DEV BLOG — First Month of Early Access

Almost one month in Early Access

May 19 will mark exactly one month since OPEN FOR BUSINESS was released on Steam.

Yes, technically, the full month has not passed yet. But I already want to stop for a moment and share what we have managed to achieve during this time.

And I specifically say “we”.

Because I am not developing this game alone.

Every review, every bug report, every idea, every discussion on Steam, Discord, or the forum directly affects the development of the game.

Thank you to everyone who bought the game. Thank you to everyone who plays. Thank you to everyone who writes reviews. Thank you to everyone who reports issues. Thank you to everyone who suggests ideas and helps make OPEN FOR BUSINESS better.

And a separate thank you to my wife.

She believes in me, plays my game, constantly finds bugs, and helps notice things that I sometimes miss during development.

Some of the fixes that appear in updates were found thanks to her, even if I do not always describe that separately in the patch notes.

This is my first released game. I am developing it alone. But it already feels like we are truly building it together.

Over this almost first month, the game has changed a lot.

It did not just receive a few small fixes. It became more comfortable, more stable, clearer, and deeper as a store management simulator.

Below is a big overview of where OPEN FOR BUSINESS has arrived after its first month in Early Access.

The first day after release — fast changes based on your feedback

Right after release, it became clear that some things needed to be changed quickly.

So, on the very first day, several important changes were made:

• changed the pacing of the in-game day

• now 1 in-game hour = 1 real minute

• a full in-game day lasts 24 minutes

• removed hunger, thirst, and energy systems

• the game became fully focused on store management

• improved XP gain

• progression became more enjoyable and faster

• first-person camera became the default

• third-person view remained available

This was a very important moment.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS should be a game about the store, customers, products, shelves, cash registers, business growth, and atmosphere.

So everything that got in the way of that focus started to be removed or reworked step by step.

Improving the core gameplay loop

During the first month, I worked a lot on making the core gameplay loop feel better.

Now it is easier for the player to:

• open the store

• buy products

• fill shelves

• work with customers

• accept payments

• grow the store

• track income and expenses

• understand what is happening in the store

The economy, XP, object interaction, customer logic, and overall store management were improved.

End of Day system

One of the major updates was the End of Day system.

Now, at the end of each workday, the player gets detailed statistics:

• income

• expenses

• profit

• number of served customers

• total number of visitors

• number of products sold

• number of customers who left without buying

Now the player can see the result of the day and better plan the store’s development.

Store closing and checkout logic

The store closing logic was also improved.

Now:

• new customers no longer enter after the store is closed

• customers who are already inside can finish shopping

• remaining customers can be served at an open checkout

• you can safely close the store for restocking or maintenance

• manual checkout opening and closing was added through the monitor

• Loyal Client no longer appears when the store is closed

• Loyal Client spawn frequency was reduced based on player feedback

This made closing the store much more logical and convenient.

Cash register and payments

The cash register system received many fixes and improvements.

Several issues were fixed:

• change can no longer be given before the cash register is opened

• fixed change display when the customer pays the exact amount

• fixed money display in the cash register

• improved cash payment handling

• added hotkeys for the cash register

• later, the hotkeys were changed based on player feedback

And in the latest update, the ability to rebind some keys was added.

At the request of player Dankyolo, rebindable keys were added for:

• opening the cash register during cash payment

• giving change

And based on feedback from player Mokum, it is now possible to rebind the Business Manager key.

Now, if the Q key is inconvenient for you, you can replace it with TAB or any other key.

This is not the final version of the key rebinding system yet, and some parts will still be improved. But the first step has already been made.

Build Mode and object interaction

One of the major reworks affected Build Mode and object interaction.

Previously, to move or sell objects, you had to enter Build Mode.

Now it can be done faster:

• Shift + LMB — move or edit an object

• Shift + RMB — sell an object

This significantly sped up store management.

Large and intrusive hints were also reduced, the interface became cleaner, and the controls became more natural.

The K key shows the list of main key bindings, so new players can understand the controls more easily.

Tutorial and first-time player experience

A full tutorial was added to the game, available from the very beginning of a new game.

It helps players understand faster:

• how to buy products

• how to place shelves

• how to work with the cash register

• how to open the store

• how to progress further

Later, the tutorial messages were reworked.

Now they appear in the bottom-left corner, do not block the main text, and do not interfere with gameplay.

It also became possible to hide the hints with Shift + Z.

Product cards and storage management

Product cards were fully reworked.

Now, in Buy Products and Manage Products, you can see:

• how many products are on shelves

• how many products are in storage

This made purchasing and restocking shelves much clearer.

Saves, loading, and Cloud Saves

During the first month, several serious save-related issues were fixed.

One of the most annoying problems was related to price saving.

Previously, prices could reset after loading a save.

Now prices save and load correctly.

