Introduction
Hello all citizens of Heartsville and everyone following Neighbors!
I think it is a about time we talk about the state of Neighbors currently, but more importantly the future of Neighbors! We’ve received many questions about the direction of the game, and I completely understand why. Some of the decisions we’ve made might have seemed confusing or counterintuitive from the outside, and we owe you an honest explanation of what led to them - and what they mean for the future.
To be frank, after the launch of Neighbors, we quickly found ourselves in a tough financial situation. The sales simply weren’t enough to keep the full team working on the game, and as the person ultimately responsible for everyone here at Invisible Walls, my first priority had to be making sure that my colleagues still had jobs to come back to.
That meant we had to find other ways to fund the studio’s continued survival - taking on new projects, exploring partnerships, and restructuring how we work internally. Because of that, even though you might see a lot of people online or chatting in our Discord channels, the number of developers actively working on Neighbors has been smaller than what we originally intended.
We’ve also realized that many of these choices reflect who we are as a team: still relatively new to the industry, still learning as we go, and perhaps a bit naïve at times; but always driven by genuine passion and optimism when it comes to game development.
For a while, we struggled to talk openly about these things because the future of both the company and the game was uncertain. But now, for the first time in a long time, we’re in a position where we can stop, take a breath, and finally speak about the road ahead with confidence.
So let’s rewind a bit.
(The Invisible Walls crew; naive, on the day of the launch)
A Little Background
For those who don’t know me, my name is David, and I’m the CEO of Invisible Walls - and one of the founders who started the company nine years ago. Which, in practice, also means I’m the one ultimately responsible for many of the decisions that have brought us to where we are today - both the good ones and the questionable ones.
About three years ago, we set out to create what would eventually become Neighbors. Back then, it started from a very different mindset. We had just come off First Class Trouble, and we wanted to make something that captured that same sense of social chaos and player interaction - a lighthearted social experience that could bring people together in everyday, recognizable situations.
Originally, Neighbors was meant to be a small, silly game about life in a stereotypical suburban neighborhood. Something that felt fun and familiar, where the humor came from the absurdity of everyday conflicts. But as development went on, the game gradually shifted into something else - something more structured and competitive. Bit by bit, Neighbors turned into a PvP game, and that change came with a lot of consequences.
We had to completely rework systems to fit that reality - adding dedicated servers, matchmaking, balancing mechanics, and social systems. Suddenly, a project that began as a light social sandbox became a full-fledged competitive multiplayer experience. And as a small team, that shift was both exciting and terrifying.
On top of that, outside factors - beyond our control - began affecting us. Changes in our ownership structure meant we had to move faster than planned, and that pressure eventually pushed us to launch early.
On April 17th, we released Neighbors into Early Access.
And well… the game didn’t become the runaway success we were all dreaming of. We hoped to build it alongside our community, the way we like to make games - openly and collaboratively - but sales were much lower than we expected, which made it hard to sustain the level of development we had envisioned.
The Financial Reality
I want to take a moment to be fully transparent about this, because I think honesty is better than PR-speak.
Like many other small studios, we were caught in a rough situation earlier this year. Our parent company, announced that it would be shutting down, which meant that Invisible Walls - and by extension Neighbors - suddenly found itself without a clear financial anchor.
For a while, we didn’t know what would happen. We had a team of twenty amazing people, a game in active development, and no certainty about what our future looked like. That uncertainty is one of the main reasons we’ve been quiet in our communications - because we honestly didn’t know what promises we could keep.
But today, things are different. We’ve now entered a new ownership structure and secured continued support for both the company and the game. That stability allows us to plan ahead again - and to commit to the long-term development of Neighbors with confidence.
We are still a small studio. We don’t have infinite resources. But we do have stability, passion, and a renewed sense of direction.
That’s why now, finally, we can talk about the future.
(Update 2 introduced a new map)
Lessons Learned
Looking back, one of the first things we realized after launching into Early Access was that our pricing strategy was wrong from the very beginning.
To be completely honest, the game was never designed to be a paid title. For most of its development, Neighbors was structured as a Free-to-Play experience - because we understood that in today’s PvP market, even a $10 price tag can be a massive barrier. Unfortunately, we didn’t have full control over that decision, and as a result, we entered Early Access as a paid game competing in a market dominated by free games like Overwatch 2, Marvel Rivals, and Rainbow Six Siege.
Those games are made by thousands of developers with enormous budgets. We, on the other hand, were a team of twenty - albeit the most talented and passionate people I know - working out of a small office in Copenhagen, trying to take on giants. It was an insane challenge, and if we’re being honest, one we weren’t fully equipped to win.
Player Experience and Design Challenges
When the game launched, we worked hard to address player feedback. We added tutorials, improved matchmaking, experimented with new player queues, adjusted balancing - all to help new players find their footing. But one thing became painfully clear: Neighbors was fun with friends, but frustrating with strangers.
The game had so many layers of mechanics and opportunities for min-maxing that if you didn’t fully understand it - or if you fell behind early in a match - the experience quickly turned sour. Players would leave matches before they finished, and while we could’ve punished that behavior, it didn’t fit the tone or spirit of what we wanted Neighbors to be.
We tried instead to reward consistent play - giving bonuses for completing matches - but it didn’t solve the underlying problem. The game had become too competitive, too demanding, and too punishing for casual players.
