False GamerGater

Play as a woman who infiltrates a major game studio (as a re-education officer), to find her missing husband who is a developer there.

Learn about the corruption and anti-gamer sentiments plaguing the studio. And free it from the mind virus that infects it. 

Details: 

Title: False GamerGater

Sub-Title: The GamerGate 2 Game

Gameplay: A mix of walk & talk Visual Novel + Semi-Action gameplay.  

Playtime: 25 ~ 60 minutes

Endings: 1 Ending + Game Over Screen

Game Size: 700 MB (after extracting)

Operating System Requirement: Windows 64-bit

Steam Deck Compatible: Reportedly Yes, with Proton 9.0 (Beta) and Proton Experimental.

Things to keep in mind: 

1. Many of the items around NPCs in the opening area, are interactable.
2. Refrain from constantly dashing around. You may get stuck, and will have to load or restart.
3. The game is short. So feel free to take your time with things you enjoy about the game. 
4. The battle system is simplistic. (I'm mostly a story / visual novel guy. Who is slowly dipping my toe into battle systems & gameplay.)
5. If the game crashes while 'retrying' (after losing a battle). Simply restart the game (press F5 key) and continue / load from the first save slot (labelled as 'Autosave'). 

Project Backstory: 

(Why does this need to be written here? Because the dev space can be hostile towards game devs like me. And this context helps alleviate some of that.)

So... around February 22nd 2024, I injured the right side of my body, and became bedridden. I couldn't work on my game like this, and just started consuming gaming news. Being terminally online, on my phone, while laying and healing.

I was casually watching, reading, and catching up on gaming related news. Then certain interesting things started happening in the games industry. Which, then started to snowball, and became bigger and bigger. 

These developments then, started getting covered in foreign news channels.

I see a Japanese news video covering this topic, so I go read comments on it. (Curious about the perspective of Japanese audience.) And as I was reading their comments, I came across this one: (it's translated)

"I could make that game." ~ I say to myself, realizing there's interest for it.

I screenshot the comment, on impulse. Then decide, "No, no. I should complete my current project first. Someone else can make this game. Someone else probably will."

And so, as I continue being terminally online. Witnessing this situation develop (very closely). 

It develops to a point, where it gets labelled "GamerGate 2".  

I see more gamers voicing their interest on a game around this. So I casually encourage other developers to make the game. Hoping, that I don't have to.

And... nothing.

Okay... well. I've healed enough now. It's been 15 days of being bedridden. I'm going to stop being terminally online now, and go back to working on my project.

...aaand few days pass by, and I can't concentrate. (╥﹏╥)

The GamerGate 2 situation keeps developing, evolving. Information is being manipulated. Revealing things are being said and then being deleted. 

In all this hubbub, I'm distracted. 2 weeks pass by, and I barely make any progress on my game.

I get tired and exhausted, with this unproductive routine.

And so I decide... I'm going to make a game, about what's distracting me. About GamerGate 2. Just enough, to detach myself from this situation. And get back to focusing on making games again.

Following the GamerGate 2 situation develop, I read another comment: 

"That sounds about right. I'll go with a female protagonist for this one, then."

I announce the game. And now about a month later, I've finished it and it's out.

Enjoy.

Final Notes:

Note #1: While the game is free, I do keep a Patreon. (Financial support is massively helpful and encouraging.) You can also donate any amount through itch.io. 

Note #2: If this game receives 100$ of revenue/donations (within a few months of release), I'll use the money to publish the game on Steam. So it can reach more gamers. (It would be my first time publishing on Steam. So, no guarantee.) 

Note #3: I've made other games, you can find here. (After you're done playing this one.)