Among the dozens of games already scheduled for 2025 (including some of the biggest franchises and most anticipated titles in industry history), one particular title stands out for the unusualness and charm of its premise. That’s Date Everything, Sassy’s debut title. Chap game. It may not be the biggest title of 2025, but it’s definitely the most interesting based on the premise alone. However, the team behind it and publisher Team17 are certainly serious about its development and launch, even though the market will still be difficult in 2024 and beyond.
The selling point for this dating sim is in the title. Through a little magical pair of glasses, the player character can meet, befriend, and eventually date all the animated inanimate objects in the house. From the washer and dryer (voiced by David Soboroff and Neil Newbon, respectively), the grand piano (voiced by Joy Ofodu), and the door (voiced by Ben Starr). To your own overwhelming sense of existential dread (voiced by Sungwon Cho).
Sassy Chap itself was founded by a group of voice actors including Robbie Daymond, Ray Chase, and Max Mittelman. I had the chance to talk to Daymond at the Anime Frontier Convention about Date Everything and the studio’s first, and no less unusual, title launch in what is by far one of the most difficult markets in gaming history. Ta. The following is an edited version of the interview.
GamesBeat: How do you feel about the releases so far? How has the reception been?
Robbie Daymond: Some of our marketing numbers are independent of personal opinion. Because this is an indie game, the marketing budget has always been huge, and a lot of the feedback we got was organic. In other words, it just appeared out of nowhere. The trailer has probably been viewed 400,000 times in one form. It is now reaching millions of views. And then you have some viral Tiktok and Reels, and the next thing you know, you’re getting more views with Bs. So we are very happy and our wish list is amazing.
I think what’s interesting is that everyone can understand that. That makes me happy. That was fear. Will they think it’s just a joke, or will they see something deeper? And I think there was a moment where people thought, “Oh, there’s always a dating sim where you can date in the bathroom.” And I’m like, “Okay, that’s part of the joke.” I don’t write 1.5 million words just for a joke. We’ve created some really deep, endearing characters that have obviously funny storylines, but also pretty serious storylines. I would love for you to come back to these characters and treat this like a real dating sim. I tried to create over 100 unique characters.
GamesBeat: A little background. I hope you understand where the basic idea came from. There’s a lot of history behind strange dating simulators. I think “Heartful Boyfriend” was the turning point.
Daymond: Heartful Boyfriend, Monster Prom, Dream Dad — yes, Western dating sims come with fun twists. We were discussing ideas about what we wanted to create. And the idea was, what can we do that hasn’t been done yet? What if that’s all there is to it? What if we took this genre to its logical conclusion and made it all date?
GamesBeat: Since we’re on the subject, have you had any professional or personal experience with the dating sim genre?
Daymond: I played it too, but mostly it was for homework. (Rachel: “That’s true, Robbie.”) I know a lot about its history, but until I start making it, I don’t think it’ll be at the top of my list of things to play. Then I thought, “Yeah, I’d better find out for myself.” And we played with a lot of guys, some good players, some hard hitters. And I think we kind of understand where the weaknesses are in this format and how we can strengthen it and how we leverage the parts that people enjoy the most in dating sims. As I said before, building meaningful relationships is one of them.
GamesBeat: It’s not just about hot people.
Daymond: that teeth It was about sexy people, but that’s what we wanted to do, and it was more like an Eastern or traditional dating sim, where it was like actually going on a date with someone. I was like, “Oh, I can do that.” All experiences can be intense. Some characters are just funny, but most have quite a bit of depth.
GamesBeat: Did you have any background as a game developer before starting this?
Daymond: No, this is our first game. We, Ray Chase and Max Mittelman, have spent the better part of the last decade doing creative endeavors outside of voiceover. About six years ago, we decided we wanted to create something tangible. Is it going to be a show? Will it be a podcast? Will it be a game? Ray Chase, the project’s lead designer and game director, has always had an interest in game development. He attended PAX and many other game development conferences over the years. He said, “How’s the game?” That’s where the idea came from.
