Valentine’s Day Update

On January 1st, I looked at the amount of progress remaining to be done before I could release the game’s official demo, and calculated that there was less than 2 months of work remaining. I planned to release Osana on February 14th – Valentine’s Day. Today is the day that Osana was going to be released…but it’s not happening.

Over the past 25 days, I’ve been subjected to the largest avalanche of hate and harassment that I’ve ever experienced. It’s several orders of magnitude worse than what I was put through in 2018, which prompted the Hate and Shame video. Every day, I consider making an “I quit, I can’t do this anymore!” video, because absolutely nothing is worth the amount of abuse that I’m receiving.

I was already morbidly depressed before this happened, but recent events have pushed me down to the lowest point I’ve ever been at. The severity of what I’ve been put through has completely killed my enthusiasm for the project and robbed me of all motivation to work on the game. It’s impossible to be productive under these circumstances. The only thing more difficult than finding a reason to keep working on Yandere Simulator is finding a reason to keep living.

The longest-ever gap between two of my videos was 50 days, occurring between the Live-Action Trailer and Guidance Counselor video. In 7 days, on Feb 21th, we’re unfortunately going to break that record. I’ll try to release something on March 1st, but I’m not sure if it’s going to be possible to find the energy required to make a video, when it’s already hard enough just to convince myself to get out of bed in the morning.

I fixed some bugs over the past couple of weeks, so I’ve uploaded a new build that is more stable than the last one. I’ll include a changelog later in this blog post.

On the bright side, I did get some cool fan art recently, which makes me feel a lot better. Here’s a really outstanding illustration from milkiii.tea:

Click “Continue Reading” for more.

I love how this artwork from toxic-potato makes Akademi High feel active, energetic, and like it’s full of distinct characters who are each living a unique life:

I simply can’t get enough of dreamcharlie‘s art style, and I love the way she draws Yandere-chan:

This illustration from PastelUnicornElise makes Yandere-chan look so cute and charming!

Orion’s Waifu drew a very scary Yandere-chan:

AbbsWithAbs drew the ever-popular delinquent Yandere-chan:

DigiAndromeda drew a super-cute tiny bride Yandere-chan in a box:

And a few days after Valentine’s Day, I received this beautiful artwork from a Chinese fan called Yiki-chan:

Fixes, Changes, Additions

  • If Yandere-chan is caught misbehaving by an authority figure (either a teacher or a student council member) and sent to the guidance counselor’s office while she is wearing a mask, she will be forced to remove the mask before speaking to the counselor.
  • One of the accessories (a mask) had special functionality that was activated by the spacebar key. Because the spacebar is now used to open the map, I’ve changed the mask so that its functionality is activated by the left Alt key, instead.
  • Fixed bug that would cause a teacher to freeze in place if she was a very long distance away from the player while she was supposed to be performing a “look at suspicious object on ground” animation.
  • The hill with the mythical cherry tree behind the school has been reshaped to have a flat surface for the Art Club to stand on, so that it doesn’t need an ugly wooden platform attached to it.
  • Fixed bug that allowed the player to make a student snap out of a “dying from poison” animation by aiming a camera at them while they were dying.
  • Fixed bug that prevented any dialogue from displaying when Yandere-chan apologized to a student who witnessed her stealing something.
  • Fixed bug that would allow players to “walk up the wall” in the Martial Arts Club, using the blue practice baton as a ramp.
  • The canvases at the mythical tree hill will no longer appear if the Art Club is disbanded and isn’t going to use them.
  • Entering a boy’s bathroom is now considered to be suspicious behavior that will damage your reputation.
  • Fixed bug that would prevent collision detection from properly occuring in boys’ bathrooms.
  • Fixed bug that would prevent Yandere-chan’s hair from appearing blonde while in her room.
  • Fixed a rendering error with the plants in the Headmaster’s office.
  • A new launcher is now available at https://yanderesimulator.com/download – this one should be much more reliable than the previous one!

Why does everything suck so badly right now?

Some people have a sadistic desire to abuse and mistreat others. In order to do these things, they first need to feel like they are justified in doing so. Once they believe that they have found valid justification for treating someone like trash, they become unable to view that person as a human who deserves compassion or empathy, choosing instead to view their target as nothing more than a receptacle for abuse and harassment.