Issues were also fixed with:

• loading employees

• loading opened parts of the store

• saving ceiling lights

• saving store sign images

• extra customers after loading

• notification spam after loading a save

Cloud Saves through Steam were also added.

Employees and bills

The employee system received a major rework.

Employees are now a full part of the store economy.

What changed:

• reworked end-of-day billing system

• if the player has 1 unpaid bill, employees refuse to work

• salaries are now paid daily

• salary depends on the employee’s level and the store size

• the list of available employees refreshes every day

• employees now have names

• employees now have avatars

• fixed employee issues after loading saves

• fixed employee behavior when restocking shelves

• employees throw away their own boxes

• employees no longer touch the player’s boxes

Hiring employees now feels like a real part of store management.

Customers and their behavior

Customer logic was also gradually improved.

Several things were fixed and improved:

• customers are now less likely to buy several identical products

• fixed extra customers after loading

• improved quest customer logic

• increased the radius for accepting and completing quests

• quest NPC now disappears faster after completing the task

• improved quest customer spawn timing

• customer text now appears correctly in all languages

• added customer status icons

Status icons help players understand faster what is happening with a customer and why they are unhappy about something.

Localization

Localization was added to the game during the first month.

The game currently supports:

• English

• German

• French

• Russian

Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish were also added earlier, but they had to be temporarily disabled because of a technical issue with number formatting.

The problem was not just visual.

Prices, cents, and exact change are important in the game.

Different languages write decimal numbers differently: some use a dot, others use a comma. Because of this, issues could appear with price and change calculations.

For me, this is not a “small bug”.

If payment breaks, the core gameplay breaks.

So I decided to temporarily keep fewer languages, but make the game more stable.

I am not abandoning the disabled languages. If I find a stable solution, they will return.

Various interface translations were also fixed, and the Open/Closed sign is now correctly translated in all supported languages.

Interface and usability

The interface also changed a lot during the first month.

Several improvements were made:

• money display was moved to the left side of the screen under the date and time

• the interface became cleaner

• unnecessary and oversized hints were removed

• money and XP feedback was added near the cursor

• quest windows can now be closed with RMB

• Build Mode categories were fixed

• product unlock notifications now work more correctly

• tutorial messages were reworked

• Discord button was added

The main goal of all these changes is to make the game clearer and more comfortable without unnecessary visual noise.

Economy and progression

The economy also received many changes.

Changes were made to:

• product profit

• rewards for throwing away empty boxes

• Store XP gain

• employee costs

• prices of some decorations

• unlock order of some objects

Buying build objects now gives Store XP.

Selling objects, on the other hand, reduces Store XP.

The average product margin was also increased so sales would feel more rewarding.

World, atmosphere, and visual improvements

I also worked on the atmosphere of the store and the environment.

During the first month, the following were improved:

• night lighting

• brightness of street lights near the store

• lighting on product shelves

• visibility of products without ceiling lights

• map environment

• some location design elements

• decorative objects

• additional visual elements

A new billboard system was also added.

Now products that the player owns a license for can appear on billboards in random rotation.

This is a small but important step toward making the game world feel more alive.

Sound and technical fixes

Various technical improvements were also made:

• weather volume was reduced by around 30%

• fixed a music bug

• fixed lighting issues

• fixed interface issues

• fixed technical localization issues

• fixed various small bugs

Not every fix looks big in the patch notes.

But it is exactly these details that gradually build a more stable game.

What is especially important

During this month, OPEN FOR BUSINESS became more than just “a game after release”.

It became a project that develops together with the players.

Many changes appeared directly because of your messages.

Someone wrote that the Q key was inconvenient — now Business Manager can be rebound.

Someone asked for key rebinding for the cash register — it has already been added.

Someone found a bug with employees after loading — it was fixed.

Someone reported issues with the interface, text, localization, cash register, customers, or saves — all of this is gradually being reviewed and fixed.

I read Steam. I read Discord. I read the forum. I look at reviews. I write down issues. I try to prioritize and fix the things that affect gameplay the most.

I cannot always reply to everyone right away.

But I really do read everything.

What’s next

OPEN FOR BUSINESS is still in Early Access.

That means there is still a lot of work ahead.

I will continue to:

• fix bugs

• improve stability

• add new products

• develop store management systems

• improve employees

• expand decorations and atmosphere

• improve the interface

• work on localization

• add more content to the game universe

Right now, the main goal for me is not just to add new things for the sake of adding new things.

The main goal is to make the core game more enjoyable, stable, and interesting.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who has been with the game during this first month.

Thank you to those who supported the release. Thank you to those who stayed after the first bugs. Thank you to those who write honest reviews. Thank you to those who help find problems. Thank you to those who suggest ideas.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS is a game about a store.

But for me, right now, it is also a story about how a small solo project is gradually growing thanks to the people who found it interesting.

Thank you.

This is only the beginning.