What's Next? The Future of OFB & My Next Game 👀

Hi everyone! 👋

Lately, I've been getting a few questions more and more often:

What's next?

Will there be more games from me? Will OPEN FOR BUSINESS continue to receive support? And what are my plans after releasing my first game?

So I thought it was time to talk a little about what's coming next. ;)

And first, one small request:

If you're interested in following not only OPEN FOR BUSINESS, but also my future games —

make sure to follow my developer/publisher page, CRIXALINA, on Steam.

That's where I'll gradually share news about future projects, announcements, and everything related to my upcoming games. ❤️

OPEN FOR BUSINESS isn't going anywhere

Let's start with the most important thing.

No, development of OPEN FOR BUSINESS is not stopping.

I still read your messages, reviews, Steam Community discussions and Discord. I continue fixing bugs reported by players, and from time to time I also adjust or expand existing mechanics.

For example, recently I added the ability to decline Loyal Customer quests — something players had been asking for.

Some changes will be small.

Some updates may come less frequently.

But if I find a problem I can fix, or see an idea that fits the game well — I'll continue working on it.

Thank you to everyone who took part in Early Access.

And a huge thank you to everyone who continues to buy and play OPEN FOR BUSINESS after the release of version 1.0. ❤️

But I'm already working on my next game 👀

Those of you who have been following my activity on Steam for a while may remember that, when I was first learning Unreal Engine, I had several different game prototypes.

There were four of them in total.

I started building things, rebuilt them, threw old systems away, started over again — and basically just kept learning.

Eventually, that journey led to my first released game — OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

But I never completely abandoned one of those old prototypes.

Alongside OFB, I kept returning to it from time to time, rebuilding mechanics, changing ideas, reworking the concept and trying to understand what this game should actually become.

And I think I've finally started to find a direction that I genuinely like.

And hopefully, one that players will find interesting too. ;)

What kind of game will it be?

I don't want to reveal too much just yet.

And I definitely don't want to announce a release date or promise a huge list of features that may turn out to be impossible to deliver in the first version.

After developing OPEN FOR BUSINESS, I understand Unreal Engine, Steam, and the entire process of releasing a game much better than I did before.

So with this next project, I want to do a few things differently.

And there's one thing I'm already pretty sure about:

the new game will have a demo.

With OFB, I simply didn't fully understand how demos worked, why they were important, or how to properly approach releasing one.

Now I have much more experience.

And this time, I want you to be able to try the game for yourself before buying it and decide whether it's something you actually want to play.

A Few First Details ;)

For now, I can only reveal part of the concept.

This won't be just another survival game.

Instead, I want to create something closer to a life simulator set in a world that reacts to your actions.

🧍 Character & Survival

Your character will have basic needs and stats:

• health
• hunger
• thirst
• energy
• and other needs

You'll have to take care of them, but I don't want the entire game to turn into nothing more than constantly filling up status bars.

💰 Economy & the World

The economy will be an important part of the game.

Crafting, gathering resources and trading won't exist just for the sake of doing them.

I want the player's actions to be able to affect the surrounding world and its economy.

What you produce.

What you sell.

What you buy.

The decisions you make.

All of this should gradually become part of a larger interconnected system.

🏠 Building Your Own Place in the World

You'll be able to build, settle down and gradually create your own space in the world.

What exactly that becomes —

a small home, a workshop, a shop, or something much bigger —

will depend on what you decide to do with your life there.

🤝 NPCs & Relationships

Your relationships with NPCs and the decisions you make will matter.

Some actions may open up new opportunities.

Others may close them.

I want to gradually move away from that feeling where NPCs simply stand around waiting to give you the same quest over and over again.

🛠️ Freedom to Choose

Crafting.

Exploration.

Trading.

Building.

Combat.

Progression.

And the freedom to decide for yourself what you actually want to do.

The game shouldn't force you to play in one predetermined way.

What About Co-op? 👀

Yes.

I really want to make proper co-op.

In fact, a basic version of it is already working.

But there's one pretty big catch.

Synchronizing a game with this many interconnected systems between multiple players is significantly more complicated than simply adding a second character to the map :D

So right now, I don't want to promise that co-op will definitely be ready for Early Access.

If I can get it working properly by then — great.

If not, my goal will be to add it on the road to Full Release.

I'd rather be honest about that now than promise a feature and have to delay it later.

And yes — there WILL be a DEMO 😄

This is one of the things I definitely want to do differently after my experience with OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

Before buying the new game, I want you to be able to:

download the demo, try the core mechanics for yourself, and decide whether you want to keep playing.

I think that's simply a much better and fairer approach — both for players and for me as a developer.

The Main Idea

If I had to describe the direction of the new game in just a couple of lines, right now it would be something like this:

I want to create a world where you don't live through a life that has already been written for you.

You create it yourself ;)

And I'll keep everything else a secret for now. ❤️

Trust me, there's still plenty more to talk about.

How Does All This Connect to OPEN FOR BUSINESS?

Actually, quite directly.

Creating OFB gave me a huge amount of experience that I'm now using to build the new game.

But it works the other way around too.

While working on the new project, I'm learning new systems, new approaches in Unreal Engine, new mechanics and new ways of solving problems.

And some of that knowledge may eventually find its way back into OPEN FOR BUSINESS.

So I don't really see these projects as:

"I finished one game — now I'm making another."

I see it more as continuous development.

What I learned from OFB helps me build the next game.

And what I learn from the next game may help me make OFB even better. ;)

What's Next?

For now, I'll keep working.

No big release dates.

No promises that the game will be out in a few months.

No list of a hundred features with COMING SOON written next to them :D

When I have something that's genuinely ready to show — you'll see it.

Screenshots.

First mechanics.

First details.

And later — the demo.

Follow CRIXALINA ❤️

And one more reminder:

If you're interested in following my next game and future projects —

make sure to follow my developer/publisher page, CRIXALINA, on Steam.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS will remain here and continue to receive support.

News about future projects will gradually appear on the CRIXALINA page.

Thank you to everyone who supported my first game.

Thank you to everyone who was here during Early Access.

Thank you to everyone who's playing now.

And thank you to everyone who's interested in seeing what I make next.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS was my first released game.

But it definitely won't be my last. ;)

❤️

And One More Thing About Development 🎥

I'm also planning to share videos about the development of my next game — showing the process, new mechanics, experiments, and how the project gradually evolves.

If you'd like to take a look behind the scenes — don't forget to subscribe to CRIXALINA on YouTube. ;)

More and more content about the new game will gradually appear there. ❤️

— CRIXALINA Indie developer of Open For Business: Game & Movie Store Simulator