Having justification to torment a victim is incredibly valuable to them. They receive intense pleasure from abusing and harassing a target, and they don’t want to lose that ability. Even if they were actually harassing an innocent person, they would refuse to acknowledge it. They would reject facts, truth, logic, reality, and counter-evidence, all in favor of continuing to believe in a false narrative that allows them justify cruelty and abuse.

There are people who have created a narrative that I’m a pedophile scam artist who can’t code and treats his fans badly. This narrative provides sadistic people with justification for treating me like garbage, so I’m an attractive target for anyone that enjoys acts of cruelty. I’m not actually a pedophile, I’m not actually a scam artist, I’m not actually a bad programmer, and I don’t actually treat my fans badly. I already debunked that stuff years ago.

However, the truth doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is a narrative that permits sadistic people to abuse and harass a target.

375 thoughts on “Valentine’s Day Update

  1. Honestly, maybe you just need someone to sift through the negative commentary and give you a filtered version that removes comments that are hateful and abusive so you can reduce the amount of non-useful negative commentary that is filling your vision and destroying your motivation. Don’t let what some rude, mean, or impatient people say control how you feel. The only thing that should be controlling that is how you feel about what you’re doing and about yourself, not what others feel about you.

    Some potential suggestions:
    – Find someone to sift through comments and such who can filter the mean and abusive commentary to find good criticisms, kind commentaries, and fan work / shows of appreciation and have them do that a on a regular basis. Could give you content to regularly talk about (outside of usual work updates, if you wanted to do that) and it could improve your general mood. Moderation on videos and such might help in the sense that they could remove inappropriate commentary / etc.
    – It might help to talk to psychologist / psychiatrist / therapist who can just listen to your circumstances and help you to release your frustrations and address them in healthy ways. It sounds like this situation has been weighing on you in a very unhealthy way for too long of a time. Talking to family and friends might help as well.
    – Remember that, most likely, the majority of your audience is probably not programmers / game developers. They may have some sense of the scale of what you’re trying to do from internet researching, but, coming from experience with the difference between (for example) the Game Developers Conference and PAX East, the difference in attitude to the energy, speed, and efficiency of developers is so vastly different, it simply cannot be understated. Don’t let other people being unreasonable kill your passion for something you really wanted to do. I find that simply thinking about my motivations for doing things tends to help get me through those hard times.
    – You could choose to just disconnect yourself from your audience (though, I would be sad to see you go quiet if you did, since it is nice to see what you’re working on, as a fellow game dev.). Alternatively, you could just treat those circumstances as one way communications, but you might find that that alienates people because they would feel distanced from you.
    – Psychologically, you are correct; people have a tendency toward fundamental attribution bias & self-serving bias, especially if they are just trying to manipulate a situation so they can play with peoples’ emotions and watch them as they respond. Many normal people won’t even realize they are doing this. If people are going to be unreasonable, this just creates all the more reason for suggestion 1.

    re: my last suggestion / comment:
    People have a tendency to rely on self-serving biases in these sorts of scenarios. If you present them with information that totally calls their majority POV into question, you’re going to get some unhappy responses. When you suggest people to change their attitude on the basis of new information you present to them, they enter a state of cognitive dissonance. This creates internal stress that can be resolved in the following possible ways (using eating ice cream and working out and being healthy as an example):
    1. alter behavior to produce internal consistency (“stop eating ice cream and start/keep working out”)
    2. alter attitude / belief to produce consistency (“eh, I can have one ice cream a week and still be healthy”)
    3. add a new attitude or belief (“eating ice cream is good for my health”)
    4. ignoring or refuting info that conflicts their views, behaviors, or attitudes regardless of evidence (“This book says eating ice cream is bad for my health and working out is good and provides these charts. The book must be wrong / lying / not a good book / trying to trick me.”)

    If someone is leaning towards 4, don’t waste your energy on trying to convince them or hurting yourself by focusing on it. If you do, get your mind off it by doing something relaxing to distract yourself before getting back to what you were doing.

  2. Geesh man, so sorry this is happening.
    I had just got two gremlins commenting on a journal i made, basically telling me to not support you and go support another game simlar to yours.
    Which of course, i tried debunking everything they were saying, only to be harassed into removing the journal, blocking them and removing a status which was talking about my concerns for you.