What kind of game do we want to make? We had zero programming skills. We all learned how to use all the programming tools and how to build in Unity. We use a language creation software called Inky. And, you know, it’s a wild experience, doing something you’ve never done before. We’ve also never managed a team of more than 40 people. We have never worked with an established video game publisher. We started with three people in my garage and now we are a company with responsible employees. It was really fun to watch everyone step up to the plate and produce. To our programmers, artists, musicians, and voice actors who have made their voices heard. Everyone is really great about this. So, yeah, we’re really happy with where we landed.
GamesBeat: Certainly, when this was first announced, in my mind…this is a very strange environment for this kind of game, right?
Daymond: Who will make a big dating sim in 2024? I think it’s been around long enough that we need a big banger dating sim to get back into the zeitgeist. Based on the feedback, we’ll see after the release date, but it seems like people are going to play it and it’s really exciting.
GamesBeat: It’s probably one of the best genres to put out right now. You don’t need the huge budget of a blockbuster RPG or open-world Soulslike.
Daymond: I feel like we’re a little bit beyond the budget of a true “indie low budget,” but this lower double-A space where we can bring in talent and create something compelling. It’s something like this. High quality and low overhead. Our team is all remote. Our publisher is based in the UK, so you know that gives us the flexibility to produce something of high quality. And the amount of money you’d have to sell to recoup isn’t that much, even if you simply poured in $50 million. Games and things like that.
But there’s a problem here too. We thought that if we shared a little bit, we could hire some really talented people. That’s why we have a healthy revshare program within our development team, so that the people who contribute the most to the game (performances, talent, musicians, artists, programmers, you guys, etc.) get the real backend. Not all of us, but the core members, if the game goes well, we get a portion of it, and it comes out of our pockets as executives. But for me it’s worth it. Not only is it the right thing to do, it allows people to work on something, it motivates them, it gives them passion, it gives them something to do. So, yeah, I think we can develop that kind of culture within video games. There these huge assets are making billions in profits and I know our game isn’t like that, but we’re small and if we can share, even the big dogs can share Right?
GamesBeat: What are you most interested in doing after the game launches?
Daymond: Obviously the first question is who gets the most love?
GamesBeat: Who will be the most popular in the end?
Daymond: If 100 people make it, it will be a popularity contest. It is human nature to be interested. But I’m actually interested. Games track metadata about how you play. This was something that was really important for us to introduce, and we’re currently creating a sharing platform where we can show it to someone IRL, probably after launch. “Hey, that’s how we played!” And, you know, obviously we need that data. We’re not farming it. I can’t watch the whole thing at the moment, but it’ll be fun just to see how people play. And just so you know, every datable can give you three different endings in four, including the fact that you may never encounter them.
GamesBeat: Somebody has a shoebox somewhere in their closet and *checks clock*.
Daymond: Some characters are hard to find. Some of our secret characters require something unique to the world, such as something you have to do to unlock them.
GamesBeat: Those people should do that. Really It’s hot, Robbie. I’m just saying.
Daymond: They’re super hot, but they’re fun and different from other characters, so it’s worth it. What’s great is that I’m most looking forward to seeing how people play, and meeting other people in the community and discussing how they play. The odds of meeting someone who played exactly the same way are actually close to 1 in a million. But what I’m most excited about is hearing the feedback. I’m looking forward to seeing how people play. I mean, I’m a theater person. I want to know what the viewers feel. And we really tried to make sure that different voices were heard. We loved bringing together different writers and artists to create these characters from their own perspectives. So I want to know how people react to them. And obviously Sassy Chap and everyone at Team17 loves our characters.
GamesBeat: Someone has to be the least popular person.
Daymond: That’s someone I’ll give a voice to, I know that.
date everything It launches on February 14th on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
