Let’s Build a Zoo studio is making a game dev management sim where you design your own MMO

Springloaded Software, the developer behind 2021’s animal-splicing tycoon game Let’s Build a Zoo, has unveiled Let’s Build a Dungeon – a new “multi-layered” management sim in which players attempt to run a game development studio while creating their own MMORPG.

Let’s Build a Dungeon’s first layer comes in the form of studio management, with players needing to recruit staff (including artists, programmers, planners, and testers); manage project deadlines, advertising campaigns, and press relationships; negotiate with shareholders, and pitch to publishers, all in the hope of rising from indie start-up to mega-blockbuster studio.

But alongside the business stuff, players also need to get creative and build their own fantasy MMO – which could be anything from a creature-catching RPG to a cosy farming sim – filling it with towns, monsters, dungeons, and quests, all tailored to satisfy their virtual playerbase’s demands and expand its audience. And it’s even possible to jump into your creation at any time to experience it through the eyes of your players.

“Place every tree, build every quest and decide on job classes for visiting virtual players as you watch them explore in real time,” Springloaded explains. “Increase drop rates if they are struggling, or boost enemy stats to keep them grinding for XP. The more time spent in your world, the happier your investors will be!”

“Will you risk financial ruin by delaying your game until it’s perfect or push your staff to breaking point with crunch time and salary cuts?,” the studio adds. “Will you bow to community requests, or stay true to your creative vision?”

Let’s Build a Dungeon features a campaign in which players can develop new items, environments, and mechanics for their MMO, but there’s also a sandbox-style Creative Mode too, where they can write their own stories and dialogue, draw characters, create cutscenes, and tinker with gameplay mechanics. And then the finished thing can be shared online or uploaded to an in-game browser.

It all sounds a lot more ambitious than Springloaded’s enjoyable if rather lightweight Let’s Build a Zoo, and it’ll be fascinating to see how the studio plans to pull these different elements together into something with a manageable focus. All will be revealed when Let’s Build a Dungeon launches for Xbox and Steam at some currently undisclosed future point – and there’ll be a chance to take a peek even sooner via an open beta, with sign-ups open now.