    But i hope your doing okay, i always love your game and i can’t wait to donate when you open the kickstarter!

  3. Here’s what I’d do. I would find out who those pricks are, get a lawyer and sue the hell out of those monsters for harassment, slander and have them investigated because chances are they are probably the actual pedos and animal abusers. PLEASE, do not quit! We love you yandere dev! We ALL do! Release Osana and show them a thing or two. Show them that you are successful and you can do it! They are jealous because you have true talent. You and the game are the reason why I’m such a BIG fan. I have faith in you and always will.

  4. I saw a new upload from the ‘Ayano Aishi_Yan-chan’ youtuber. So I checked out Yandere Dev’s blog! In Korea, Valentine’s Day wasn’t so important that I didn’t even think about uploading this day! Sorry for the late look. Sorry for not taking Valentine’s Day seriously … and Yandere Dev! Don’t worry too much about not uploading an official demo on your planned date! You can have enough rest! You can change your plan again! You’ve been constantly fixing bugs in Yandere Simulator for five years and beautifully decorating your game! Programming is a very difficult task so I think you are amazing! Thanks for showing your steady look and for fixing bugs again! With awesome pictures!

  5. yandere dev if you want to leave you can leave but the game you SHOULD give to another company so that it finishes this game has buzzers and all the fans do not just scold you they worry not only about the game but about you we love you and we don’t want you and the game I ended my journey without finishing

  6. Dear Yandere Dev,

    For years I have followed the development of Yandere Simulator in silence. I don’t comment on videos, or reddit, or the blog. I simply observe, and wait patiently. That is, until now. While I am aware of some of the backlash you and/or the games development have received at one time or another, I have made the choice to click away from these posts and videos and simply focus on the source making the game. You. Why? You are only one person, coding day in and day out, trying to polish the game up enough to your standards to make the demo feel as close to the final product as possible. This project is a passion of love, and hard work that has been years in the making. The people who are trying to bring you down DO. NOT. MATTER. You can’t please everybody, and sadly, there are people who are just toxic, and want nothing more than to spread that toxicity around. I know that it’s hard to ignore, and I know it’s hard to find motivation when one is depressed, I go through that a lot myself, but you’ve come so so far in your project. Don’t let them drag you down into a pit of darkness and despair. When all else fails, the best thing you can do is disconnect yourself from social media, reddit posts, and hate videos, and rest until you feel motivated again. Try to only focus on the happy feelings you got from watching your ideas and coding come into fruition. Don’t let them take it away. Take it back. Stand tall, and proud. You are stronger than you realize, and I know you can do this! I hope you feel better, please take care of yourself.

  7. I am truly sorry that you are facing this harassment so many times, again and again. And I know it may seem so hard but please, don’t lose hope!

    You were willing to leave your job to follow a dream that took great courage to do, even if many don’t think so, it does! You have accomplish so much, even if you don’t see it. You have even motivated some of the people here to become programmers themselves. I know you hate to disappoint us in any way and try your hardest to give it your all for us and that is very noble of you but you are human, and as humans, we can take so much till we need a break from it all before it destroy us. So please, take some time off and take care of yourself. Your mental health and wellbeing should come first after all.

    Stay Strong YandereDev, we here all believe in you!

  8. ionno why if you hate him sooooooo much why you decide to go to his website to check for updates on the game. if you really hated him so so so much you would just not comment on his blog like?? is it that difficult to keep your shit to yourself i-
    like what is with you motherfuckers smhh

  9. If you can’t respect how hard he is working to make a game that is fun, complete, and clean without any bugs then stop playing this game. There’s never a reason to say anything like this and you’re a garbage person. You’ve never done anything worthwhile so you have to tear down others. He’s worked really hard on this game to make it immersive and make sure it’s something we can enjoy and he’s letting you play it for FREE if you don’t think that’s enough and you can’t wait a little longer for him to finish what he needs to then you can just leave because no one wants this negativity here.

  10. I’m so sorry about how you feel, but you hold on, yes there are many people who hate you but more are those who love you❤❤. Don’t get depressed that there are still many people who love you❤❤❤.

