A lot of people have been asking me about Wars of Infinity: When it’s going to be out, what its status is, why I’m working on this unrelated other project I can’t talk about instead of it. The answer to the first two questions is that I have no idea when it’s going to be out because I’ve only done the most basic preliminary outlining on it so far. The reason why I haven’t gotten to work on it is similarly simple:
I can’t afford to.
I don’t like talking about money, especially in public – I guess that makes me kind of like a Tierran aristocrat – but I can give you all at least some basic facts:
First of all: on a typical month, the sales from my entire catalogue gives me enough royalties to pay maybe 80-90% of my rent. For obvious reasons, that’s not enough to live off of. The fact that I already live in a one-bedroom rent-controlled apartment also means that finding a cheaper place is out of the question too – there aren’t exactly any cheaper places to be had. That means the remainder of my rent, as well as the cost of utilities, clothing, essential services, and food (because I like not starving to death) is left as a gaping hole in my finances.
My Patreon usually covers most of this – but not all of it. I understand that some other Choicescript authors have Patreons that bring in a lot more money than mine do, but they manage that by doing things like gating their WIP builds and Q&As and general fan interaction behind paywalls, while I prefer to keep these things free. Since I don’t want to enshittify the experience of being in my fanbase by monetising those things, I don’t make as much off my Patreon as I probably could, which also means that at the end of a typical month, I’m usually still a couple hundred dollars in the red.
That shortfall is then made up for by dipping into my savings. Lords of Infinity made me more money from a single title than anything else I’ve ever written – but it also took me four years to write. By the end of that process, I was almost broke despite cutting back on basically every expense I had. That’s not an experience I want to repeat again. If Wars of Infinity takes another four years to write (and it might), then that’s exactly the kind of problem I’ll be facing again.
This is why I’ve been working on an unrelated project this past year, instead of Wars of Infinity – because while it is unrelated to anything in the Dragoon Saga or the Infinite Sea setting, it does come with an advance big enough to tide me through the time I’ll have to spend writing it, as well as the likelihood that it’ll sell well enough to give me the financial reserve I’d need to spend the next few years after that working on Wars of Infinity, which will come with no advance, and no promise of sales big enough to recoup those costs.
I don’t like the fact that I have to interrupt work on my passion project (which the Dragoon Saga is) to make ends meet. While I am very proud of what I’m working on now, and I’d like to be remembered for it when it comes out, it’s very much outside of a lot of my zones of expertise and comfort. That being said, the reality is that I need money to live, and until the day that I can be guaranteed enough money either in the bank, or coming in every month to write whatever I want, whenever I want, I’m subject to the whims of the market, the publishing industry, and the general experience of actually being a responsible adult – and those forces mean that I can’t afford to commit nearly half a decade to a passion project when it means I will be essentially living on something around 90% of minimum wage for that whole time.
So how much money would I need to be able to write whatever I want, whenever I wanted? That’s a tough question to answer – because if nothing else, there’s a lot of things I’d like to be able to afford which I can’t right now – but at the bare minimum, I’d have to have either my sales income or my Patreon income double before I would even be comfortable committing to a project like Wars of Infinity. The project I’m working on now might help me get to that income level, as might some of the side projects I’m still working on – but until I actually get those projects released, I won’t know for sure.
Until then, I am still toeing the precipice which looms over the pit of the “starving artist”, and Wars of Infinity remains an outline.
Paul Wang 
January 17th, 2025 at 3:28 pm
Paul, from someone who’s been following you and your series for a decade now, don’t sweat it. Those of us who really care will have patience, we love your work and you, and we’ll keep coming back for more no matter what it is.
January 18th, 2025 at 7:22 am
I expect Wars of Infinity sometime in the next 6 to 8 years. All your stuff is super quality. Keep plugging away.
January 18th, 2025 at 9:24 am
Your writing is brilliant. My economy is not as good as I want either but good enough to upgrade from sergeant to cornet at least.
January 18th, 2025 at 11:03 pm
You are indeed an amazing writer. Consider the potential solutions and I love the Socratic means of problem resolution not least of which it will allow me to make what I hope are helpful suggestions in good faith and spirit without telling a stranger things they may or may not already know. Let us delve deeper into the cyclopean abysses of the unknown through a series of questions, shall we?
1. Is the cost of living in your area too high or do you have family that you must care for that are unable to move to an area with a more economical way to live without the crushing weight of finances eating you alive from the inside out?
2. Does this new project preclude you by contract or by dent of constant time, effort, grit, and attention to detail from taking on additional revenue streams that are more or less high reward/lower effort such as creating a short campaign diary video of something from your tabletop roleplaying days. If that isn’t applicable, short tiny little stories that you could create a reward-level tier for that would let you provide something for something that is exclusive for your patrons and that you could bundle together into some sort of mini-anthology series for later publication or sell. Not CYOA really but this would not require you to whet the appetite for your next full novel without it eating up too much time or effort. You would not have to map out every single branch of possibility and write little asides as it would be a fixed, short, kinetic sort of story around a single theme or aspect of your world that has I pray be fun, short, and pleasant.
3. Would you have any side interests for example in history from all of your research? Would you be willing to join up with a group like https://armchairhistory.tv/ or https://armchairhistory.tv/pages/creators?
I could go on but this has gone on long enough. Thank you for your efforts and for making it here in reading this perhaps misguided attempt to aide you with some light brainstorming attacking the problem as presented. Have a good day!
January 19th, 2025 at 9:53 am
You are a good writer and people are absolutely willing to pay for extra Patreon content. Unique talents are meant to be monetized, just as anyone who provides a service expects compensation. If your value system suppresses your greatest strengths and forces you to the brink of poverty, you need to “check your premises.”
