looks like people are going to play it, which is really exciting.

GamesBeat: It’s probably one of the best genres to put out right now — it doesn’t require the big budget of a big RPG or the open world of Spirits.

Diamond: I feel like we’re a little bit higher on the true “low-budget indie”, but we’re kind of looking at the low-end of the double A where we can get talented people, and we can make something that sounds good. high quality and affordable. Our entire team is away. Our publishers are in the UK, so you know that gives us the flexibility to make a very high quality product, and then what we have to sell to make it back is not the same as say, you know, if you just pour $50 million. a game or something like that.

But here’s the thing: We also saw that we’d get more talented people if we shared a little. So we have a healthy rev share program within our development team, so that the people who have contributed the most to the game will get real results, including our performance, our talent, our musicians, our artists, some of our developers, you. know, not everyone, but important members, if the game is successful, they will get part of it, and it will come out of our pockets as governors. But for me, it’s important. It’s not the right thing to do, but it allows, it encourages people, and it gives them, it allows them to have the passion to work on something. So, yeah, I think we can have this kind of culture within video games where, you know, these big things are making billions, and you know our games aren’t, but we’re small, and if we can share that. Big dogs can share too, right?

GamesBeat: What are you most excited to see when the game launches?

Diamond: Obviously the first question is who is most loved.

GamesBeat: Who ends up being the most popular?

Diamond: It’s a popular race when you make 100 people. That’s human nature to be interested in this! But actually I’m curious. The game tracks your metadata about how you play, which was very important in the installation, and we’re working right now on creating a sharing platform, which will be a post launch, so you can show someone IRL, “Hey, this is how I play!” And, you know, obviously we have to have that data. We don’t cultivate it. We can’t watch it right now, but it will be good to see how people play. And you know, anything that’s popular, you can get three different endings than four, if you put them together that you might not meet.

GamesBeat: There’s a shoebox in a room somewhere that’s like a *check clock.

Diamond: There are hard to find characters. Some of our hidden characters need, like, real world, things you have to do to unlock them.

GamesBeat: Those people should be fine actually Fire, Robbie. I’m just saying.

Diamond: They are very hot, but they will be suitable, because they are interesting and different from other people. So the fun part is, I’m really looking forward to seeing how people play and meeting the community and discussing how they’re playing. The odds of meeting someone with the same drama are about one in a million. But that’s what I enjoy the most: Hearing feedback. I’m happy to see how people are playing. I mean, I’m a playboy. I want to know what my audience is feeling. And we really tried to let a lot of different voices be heard. We had a group of different writers and artists all love to create these characters in their imaginations. So I want to know how people respond to them. And obviously everyone at Sassy Chap and Team17 love all of our people.

GamesBeat: Someone has to be very famous.

Diamond: It’s someone I’m talking about, I just know it.

Every day will launch on February 14 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.