2025-2026 Developer Update & Playtest Overview

I'm the dev of Cyber Paranoia.

Before getting into details, I'd like to clarify something important for overseas players.

❤! Playtest Localization Plan ! ❤

Cyber Paranoia's a solo dev project with a super tight budget.

Full localization is just too hard for me to pull off right now.

That’s why I’m localizing the playtest build first.

First off — huge thanks to all the non-native speakers who've followed and supported me this whole time.

You’re the reason I, a solo dev, have the courage to work on overseas versions. ❤

For a variety of reasons, I’ll be starting with English and Japanese localizations first.

I also can't wait for you to meet the pink-haired android. ❤

This playtest will let players get the core concept, test cross-language tone and mechanics, gather early feedback, and set future plans.

Ideally, I’m aiming torelease the localized playtest version in H1 2026 ❤

Current Playtest Status

The Playtest has been live for about one month.

Steam doesn't actively promote Playtests, so I honestly didn't expect this level of participation.

However, around 7000+ players joined the Playtest, and the game gained several thousand new wishlists during this period.

That was far beyond my expectations.

Including feedback from the earlier itch.io version, I received over 500 questionnaires, all of which I personally reviewed.

Thank you sincerely for taking the time to share such thoughtful feedback.

Many players also submitted bug reports, streamed the game, or uploaded videos and write-ups. I've tried my best to go through as much of that content as possible — it has been extremely helpful for development.

I was also surprised to see fan arts appearing at this stage. Thank you for supporting the game in so many different ways.

Feedback & Known Issues

Overall, the Playtest feedback was largely within expectations.

After multiple offline tests, the game's structure and story have already gone through several rounds of revision based on tester feedback. Because of that, there were no major negative reactions to the overall experience this time.

That said, there are still many details that need further polish.

In fact, many of the issues mentioned by players were already known before the Playtest. Due to time and resource constraints, I simply couldn't finish everything in time.

(If only the developer could suddenly split into ten people.)

Most of these issues are already part of the future development plan.

There were also unexpected bugs, and thanks to careful testing by players, many of them were discovered early. The bug list is very long.

Thank you again for the serious testing and detailed reports.

Story

A lot of players are very curious about the story, which I truly appreciate.

However, Cyber Paranoia is a narrative-driven game where spoilers would significantly damage the experience.

For that reason, I won't be answering detailed story questions.

What I can tell you now:

There will be a true romance ending.

There will also be bittersweet and painful endings.

The routes are not determined solely by whether or not a romance blossoms.

The main branching is based on the protagonist( player )'s attitude toward the hospital and their condition.

This leads to paths such as:

Obedience hospital

Escape

Resistance

A future task-based system will make these routes much clearer during gameplay.

Planned Major Systems (In Development)

The following systems are already partially implemented or actively being developed.

Route & Task System

Player choices and task completion will shape the protagonist's attitude toward different aspects of the hospital.

These attitudes will:

affect dialogue,

unlock different tasks,

and lead to clearly separated routes.

There are three major routes, each with distinct storylines and objectives.

When you enter a route, it should feel very clear and intentional.

Treatment Variations & Buff System

To make choices feel meaningful, a Buff / Status system is being added.

This is not a combat or RPG system, but one designed specifically for treatment gameplay.

Examples:

Items:

Certain medications or treatment compounds may affect how the robot responds in future treatment sessions.

Status :

Conditions such as bleeding may increase pain gain and reduce happiness more easily in later sessions.

The system is already implemented in code and is currently waiting for UI and presentation polishing.

Event Collection & Save Design

Event triggers and progress tracking will become clearer.

The game provides many save slots now.

Key moments are auto-saved.

Multi-route playthroughs are intentionally supported.

The goal is to make exploring multiple endings less exhausting and more accessible.

UI Direction

Although feedback on the current UI was generally positive, it will still undergo major changes.

Cyber Paranoia is not a traditional visual novel.

Over time, the UI will shift toward a more simulation / management-style layout, including:

a persistent status bar for values, attributes, and task states,

clearer task tracking,

improved menu access, including an ESC shortcut.

Person events& Development Focus

I plan to participate in Steam Next Fest.However, broader promotion will only happen once the demo better represents the final experience.

The Playtest phase exists specifically to avoid overpromising too early.

I attended several offline events (e.g., comic cons) this year, mainly for testing purposes.

Now that the development direction is stable, I'll be reducing offline appearances and focusing more on development itself until launch.

Thank you for your understanding.

Final Words

Thank you for your patience and continued support.

Solo development takes time, but every piece of feedback genuinely helps shape the future of Cyber Paranoia.

If you're interested in seeing the project grow, please consider adding it to your wishlist!

THANKS & HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026!