This month, Project Kingpin took another step toward becoming the crime strategy game and gangster simulation we have envisioned: a living city where criminal organizations, police, civilians, and rival gangs all operate within the same interconnected world.
Crews can now be brought into combat, civilians and armed citizens can become involved in confrontations, and the city can support multiple gangs, buildings, vehicles, and characters at the same time. We also expanded the systems behind crew members, lieutenants, police officers, weapons, statistics, transportation, and gang activity.
Together, these improvements are helping Project Kingpin grow into a deeper gang management sim where success depends on the people you recruit, the orders you issue, and how well you navigate the competing forces across the city.
Combat Is Becoming More Dynamic
Combat received another major development pass this month.
We expanded the range of people and situations that can become involved in a confrontation, including civilians and armed citizens. We also added more weapons, introduced combat sound effects, and improved how characters position themselves during a fight.
Vehicle combat received additional attention as well, particularly how vehicles track targets and maneuver while an encounter is unfolding.
Most importantly, the crew system is now being connected directly to combat. This brings us closer to a gangster sim and crime strategy game where the people you recruit and assign to a job genuinely matter when things go wrong.
Violence in Project Kingpin is not intended to be a routine solution. A confrontation can escalate, attract attention, involve unexpected people, and create consequences that extend beyond the original job.
Crew Members Are Gaining More Identity
We completed a major expansion of the character system during this development period.
The game can now support different types of crew members, lieutenants, police officers, character statistics, weapons, and other defining information.
These systems will help determine what each person is capable of, which responsibilities they are suited for, and how valuable—or dangerous—they may become within your organization.
An experienced gunman, a trusted lieutenant, or an unpredictable recruit should not feel interchangeable. Building the right organization will require understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the people inside it.
That is central to the gang management side of Project Kingpin. Your organization will ultimately be shaped by who you recruit, who you trust, and who you place in positions of power !
The City Can Support Multiple Competing Powers
The city map also took an important step forward.
The game can now place the player, multiple rival gangs, police, buildings, and other actors into the city as part of a shared game setup. We also expanded the systems responsible for gang activity, transportation, character movement, and periods of inactivity.
This allows the city to support several organizations and groups operating at the same time rather than existing solely around the player.
Project Kingpin is a crime sim and strategy game about building a criminal organization inside a larger ecosystem. Rival gangs will pursue their own interests. Police will create pressure. Characters will move throughout the city. Opportunities and threats may develop in places where you are not currently looking.
The city should feel like something you are attempting to understand, influence, and eventually control—not something waiting patiently for your next command.
Establishing the Game’s Visual Identity of Our Gangster Sim
This month also marked the beginning of a dedicated art-direction track for Project Kingpin !
The team completed visual research, moodboarding, early experiments with a beautiful corner, and an initial day-and-night lighting test.
Our direction remains focused on a grounded, realism version of an early-2000s American city. We want the map to be atmospheric without sacrificing readability, with neighborhoods that feel distinct and a city that changes in mood as the workday moves from daylight into night.
This work will guide how the streets, buildings, characters, vehicles, lighting, and interface eventually come together as one consistent world.
What Comes Next
Our upcoming work will focus heavily on how players issue orders and manage their organization.
That means continuing to develop the systems behind selecting crew members, assigning them to jobs, choosing locations, and sending them into the city with clear instructions.
We will also continue testing combat, improving how the city’s different actors interact, and expanding the visual direction of the map.
This is where many of the systems developed so far begin moving closer to the core Project Kingpin experience: planning the day, delegating work, watching events unfold across the city, and dealing with the consequences of your decisions.
Thank you for continuing to follow the development of debut crime strategy game ! The city is growing, its organizations are taking shape, and its streets are becoming increasingly unpredictable.
Marching Toward Player Testing
We are still steadily working toward our first round of player testing ! We will share more details as testing approaches, with our Discord members and newsletter subscribers among the first to hear about opportunities to participate.
If you missed it, you can also check out our previous development update for more on the project’s recent direction !
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