Hey all!

I hope you are all doing well.

Full Focus:
It is official! I stopped my job as the Global Lead of Security Innovation at Rabobank, and my contract is completely finished. I aim to have full focus on my personal health, my family, and Games by Hyper. I am eager to start this next chapter!

What am I going to do with the revenue and Patreon support contributions?
Since the Multiplayer Survival Templates were published, Games by Hyper has generated some revenue. It is not big, but it is not nothing! In the meantime, patrons are also contributing, which I appreciate. I think it is more than fair to share what I aim to spend the money on. Feel free to hop in if you have any advice, tips, or suggestions!

Go Big or Go Home:
I aim for Games by Hyper to be the game template, module, and course provider for everything Unreal and game development-related. We are already getting there, but there are so many things that we still want and need to do!

The core plan at this moment is to work on an RPG and shooter game template. Obviously, these templates will be modular-based and fully integrable with all existing modules.

Templates like that are massive, especially if you want to do it with the highest care and quality possible. If I did this alone, it would probably take me a decade. So it is obvious that I am not able to do this alone. Therefore, I made the choice to invest all revenue into a solid team.

Playing Business Simulator?
I see running Games by Hyper as a game, like a business simulator, the only difference is that it is real!

And like in any other game, I want to go all the way! That is why we have a very small office at the Dutch Game Garden in the Netherlands. Last year’s revenue was spent on all the equipment for that office, like dev PCs, infrastructure, recording equipment for the courses, etc.

This year, I am spending it on a team. A team is insanely expensive, especially since our revenue is not at all something any business can be proud of. To be fully transparent, the team, including all structural costs, will be about 200% to 300% more than Games by Hyper has in revenue at this moment. I am paying that myself since I earned good money in my previous lines of work and am able to afford it at this stage.

I think it is necessary for me to invest so we can actually make good progress and become a real company. I believe it will pay off in the end, and if not, I will have fun along the way.

So what is that team doing? You are not showing anything!
This is the fun part! A friend of mine asked me what we are currently working on, and I was kind of surprised by how much we are doing. I really need to learn to communicate better with you as a community to show what we are working on. The reason why I am not doing it is that I always want things to be sure and in a good enough state to show what we have. However, it might be fun if I just bring you along in my thinking process.

Off the top of my head, current things that we are working on or are in the discussion phase:
• Saving
• Fishing
• Character creator
• Online multiplayer framework (lobbies, hosting, etc.)
• Game mode system
• First-person module
• Info display system
• Chat system
• Console system
• Weapon attachment system
• Weather manager and day-night cycle
• Quest, dialogue, and event orchestration
• World map and compass
• Theme music event manager
• Advanced shooter AI
• Ability system

Lol… It is so much! Each one of these modules requires months of effort in thinking, discussions, prototyping, and more.

I hope that you are as excited as I am. I am going to make sure that we can provide you with the best modules, game templates, and courses possible so that you can make your dreams become more achievable! If you want to help us out, please check out our patreon page..

As you know, when you need anything, please ping me anytime.

With kind regards,

Eric Ruts