First off, the latest update for Idol Manager is now live! If you joined the beta program by backing the game or buying the game on itch.io, to manually update you can head over to the game's itch.io page to download the latest version.

New Features and Changes:

Delaying graduation

When an idol is planning to graduate soon, she'll initiate a conversation to let you know. During this conversation, you'll be presented with dialog options, including the possibility of trying to convincing her to stay with the group longer.

A idol's willingness to stay with the group will be dependent on how much influence you have with her: an idol that feels particularly indebted to you will probably be more willing to stay with the group longer than an idol who you don't have much influence with.

Auditions changes

Several tweaks have been made to the auditions system:

• All auditions now have a small chance to find a gold or platinum idol
• You can now reset the cooldown on auditions by spending research points or money
• The "best employer" bonus has been reworked to increase the chance of getting a rarer idol across the board, instead of guaranteeing a specific rarity

Changes to marketing for single releases

The marketing options for singles have changed, with some existing options changed, and some new options added to the mix. You now have the ability to opt for a "risky" marketing option, which can result in different levels of success or failure.

• Ad campaign: expensive, high chance of success, resulting in a small bonus to sales and new fans gained. (Failure will result in a penalty to sales and new fans)
• Viral campaign: cheap, high chance of success, resulting in a large bonus to sales and new fans. (Failure will result in a penalty to sales and new fans.)
• Fake scandal: the cheapest option, low chance of success, resulting in a large bonus to sales and new fans. Failure will result in receiving scandal points.
• Edgy PV: success will result in a large bonus with teen fans and small bonus with female fans. Failure will result in a large penalty with adult fans and a small penalty with young adult fans. Chance of success depends on formation's "cool" and "funny" stats.
• Lewd PV: success will result in a large bonus with male fans and small bonus with hardcore fans. Failure will result in a large penalty with female fans and a small penalty with casual fans. Chance of success depends on formation's "sexy" and "cute" stats.
• Artsy PV: success will result in a large bonus with adult fans and a small bonus with female fans. Failure will result in a large penalty with teen fans and a small penalty with male fans. Chance of success depends on formation's "pretty" and "smart" stats.

(Digital release and handshake events are unchanged.)

Extended negotiations

When working on a business deal, you always have the opportunity to try and negotiate better terms, but this doesn't always pay off. Now, you have multiple chances to try and get better terms in case negotiations don't go the way you want. How much you can negotiate on a single business deal is based on the staffer's "deals" stat.

Other changes

Several miscellaneous UI improvements and sound effect changes have been added (along with several new accessories that we'll leave for you to discover for yourself).

What's coming next

The good news first: we're planning a massive content update that will drop before the end of this year and will include core features that we've been waiting to add to give you the  should give you the "full game" experience.

That being said, part of why we wanted to have the beta program was to give us time to fix issues and bugs that might crop up as we added more features and content to the game. Since we're adding a ton of new content to the beta before the end of 2020, we want to give ourselves time to make tweaks and fixes based on player feedback once beta players have had a chance to play the game.

As such, Idol Manager's "official" commercial release will happen several months later, near the start of 2021.

So, when can I play it?

To put it simply, for people in the beta program (which includes all of our Kickstarter backers, as well as everyone who has bought the game on itch.io), you will be able to play Idol Manager in 2020 in a form that's pretty dang close to what we expect the finished game to be: all the game's core features will be there. However, if you're wondering when the game will actually hit version 1.0 and be available for purchase on platforms like Steam, the answer is "early 2021."

So, what kind of "core features" and content are we talking about here? Glad you asked! Here's what you can expect:

Main story

We already shared a bit of a story preview in one of our previous updates, which you can check out if you don't mind some light spoilers. The story features several different routes which lead to several different "main endings." (Note that the end of the main story doesn't have to mean the end of the gameplay experience: you'll be able to keep playing in sandbox mode after completing the events of the main story.)

In addition to the "main endings," we'll also be including several "early retirement" endings: right now, one of the biggest things missing from the beta is that there's no way to go out of business, and the full game will feature several interesting ways for you leave the industry. (Some retirement options are voluntary, while others are less voluntary.)

Romance and dating

The game's romance system is also something that we'll be drastically expanding when the big content update drops later this fall. This is one of the biggest things that's missing from the current version of the game: previously, you've had the option to flirt while socializing, but there's no way to actually go on dates. Dates (and a number of other substories tied to the romance system) represent a huge content addition. (While it's not nearly as big as the "main story," the last time I checked the word count on the game's script, the romance section alone was equivalent to a novel's worth of content.)

Tutorial

Now that the game is (nearly) mechanically complete, we're working on a tutorial system that will assist players with on-screen prompts to guide them through the process of doing various things in-game when starting up a new game. 

The tutorial will be an optional feature: if you've already been playing the beta (or prefer to figure things out through trial and error), you can play without the tutorial enabled. That being said, we understand that the early game's learning curve can be a bit steep as you're expected to build an agency up from scratch and have to engage with a bunch of new gameplay mechanics, and having a tutorial to assist with that is an important feature for many players.

We have other content planned too, including more random events and scandals and more substories.

Thank you!

Idol Manager wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the incredible support we've received from all of you. Idol Manager started as a labor of love, and we're immensely grateful to everyone who has played a part in making our dreams come true.

(Also, a special shout-out to everyone who has been playing the beta and providing bug reports and other feedback: an Idol Manager update post wouldn't be complete without the obligatory reminder that if you've been playing the game, you can drop by the forum to let us know what you think!)

For those of you who have been with us since 2018, we know it's been a long wait, but we're closing in on the finish line, and we're incredibly excited to share what we've been working on with you later this year. Thank you all for your support!