Sorry to see you leave Alessandro. I appreciate that you're trying to be constructive, though some assumptions in the post are wide of the mark. I know a lot of our existing managers are in your position and looking some for reassurance, so I'll try and provide it quickly before going to bed. Also, if you're leaving, I hope we'll win you back over the next few weeks/months. If not, it was a pleasure and I'm glad you enjoyed it while it lasted.
Alessandro
I knew this game in 2017 and have been actively playing since then.
Based on when you joined, you probably didn't see how the community reacted to the mobile app. We've been here before. The initial updates that laid the groundwork for it were condemned as having ruined everything. We kept our heads down, responded to all the feedback and within a few months iGP Manager and the community had grown 12x.
3D is about to follow the same trajectory on a whole new level. I'm saying this based on the data, not anecdotes from a few leagues. We're actively trying to stifle growth at the moment while we iron out the issues, and contrary to what some managers think is going on, we can't contain it. Numbers have already doubled and are on their way to tripling. I think this is going to surpass the 12x we saw with the app when we finally let it rip. The community will benefit the most from this in the end, because we reinvest aggressively. That was the plan all along - short-term pain and criticism to unlock that long-term gain. Where we will be in a year we could never have dreamed of if we had just tinkered with the old platform, and we'll win many of the critics back in the process.
It's also worth noting what the team has achieved with the visuals. This was done with 1% (not a typo) of the budget of another studio making a game in the same category as us. We know this because we have their revenue data and UK companies are quite transparent. I think most people would say that iGP now has better visuals than that game and most already felt we had the superior gameplay. I am quite confident that no other studio in our category could have pulled this off. Frankly, some of this should not even be possible. When we're that ambitious and stretching what we have that far, sometimes we will slip. We're okay with that, so long as we're always moving forwards and learning from our mistakes.
Alessandro
It would be easy to talk about 3D, which is currently unplayable for a few simple reasons:
- there is no real free camera (which can get to view the track from above and with an acceptable zoom-out);
- there are no appropriate indications on the DRS and detection point zones
- it is not possible to properly understand when others are using the kers
- there is no track map that informs in real time the position on the track
- certain ideas like the onboard cam do not match with the aim of the product that is rarely played with 1x speed leagues.
It will all make sense with time. I think most of the items on that list will be addressed within weeks.
Alessandro
I understand that there are commercial reasons that suggest expanding the product to new players but I take the liberty of saying that this is not going to be a strategy that will bring results in the long run.
In the long run, we're aiming to deliver something you didn't even know you wanted it until you saw it. This update was an important piece of the puzzle. In the end, we're going to make a better game for the people that were already playing iGP Manager. We're not setting our sights so low as to just get some new users and then add loot crates and retire.
We're much more self-aware than people realise. When they come hurling abuse at us in the forum we do understand them, we also know why they have those opinions and how they don't have a lot of the information we have in front of us. E.g. We knew we had to work in the dark for a while and release a series of updates that would be criticised to get to where we want to go. Over the next few weeks the updates should speak for themselves and then we can get back on track.
I think this might be the last time I write a post to try reassure anyone. We'll let the updates do the talking from now on!