[Devlog #1]

Billy the Hero » Devlog

2 hours ago by JJ_voodoo

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📢 [Devlog #1] From Zero to Hero: The beginning of the “Billy the Hero” project.

Date: November 8, 2025

Hello everyone! This is my first-ever post on Itch.io! You can call me JoJo.

I know many of you here are fellow indie developers, and I truly believe that many of you fighting to bring your own projects to life are facing similar struggles and emotions. Let's exchange stories! I hope my journey can give you a little energy boost.

The Origin of Billy the Hero (And The Project That Almost Died)

I need to start by telling you about my previous project—a MOBA Multiplayer game (let’s call it VOS). My small team and I spent over 5-6 years developing it until we finally managed to launch on stores (Google Play and Steam).

The feedback VOS received during testing was overwhelming! Some players played non-stop for over 20 hours a day, and an internal university tournament was a huge hit. We were energized and finally ready for the big marketing push.

We had secured an Esport venue at a mall, contacted influencers, and prepared promo materials. The launch date was just around the corner when we received a SURPRISE!!!

I couldn't contact the Founder! No calls, no messages — he vanished! I felt sick, muttering to myself: "S**t! The Founder vanished on launch day! What the F***Surprise!!!"

I later heard he was defrauded by international partners, completely wiping out his finances.
I don't blame him, as I know he must be going through hell, but all I could think was: What do I do next?!

The Indie Dilemma: Sinking or Swimming?

My phone was ringing off the hook, and I had to face everyone: the mall, the influencers, and the registered tournament participants.
If you've ever organized an event, you know the crushing feeling of having to apologize to everyone, one by one.

That was a rough month, but the bigger problem was: How do we move forward?
Marketing a MOBA requires huge capital—money I didn't have. I was staring down office rent, staff salaries, software costs, and server fees.

The failure of the project came down to a common start-up mistake: Investors often believe the production cost is the total cost.
When I raised the issue of marketing, the response was always a dismissive "I'll handle it!" And then, everything just sank into the ocean.

I had only two choices and a short time to decide:

Give up: Abandon everything, lose all the time invested, and all my staff would be jobless.
Fight: Bear all the fixed costs myself—office, salaries, server fees.

Well, since you're reading this, you know I chose option 2.

A Solo Mission Driven by Madness

I had to lay off staff who weren't pulling their weight and started taking on university interns to reduce costs. I then began scouring my house for valuables (for now, just my house—if this goes on, maybe I'll move to other people's houses, haha!) Necklaces, watches, gold — everything convertible to cash gave me about a year's worth of runway.

That's when I had the idea to do marketing via "building an online presence."

I, who usually sit behind a keyboard, was forced to open TikTok.

I'm not particularly good-looking, so when I saw a gas mask nearby, I put it on. After posting my first video, the result was that my first video instantly gained thousands of subscribers! I was so happy! I was ecstatic!

Back to Billy! One of the bosses in VOS is a ferocious, scarred, and cutesy bear!!?! Yes, that's Billy. I turned Billy into a stuffed animal and put it on my stream. Kids love this grumpy bear, especially when I curse him in the videos! The comments are flooding in: "We want a Billy game! Jojo, make a Billy game!" My initial plan was a simple, one-month RPG Maker game, but my professional soul screamed: "Are you seriously going to waste time on something you’ll just abandon, JoJo?!"

The Birth of Billy the Hero (A spin-off of Billy himself)

If you've read this far, I want you to know that Billy the Hero was launched during a time that was beyond unprepared—it was a period of net negative resources and time! But I worked with sheer madness (not to mention my mother's continuous hospital visits).

I want you to believe this: The human mind is more marvelous than you think. If your heart is fighting, your brain will work faster than any search engine or AI to adapt and survive. I haven't had any income for years now, but I've survived and never missed a payday for my team. I'm surprised at myself.

I proceeded solo. No approvals, no meetings. I grabbed a pen and paper, sketched hundreds of monsters, and developed a philosophical plot for Billy. My core design principle was: "This is the game I want to play, a genre I can't find anywhere else." Everything had to be WEIRD!

It was a torturous but joyful time. I slept only a few hours a day, but I made all the decisions myself.

The 3 Madmen Crew

Eventually, my dear younger sound engineer friend couldn't stand my pathetic state and volunteered to do all the music for Billy the Hero—without ever mentioning payment! His music is professional-grade, and I could practically kiss his ass!

Then, luck struck again: A college student intern joined. He might be inexperienced, but he is a FIGHTER!
I practically have to beg him to take a break; he works seven days a week driven purely by inner passion (I swear, no labor coercion here!).

Thus, the core team for Billy the Hero consists of just THREE PEOPLE!

We are planning for a market release late this year or, at the latest, Q1 2026. Total development time: Less than 1 year!
How's that for hardcore?
The True Meaning of Billy: What I want to share is that Billy is a symbol of the strong, the free, and the rule-breaker. He's not the kind of strong that always wins the fight. His strength is something far greater: even if he loses, he feels nothing.
Even if he's tricked, he doesn't care. Even if he's in pain, he won't whimper.
Even when faced with absurdity, he will just smile. Even if his body is covered in blood.

The story, dialogue, and relationships with each character in Billy's game are therefore more than just fantasy. They are so realistic that they are painful and darkly humorous. And when you finish playing it, you will sigh and exclaim: "That's just life, I guess."