January 20th, 2025 at 4:19 pm
It is a shame that the nicheness of the genre, alongside the cuts that distributors and publishers take make this line of work such a financial strain. I knew that there weren’t riches to be made, but to hear your situation, especially considering your talent, is sad to say the least. I was 13 when Sabres came out and I loved it then. I was so excited I took the day off work to play Lords when it came out. Waiting has always been the hardest part for series like this, but I understand quality takes time. I simply hope that I can read the final book before I turn 40 haha. In the meantime I am happy to give you money on patreon. As far as I am concerned I got more value out of your games then I paid for them, and I hope that you will end up in a better situation soon. I would not be against more ‘aggressive’ monetization if it meant a better situation for you, although I appreciate your hesitancy especially considering the current game market. Obviously you have to make a living to be able to create, and I believe people will understand that.
January 25th, 2025 at 10:24 pm
I appreciate the honesty about your situation. I’m in the camp of Wars can take as long as it needs and only when your life situation allows for it to be written.
That said, I know you’ve added extra tiers in Patreon before. Have you thought of a higher tier (I’m the thinking around $100) and listing a goal to hit for you to be able to dedicate your time to Wars? I know there’s a tradeoff there of people expecting more when they contribute more, but maybe something like a special credit section or early access to drafts/code would be enough to generate enough to sign up?
I’m excited for this new project whatever it may be and hope it’s a success. Looking forward to Burden of Command being released as well.
January 28th, 2025 at 1:32 pm
Wish there was additional content on steam page that would essentially work as dev support donation. Like Suzerain has Vulpitzer Award, because here in Russia i can not donate through Patreon.
I really loved the Dragoon Saga and was truly astonished by the depth of worldbuilding, writing and variability of playthroughs, it was surely worth it to buy it then, when i found it by random encounter, don’t even remember know how exactly.
Thanks for all the work put in for the kind of game that i wouldn’t ever see otherwise.
January 31st, 2025 at 2:52 pm
The Infinity series is something I got into in the development stages of Lords and I’ve been hooked ever since. Binged it and made multiple archetype-esque characters that fit each side of the war. I love your work and enjoy reading and delving into all its bits and pieces. But, from a somewhat writer and aspiring combiner of thousands of drafts myself, I implore you, look after yourself. Prioritize your own wellbeing. People who judge you for that are not your real audience. The majority of us know that masterpieces aren’t rushed and are content to wait however it long takes to get a good product rather than faster, shoddier for one that doesn’t meet the mark. Even if you’re not working on Wars, I’m sure your project now is going to be equally as fulfilling and pleasant to read. I look forward to reading it and hope 2025 will be a good year for you.
Well wishes
Luke
February 1st, 2025 at 7:53 am
considering the quality of your work in the infinity series, your “side” project will likely be better than most other stuff on HG, so have at it and pay your bills! We will be there for its release, we will be there for wars!
February 5th, 2025 at 8:34 pm
Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.
-Andy Warhol
February 8th, 2025 at 11:13 am
My attitude has always been that I’m most excited for the dragoon saga, but I’m always glad to see updates on any of your projects and to see you receiving creative work. Also looking forward to the reveal of your current project!
February 17th, 2025 at 6:48 pm
Hi Paul,
Have you considered hiring volunteer writers? You probably have a player count in the high thousands, at least, at least some of whom have the time and inclination to be your GRRM-esque ghostwriters and editors. I am sure that there would be a lot of demand to write a chapter draft once you give them the outline. This could even be a community project like the Zombie Survive: Exodus guide which is probably more in-depth than the story itself lol.
February 17th, 2025 at 6:50 pm
Is there a way for me to save my character’s state at the end of Lord? I totally understand that Wars is five or so years away, but is there a way for me to preserve what I have at the end?
March 5th, 2025 at 11:58 am
What? How did it not make more? You made damn masterpieces! Great that you found a way to deal with your finances though. I sincerely hope a seditionist aristocrat offers to take away your money struggles in exchange for your loyalty
March 28th, 2025 at 1:51 pm
Hey Paul, I am curious, do you have enough content to publish your infinity series as a book series outside of the choice of games realm? Does your contract with them allow for this? Wouldn’t this help your overall finances and help you do what YOU want?
Also, and I am sorry if you mentioned this elsewhere, do you write your story first then codify it or do you write and code it in order? If it is the former, then have you considered using AI assistance with speeding along your coding? I know terms of service want it human written, but that doesn’t stop you from having it help you with frameworks, suggestions, and testing. If it’s the later, wouldn’t the former speed things up and ease your burden?
March 28th, 2025 at 1:54 pm
I think the strategy there to avoid pulling people from your choice story is to be one of the re-occurring characters in your choice game in the book series. That way readers of both can enjoy new content and or control and hopefully requiring less work from you to make it happen without conflicting with yourself in the market.
May 4th, 2025 at 9:15 pm
I’ve been a fan of your work since I picked up Sabres of Infinity what feels like a lifetime ago. I’ve bought every title since (sometimes twice), and will continue to support your expeditions into the Infinite Sea, no matter how long they may take.
Wishing you all the best!
December 3rd, 2025 at 4:53 pm
no sweat man, in this shit economy the entire west is in it makes that you’re having some trouble here and there, I mean who wouldn’t? please take your time you are very good writer, and we all want the best for you if that means a video comes out 8 years from then so be it.
side note: I really feel like the west is Antar to be honest, our aristocrats are only concerned with their own self-interest and saving their skins. to me the state of the west gives me the vibes of a dying power almost exactly how Antar is a dying power.