And here’s the thing: that’s never what we wanted to make.
(much like jumping out of a plane we did not really know if we would stick the landing; we didn't)
Why Dedicated Servers Had to Change
Around the same time, we started to see the technical and financial strain that running dedicated servers was putting on the game. For a title with a small player base, dedicated servers create a strange paradox - you pay to keep hundreds of servers online even when most are empty, while players still experience long queue times.
So we made the decision to transition from dedicated servers to player-hosted servers.
At first glance, this might seem like a downgrade, but it actually gives the game a lot more flexibility and freedom - both for us and for you:
Shorter queues: You can start a match instantly rather than waiting for matchmaking to fill.
Custom play: You can host your own games with friends, adjust rules, and experiment.
Community-driven sessions: You can create events, themed lobbies, or mini-tournaments.
Future-proofing: This is a model that can scale infinitely without bankrupting the studio and it allows for the game to be available for years into the future.
Yes, it saves us money, but more importantly, it makes Neighbors more adaptable and resilient. If the player base grows, we can always reintroduce dedicated servers in the future - but for now, this approach ensures that the game remains playable and sustainable at all times.
Rethinking the Future
When we looked around at other PvP games, we realized that most of them face the same struggle: a massive spike of players at launch, followed by a steep decline that only huge marketing budgets can counteract. That’s not the kind of treadmill we want to live on.
Instead, we want Neighbors to be a game that stands on its own legs - one that remains fun even with a smaller community. We want it to be a place you can return to again and again, whether to play with friends, experiment with new modes, or simply mess around in the chaos of Heartsville.
What’s Happening Now
With our new stability, we can finally make real commitments for the future of Neighbors.
And the first big step is this:
Going Free-to-Play
Yes, you read that right - Neighbors is transitioning to Free-to-Play over the next few months.
We want everyone to be able to jump in and play without barriers. During our early playtests, we had thousands of concurrent players, and it reminded us how much better the game feels when Heartsville is bustling with life.
Financially, this is now possible thanks to the removal of dedicated servers and the new support structure for the studio.
(we will continue to update the game while we do the transition to F2P - next week the above is landing in neighbors)
What About Players Who Already Purchased the Game?
If you already own Neighbors, we want to make sure you feel rewarded, not betrayed.
You’ll keep all your unlocked Neighbors permanently.
You’ll receive exclusive cosmetic rewards - character skins, item skins, houses, and more - to thank you for supporting the game early.
Our goal is for you to feel that the value of what you’ll receive far exceeds what you originally paid.
How Will the Free-to-Play Model Work?
We’re approaching this very carefully.
While the game needs to earn money to sustain development, we’re firmly committed to a no pay-to-win approach. All gameplay-affecting items - like Neighbors and custom Houses - will remain unlockable with the in-game grindable currency, Pocket Pennies.
Cosmetics, on the other hand, will transition to premium currency, but we’ll continue to offer free ways to earn them - through events, challenges, or seasonal passes.
If you have thoughts or ideas about how pricing and rewards should work, we’d love to hear from you on our Discord.
1.0 Full Release and Consoles
We’re also happy to confirm that we’re aiming to launch Neighbors 1.0 in Q1/Q2 of 2026, alongside releases for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
This has always been part of the plan - the game was built with consoles in mind - and we can’t wait to bring the suburban madness to a wider audience.
You might notice fewer frequent updates as we shift resources toward that major release, but we’re doing it to make sure that version feels like the best, most complete form of the game yet.
New Game Modes: Robot Invasion and More
In the shorter term, we’re also adding new game modes.
First up is Robot Invasion, a PvE horde defense mode where you and your friends use the existing Neighbors mechanics to defend your homes against an onslaught of homicidal robots (and yes, fans of First Class Trouble might recognize them as Personoids).
This mode is an exciting step toward making Neighbors enjoyable even with smaller groups or solo players - and we’re already working on additional modes like Capture the Deed (our twist on Capture the Flag) and other seasonal events.
(we are super excited about bringing PvE to the game and the options that this allow for the future of the game)
The “Destruction” Game Mode
We know that some of you have raised concerns about us shifting focus away from the main Destruction mode in favor of new modes. That’s completely understandable.
But here’s the truth: the Destruction mode, in its current form, simply doesn’t fit the kind of audience or tone we want Neighbors to have. It’s too competitive and too punishing - it pushes away new players instead of welcoming them in.
Our dream for Neighbors has always been to create something chaotic, fun, and social - not something where you need a spreadsheet to win.
That’s why we’re working with members of our community to reimagine what Destruction could be. We are starting a focus group of passionate players who are helping us redesign the mode to better align with that original vision.
If that sounds like something you’d like to be part of, please join us on Discord - your ideas are already shaping the game more than you might realize. The game mode is not dead - it just had a troublesome birth ;)
Closing Thoughts
We know this has been a long read, but if you made it this far - thank you.
Every decision we’re making, from servers to pricing to new modes, comes from the same place: we want Neighbors to have a future. We want it to grow, to be fun, to be sustainable, and to live on for years.
We’ve been through some rough times, but the team’s passion hasn’t faded for a second. We love this game, and we believe it still has so much potential.
Thanks for sticking with us. We’re excited for what comes next.
– David
CEO, Invisible Walls
