The Night Driver 2025.
Some of you know this—when I started working on
The Night Driver back in 2020, I quit my studio job and had saved up enough money and time to dedicate myself fully to the project. That first year was exciting, and I poured everything I had into the game. Eventually, I got support and funding, but not enough, so I had to take on freelance work to support myself.
Freelance work comes with tight deadlines, unpredictable workloads, and the responsibility of contributing to other people's projects. Because of this, I found myself pushing back deadlines on
The Night Driver. It wasn’t an easy choice, but I had commitments I had to honor, and the game often took a backseat.
It was back and forth. Looking back, 2024 was the most difficult year for
The Night Driver. Progress slowed to a crawl as my focus was split between my passion project and the demands of freelancing. I became more and more dissatisfied with how things were going and realized I needed to make a big change.
So, I made the decision to step away from all freelance work and other projects - and I did. This wasn’t an easy choice, and I had to make some really radical changes in my personal life to ensure I could sustain myself without additional work. But this change gives me the time and energy to focus 100% on
The Night Driver like I did in the beginning.
Last year, I also tried working with other people and involving them in the development. While there were some great moments and valuable contributions, collaboration also came with challenges. After reflecting on this, I’ve decided to return to working on
The Night Driver alone — just like in the beginning.
Starting today, the next few months (and this year) will be crucial in determining whether these decisions and changes will pay off. I’m putting everything I have into this project, and this is likely the final stretch.
Changes on Patreon
I also feel that I haven’t been active enough on Patreon and online, so I need to be more consistent with my posts and updates.
- Weekly progress updates on Friday/Saturday – I’ll try to keep it simple: a report on what I did that week. If I wrote something, I’ll post it. If I drew something, I’ll post it. You get the idea.
- Hopefully, weekly updates will lead to monthly updates — that’s the plan. So the next update will be at the end of February.
- Tier 1 price change – I’ll be changing the $1 tier to $3. After looking at how other creators structure their pages, I noticed many start with a $3 tier and don’t offer a $1 option. Hopefully, this isn’t a big change for you, but for me, every dollar counts and makes a big difference in supporting myself.
- New $100 tier – This will be limited to one person and will give them the opportunity to work with me on an illustration once a month. It’s basically like a commissioned piece. I’m still figuring out how this will work, but if anyone is interested, we can try it out. I’ll make a separate post about it soon.
A New Side Project
While I’m fully committed to finishing
The Night Driver, I sometimes feel burned out—especially when progress feels slow, or I don’t see the results I’m hoping for. To recharge creatively and mentally, I’ve decided to take on a smaller side project.
Some of the things I want to do with this project:
- Experiment with a new art style and try out a different genre.
- It’s a much, much smaller game — something I can finish quickly because I need that feeling of completing a game.
- Release it on Steam – I’m hesitant about releasing The Night Driver on Steam, so this will give me experience with self-publishing and the whole process, especially in the Adult Games category.
- Keep it light and fun—a departure from the serious tone of The Night Driver.
- Just have fun
I’m making great progress with it. I’ll probably have a demo ready soon, and you’ll be the first ones to play it.
Let me know what you think about all of this, and if you have any questions, I’m here as always. I feel really good about it, a bit scared, but mostly excited, hopeful, and energized.