    • Exactly. I’m sorry you have to deal with so much hate that you don’t deserve, but I hope you seek professional help to deal with you depression. And if that means you have to take a break, then so be it. Your mental health matters more then a game.

  11. damn, im really sorry to hear what is happening within your personal life. i really do hope that everything is able to turn out right and that your life project may be fulfilled. just please remember that there still are many people who love you and wish to support you on your journey

  12. I’m really sorry for what you’ve been going through. I’ve just read the Debunk page (I didn’t know you were being harrassed that much) and truthfully I think that these people are just so stupid ! It’s normal to want to respond to those guys, to defend yourself and shut them up a bit, some people just fail to understand that.
    I am pretty much a kid, so I don’t think that this will help you much, but know that many people are here for you, we all are rooting for you ! Don’t give up !

  13. Real sorry that that’s happening to you. You are experiencing stuff of a scale I have never previously heard of. It requires a stalwart person to whisthand those flames. I believe in you. I believe that you can press on. You have changed quite dramatically since your early days of Game streaming. To have such a change, you must have needed a lot of introspecton and will to change. I’m sure that you will persevere and after, have a great life which will be much less work-absorbed than the last 6 years. I apologize for my below-average english and wish you a good few weeks.

  14. That’s reeeeeeeeeeeally bad to hear. You are very good person. All haters are stupid jerks. Don’t give up! We are supporting you, YandereDev!!! You don’t need to hurry to update YanSim. Just take your time and make updates as often as you can and want, get enough sleep too.
    There is one big Russian community on YouTube and there we love you are supporting you too!!!
    Wish you luck!!!

  15. It’s so disappointing that nothing changed in this years. These people find a sort of justification to harass other people. They always complain about you and criticize you every now and then even for small things. They think that since you are receiving all these hate you should go faster and release osana. But what they don’t understand is that you are human, they don’t care how you feel, what you think or what you do. They justify their behavior saying that’s your fault. They justify the memes, using them like a joke. If they really knew how you feel about that they would stop, but they don’t care about you. I’m simply horrified how people can be so mean and I know that my comment won’t be read by you but I wanted to express my opinion. I know we fans can’t fix your problem with just a kind comment on your blog but we hope that it can help you to feel better. There a lot people believing in you, curious about what the game will become, all around the world. You reached even a simple Italian boy. Take your time, see a therapist if you need it and don’t believe in these kind of people

  16. My uncle once told me something. If you don’t have haters then your doing something wrong. So maybe just look at the hate and just see it as a bunch of people who are actually just jealous that they themselves can’t EVER make a game as beautiful as yours. Maybe thinking about it this way, maybe you’ll find their hate laughable.

    • Pawnshop 57 I really hope Yandere Dev reads this cause I was just about to say the same thing. Yandere Dev, these people are nothing more than a bunch of jealous losers, probably living in their mommies basement, resentful at the fact that someone who is not them is successful in life. They are not worth a second thought so be strong, live long and prosper, and don’t let them get the best of you!!❤❤ Things may seem bleak now, but always remember that we support you!!

  17. Yandev, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings somehow. I meant what I said about going to /vg/ and AGDG instead of /v/. I can give you the invite to the server anytime or you can find it yourself on 4chan. I trust you know your way around the boards.

    No matter what, keep coding.

  18. I’m so sorry for this. This is a terrible thing! If you need a break, your true blue fans will see that you need one right now after reading this. Just don’t give up! You’ve made it so far! I love you and will continue to support you.

  19. Yanderedev !
    i just discovered your work recently, and not only what you’ve done, but what you are through the videos and posts you’ve made. I saw the ancient video named “Hate and Shame” and i felt what you are feeling. I don’t care about what people are saying, I only care about what i’m seeing right now about you : your videos, your words, your thoughts, your GAME, your PROJECT.
    Im just so mesmerized by what you’ve done so far, and it still got so much to be done. You have created a world, your game is actually getting a soul the more and more you are working on it.
    The problem is that people hear the ones who are shouting around the loudliest, and by extesion, much people are getting ignored because they think good things about you, about your work, but they have no drama to shout around.
    What im trying to say is that there surely is sooo much more people than you probably think who love you and your work, but they cant be seen or even considered because of the assholes (which by the way must be a minority) that are shouting so loudly about things they don’t even know or understand.
    I would love to give you a free hug ❤
    Muxh love, an anonymous baguette who hopes you will read this.

