Fan culture is more accessible nowadays than it has ever been. By extension, the perception of it in mainstream media is also completely different. The archetypal ‘nerd’ of yesteryear doesn’t exist anymore; it’s hard to knock someone for enjoying Star Wars and Marvel like bullies did decades ago when those IPs have become some of the highest-grossing franchises in the world.
This shift traces directly back to the meteoric rise of social media, bringing people around the world together, turning local dorky fan clubs into global communities in the process. This means it’s not just the biggest properties that develop fandoms, but even the supporters of grassroots TV shows, video games, or online phenomenons can grow into a passionate, united faction.
Date Everything! Review – Becoming Acquainted With My Appliances
Now I’m hoping they call for a second date.
Developer Sassy Chap Games is but one group embracing the change. Its debut title, Date Everything!, features plenty of the biggest names from this modern era of online fandom, where the actors behind anime, video games, or roleplaying series can become major celebrities in the niche. Date Everything! pulls in voices from your favorite triple-A titles, folks from production groups like Critical Role or Dimension 20, and other various entertainers to make one of the most interesting dating sims yet.
Where The Date Everything! Journey Has Taken The Sassy Chaps So Far…
Because so many of the Date Everything! cast are entrenched in fan culture, it feels like actors and creators are part of the fandom themselves. Plenty of them have been adding prints of their characters to tables during convention appearances, sharing art or memes on social media, and even playing the game on streams to speed-run dating ‘themselves’.
I spoke with the Sassy Chaps about Date Everything! twice during its production – once just after its announcement in July 2024 and again just ahead of its launch in June 2025 – and both times, the passion the developers had was clear. Veteran actor and Sassy Chap Games CEO Robbie Daymond told me that he and fellow Chaps, Final Fantasy 15’s Ray Chase and One Punch Man’s Max Mittelman, were already seeing cosplays of the dateables long before the game’s debut, hand-crafted after only glimpses from trailers.
The reaction to Date Everything! was more explosive than the Chaps imagined, and because of it, they’re not ready to close the metaphorical book just yet. The company signed with Creative Arts Agency (CAA) in an effort to keep its beloved title marching on, which came about from a longtime friendship of Daymond’s, a fateful reunion at a San Diego Comic Con afterparty, and a group with a shared drive for expanding on creator-led projects.
When we speak over Zoom following the announcement, Daymond likens the success of Date Everything! and its organic community reach to Iron Lung, the movie written and directed by YouTube’s Markiplier that’s proving to be a box office hit.
“It was a passion project, a new-to-novice filmmaker who was making their first film and [had] the social credit for his people to come out in droves because of 15 years of good pedigree,” he says. “There’s a big meeting in Hollywood right now like, ‘What YouTuber wants to make a movie?’ and you’re like, ‘That’s not the point, you silly goose!’”
He told me during a previous interview that “the era of the too-cool-for-school voice actor is over,” and says that the Sassy Chaps have loved seeing fans interact with their game just as much as the fans have enjoyed interacting with it.
“I think if the community part of it were shtick, it wouldn’t have worked. Our discussion was always making something that would stand on its own two feet without the stunt casting or fandom portion of it, because if you make an inauthentic product, then regardless of who’s in it, people aren’t going to enjoy it.”
… And Where CAA Is Taking Them Next
There’s already been physical merchandise for the game – Youtooz figurines or body pillows of its most popular characters, stylish apparel, a realized pair of the game’s iconic ‘Dateviator’ sunglasses, and more – and Daymond hints at more things of this ilk to come in the future, but a big focus is on trying to expand the narrative story and colorful characters that people love.
“We’re really excited to pursue other things around the IP,” Daymond says of the partnership. “Not only are we just going to make stuff, we’re internally developing and exploring possibilities to bring Date Everything to other entertainment media.”
The Hollywood Reporter article that broke the news of the signing mentions the possibility of “film, TV, publishing, consumer products, and live experiences” based on the game, and Daymond was champing at the bit during our interview to get started on it all. “There are things it’s right for and things that it’s not right for. We think it could have a really nice home as a short-run serialized manga; I think we accidentally built the harem anime.”
“If I had my dream, we’d bring Date Everything! to some form of tabletop,” Daymond grins, mentioning a few of his early ideas. “I’ll be dead in my grave clutching a Date Everything! board game, I want to make it so bad.”
Sassy Chap Games isn’t planning on releasing any more “traditional” DLC for the game, though, with no new dateables on deck. “That was a value question for us,” he says. “We made a triple-I game with 100 characters, so how could I sell you a DLC for $5 that only has five characters in it? It doesn’t make sense.”
There wasn’t much he could share on a follow-up title from Sassy Chap Games and says that, though something is in the works behind the scenes, Date Everything! will be staying in the spotlight, marching gallantly into the future in its current and potentially upcoming iterations.
“Our main goal is to continue to make stuff that we love. Games and media are in a place with truly creator-driven IPs and projects [where] I really do think they are the future,” Daymond says. “In ten years, we’d love for Date Everything! to be the first game that we made and not the only game that we made. I hope we hit a million copies within a year – and we’re close – but you don’t make a million-copy selling game and abandon it, especially not one made with this much love and where the community is so strong.”
Date Everything! is currently available for Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X and S, and PlayStation 5.
