Saturday Update!

Hello again! It's been an extremely hectic and busy week, but I'm really glad that people seem to be enjoying the game 💚

I spent last week getting the game launched on Steam, and getting the soundtrack up on Steam [ had to fight a couple approval failures on that one too, but they were for actual legitimate things I needed to fix this time ]. Luckily I was able to get that up fairly quickly anyway!

I also opened the Etsy store again, although it's a bit of a soft launch [ I haven't posted about it on DMG/dirtymurdergames.com ] because I'm still working through high order volumes and I'm pretty concerned about the Canada Post worker vote to accept the new contract which will happen on Monday [ if they vote no, it's possible that the mail could be shut down again via a lockout or a strike ].

Aside from that, I got my merch room ready by building a bunch of wire shelving, purchased a large amount of shipping materials [ the bubble mailers and stuff ], signed up TPOF and YKMET for all available upcoming Steam sales [ and sent an appeal asking YKMET to be approved for the Halloween sale ], and sent the plushie guys small designs to put on tags for him [ to make it extra official feeling! ]

I was hoping to get a bit of drawing done for the new keychains/dakis, but I chose to slow down and take some time to recover. My burnout started getting very physical and I was beginning to feel quite sick [ dizzy, ears ringing, nausea, extreme shoulder/neck pain ] and I was having nightmares every night messing with my sleep. I managed to get an okay sleep on Thursday night though and I believe I'm starting to recover.

I will be continuing to slow down my approach a bit though. I still need more recovery.

What's coming up next:

• Soundtrack Videos created and uploaded to Youtube [ when I can ]

• Soundtrack download made available on DMG [ when I can ]

• Drawing art for new YKMET style keychains and dakis of Strade and Ren [ ASAP ]

• Ordering a restock for low/sold out items in store

• Ordering new YKMET themed items for the store [ keychains, dakis, standees ] [ have to draw them first of course ]

• Putting up the YKMET:Strade logo as a t-shirt design on Teepublic

• itch.io release [ Game goes up on Tuesday the 22nd! I will also need to update DMG to reflect this ]

• Putting up the YKMET:Strade Collector's Coins in the store [ this was originally planned for this Monday, but with my fatigue and the postal vote this Monday, I've decided to push it back to Monday the 28th. Only Patreon will be notified at first. Coins will be $20CAD/~$14.56USD, but you guys will receive a 25% off Patreon-Only coupon code when they launch via mass DM because lots of websites pirate my Patreon posts ]

Concerning the Recent Steam News:

There have been many articles recently about Steam falling prey to the usual payment processor content censorship that's been plaguing other websites for years.

[ https://www.eurogamer.net/steam-introduces-vague-new-rules-banning-certain-kinds-of-adult-content-to-appease-credit-card-companies ]

[ https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/1m32iyb/collective_shout_is_celebrating_their_success_in/ ]

What does this mean for my games on Steam? Short answer: I don't know.

Because of the vagueness of the implied rule change, I can't be sure if my games will be impacted. I've looked at a list of games that have been banned already, and I can at least say that my work does not resemble them. They all seem to be realistic 3D games, kinda slopware looking, and of course from the perspective of the aggressor. But that doesn't mean they won't widen the net. After years of my accounts being deleted, shadowbanned, and penalized, I know to never assume my work is safe. The payment processors can strike at any time and there is almost always no warning.

What I CAN say though, is that between merch, this Patreon, and itch, I feel confident that I can continue to make games with or without Steam. Obviously it would be better if I can keep working with Steam, but I don't think that this alone has the power to force me to cancel YKMET:Lawrence.

I will certainly post on here and DMG immediately if they strike my games down.

And of course, a Thank You:

I want to thank all of you, and everyone, for how well received YKMET:Strade has been.

I'm so delighted that people are enjoying the game, and that it's meeting people's expectations. I'm happy that it's already sparking creativity and inspiring people to make more art. That really means everything to me.

Thank you so much for supporting me and my work. I hope we can keep connecting and sharing our art together for years to come!

And of course- stay safe, and see you next week!