  20. I love this game, but I think I speak for everyone who loves you when I say we can wait a little while longer. I insist that you take some time to better your mental health. I love video games, but it’s not the only thing in my life. I’m fine with waiting.

  21. This is supposed to be a Japanese high-school esque game, of course there’s gonna be perverted stuff involving high-schoolers (and i don’t see many people going off on Danganronpa for that too). On top of that Yandere-dev has announced this as an 18+ game. Yes, kids can always find a way to get into stuff like this. No, that does not matter, because they’re not supposed to be there in the first place. I could care less about the hate you get, because they’re not worth it. A damn good game is better. Take some time to work on your mental health, Yandere-dev, and don’t worry too much about deadlines. If you want to make your fans happy with a good game you have to bring yourself into a good state of mind.

  22. Yandere Dev, don’t mind the haters, they are a bunch of idiots looking for attention.
    don’t let them attack you.
    and your mental health is more important.

  23. That’s their opinion. The haters are just little babies who are to incompetent to do anything else other than complain. We love you yandev! Keep up the great work. We understand. 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😊😊😊😊😊😁😁😁

  24. Yanderedev is now saying it’s more difficult to find a reason to “keep living”?!? Is he suicidal because of the hate now?

    • Yes, that’s exactly it. That’s what depression does to you if it gets bad enough… I have severe depression, and I completely understand how he feels. It’s very important for us to get help, because our mental states prevent us from seeing happiness in anything, because of the overwhelming bad experiences. It feels like a never-ending cycle, and it constantly feels as if you’ll never be happy again. At that point, it feels as if death would be a peaceful escape from the never-ending pain. It’s hard for mentally healthy people to understand, because they experience happiness every day, and they honestly take it for granted; even if you have a bad day, it’ll be okay after a few hours of calming down. But for people with depression, that feeling never goes away. I’m telling you, this type of mental illness is absolute HELL to live with.

  25. I’ve been seeing the titles of the videos that hate you, but I refuse to watch them. I started to watch one, but did not finish it because I know that they are all BS. Please don’t quit on us! Take as long a break or hiatus as you need.

  26. I have been following your for years now, and even if you aren’t perfect, I still support you. You haven’t commited any crimes. It’s your game and your problem, gosh, people act like you owe them this perfect game FAST somehow, when you’ve always been clear about everything. You’ve even explained to us your personal schedule when that’s none of our business.

    I wish you’d go to therapy and spend more time with your friends and family. I know you want to finish this, but your brain wasn’t designed to perform 1 task, said task being making a game. You need balance in your life in order to function normally!

  27. YandereDev, I’m so sorry you have to go through this. I haven’t followed the development of Yandere Simulator for as long as other people (since November 2019) but I can already see that you have made something special. And you make me feel like, maybe one day, I can make a video game too. That might look a bit cheesy but it’s the truth.

  28. Hello Yandere Dev. do not pay attention to those who offend you in any way. do what you like. everyone has haters! even the kindest people. you don’t have to get depressed, you don’t have to be healthy! in the whole world there are both fans and haters of this game. there are many more fans, and they are waiting for the full version of your game. they love you and your game on deyusya, that I hope that you will read this and you will become lekche.

  29. Don’t mind those that make you feel like garbage. There are other many people who still support you and your doings for this game. I feel really sorry that you are feeling so down, but we will still support you no matter what others say! Please don’t give up!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

  30. Strong suggestion. Get a therapist. If you don’t feel comfortable taking time off from work when it’s this close to a big milestone, you should at the very least take time to get one afterward. It sucks to have your mental state in such a bad place and it may help to get you on some medication for these really low points. The fact of the matter is that this project has had highs and lows and you’ve been trucking on for years. For all these years there’s been this pill you just need to swallow. It’s NOT bad to take time off for mental health. Even if it’s just once a week to talk to a therapist, you’ll feel much more productive, and you’ll be in a much better spot.

  31. Yeah, there’s a difference between genuine hate and constructive criticism. This is a good example; you’re disguising your hate by saying that you “studied game design”, and you’re “justifying” it (but not really justifying, of course) by basing your “argument” on more of the already-debunked misinformation. Honestly, at this point what’s sad is how obvious and tedious it is.

