The developers of the AI game had to take out a loan to support the demo version on Steam — it's becoming too expensive
The indie studio Easy Fox has encountered financial difficulties due to the popularity of the demo version of their upcoming driving lesson simulator, Teach My Little Sister How To Drive.
Teach My Little Sister How To Drive
In the game’s storyline, the player must teach their younger sister how to drive a car. The player cannot drive themselves but can offer advice. To bring their idea to life, the developers included a chatbot within the sister character, which the player essentially interacts with, but this has led to some issues.
Easy Fox reported that over the past month, the audience for the demo version of Teach My Little Sister How To Drive has increased more than 20 times. Although the studio is flattered that their project has garnered such attention, they originally anticipated more modest numbers. As a result, the costs for tokens in AI services turned out to be much higher than planned.
The studio admitted that it now spends over $1,000 a day to support the demo version.
“We took out a loan to ensure the continued operation of the demo version. We want to keep supporting it and would be delighted if even more people enjoy the demo version. But our team consists of only four people, and financial problems might force us to shut down the demo before the game’s release. We haven’t made that decision yet,” the developers of Teach My Little Sister How To Drive wrote on Steam.
According to SteamDB data, the daily online presence for the demo of Teach My Little Sister How To Drive has indeed significantly increased. Prior to the beginning of September, the number of simultaneous users in the game typically hovered around 10, but it peaked at 431 on October 1. As of today, the average has slightly decreased to approximately 300 users.
The release of Teach My Little Sister How To Drive is scheduled for January 2027.