  32. It’s probably because the trolls’ favorite president is really under attack; they’re so frustrated, they hate on some easy targets to get their mood up.

  33. Hi! I love your game and videos since a while and i’m really sad, worried, angry and sorry for what’s happening to you.
    Please take some time for yourself if you can’t bare it anymore, it’s normal and I’m sure most of the fandom will understand!
    You’re the priority don’t forget it! have courage I hope it will be okay!

  34. Some people hate you simply because they can’t do what you do. If you leave, they win. Be strong, think of all who enjoy your work, we are many more than those who hate, just keep those bad people away. Sorry for my little English.

  35. the haters can say what they want look towards the future and past the haters this will be one of the greatest games yet guaranteed you have put alot of effort in this game we love you about it we care let the haters say what 99% of the world is not haters and this game of being a sucess is 100%

  36. people generally think its funny to do this to yan dev. but they don’t know how much its harming him. i cant stand it. maybe yan dev doesn’t have the best reputation but stop saying harmful things about him. it can hurt more.

  37. Please, don’t be upset. Be above than these trolls and haters, who have nothing to do, but dig into someone’s dirty laundry. You don’t deserve all this hatred and anger, you don’t deserve to be depressed. You haven’t done anything wrong, and we see that you’re trying your best. You have a huge audience that really loves and appreciates you, and we are ready to wait, as much as you need and support you, as much as possible. Really, you deserve a break. We waited six years — we’ll wait a little longer.
    Your mental health is much more important than Osana. Warm greetings and hugs from Russia, we really love you here. ❤

  38. Unfortunately, life is very cruel and no matter how much you do the best in the world, nobody will care what you do to improve maybe a bad thing you did, if you do not want to read criticisms of disconnect from the internet and go to the street to live real life , that sometimes it is even worse, but the only one that harms you is you, I have been a person who abuses others to never be abused I tell you because I know what I am talking about, if you keep showing signs of weakness the “bad” people they will feel excited about it because they know that they hurt you, they will continue to do it and will make it worse however if you ignore it over time they will learn to ignore you.

  39. Please know that you and your project are highly appreciated by many and have been for a long time. I think it’s easy to get dragged down by people that don’t understand you or your work, are jealous, or are just toxic in general. I have trouble dealing with this too and have been bullied a lot in my child and adult life, and it can make you overlook all the good you really do have in your life. I think by all the comments posted so far, you can see that there are many people that love you and value you and your health. There are lots of great people out there, don’t let them be overshadowed by the negativity. Don’t let yourself be a victim. We love your project, but you have to love it too–we can wait! Your health is more important 🙂 When and if you feel up and ready for it, we look forward to your next installment! In the meantime, be proud of what you’ve accomplished and know that you are awesome!

  40. I used to be one of those people. One of those people who hated and made fun of you for fun, YandereDev…but over the years of watching and following your work, I came to like what you make. As much as I didn’t want to like you, I fell in love with your work and how sweet you actually are to your fans and how much work you put into your game. I started to follow you everywhere, wanting to keep up with all of the updates of the game, because my stupid little goblin heart had blossomed out of what it used to be and it genuinely pains me to see you hurting and messed up now. Please continue what you’re doin, YanDev. Because there is more love out there than hate, I promise. You are making wonderful progress.. you’ll be finished in no time. We love you so much.. your mental and emotional health is far more important than this game, though. so please, YanDev. If you need it, take a break. We will understand. Lots of hugs and kisses from a very supportive fan ❤

  41. I’m really extremely sorry about what’s happening those bad people don’t deserve you or their game and keep living life’s is full of surprises. I once felt like that and nearly ended my life I don’t like to say that. I would have regretted it if I did cause all the amazingly events happened to me and I made a lot more friends and happy memories ❤️ Good luck

    On Fri, 14 Feb 2020 at 6:03 pm, Yandere Simulator Development Blog wrote:

    > YandereDev posted: “On January 1st, I looked at the amount of progress > remaining to be done before I could release the game’s official demo, and > calculated that there was less than 2 months of work remaining. I planned > to release Osana on February 14th – Valentine’s Day. Tod” >

Leave a Reply