Considering a web-first release

We have been treating Jetstream Empire as a phone game first. That is still the long-term home we care about. The honest update is this: we are considering a first public release on the web, because waiting on a phone-first launch is slowing how fast we can put the airline in your hands.

This is not a launch date. It is a product question we want you to hear while we still have room to choose.

Why this would matter to you

If you joined the waitlist, you signed up to run an airline, not to watch us wait on a platform checklist. A web-first release would mean you can open a browser, create a carrier, and start making the same decisions the game is built around:

• Name the airline and pick a home airport.
• Buy or lease aircraft.
• Open routes, pay for access, and read an honest daily P&L.

The loop does not change. You are still the CEO. The books still settle once per day. How it works is still the right picture of the game.

What would change is the door you walk through. Instead of waiting until a phone build is ready for everyone, the first public version might live next to this site, at jetstreamempire.com (opens in a new tab).

Why we are even talking about this

Building for phones is slower than writing the simulation. Store review, device builds, and platform rules are real work, and they sit in front of the thing players actually want: flying a network and seeing whether it makes money.

Every week we spend on that pipeline is a week the waitlist does not get to play.

A browser release would let us ship the management game to people who already visit this site, collect feedback on the economy, and keep moving. Phone support does not go away. It would come after we know the airline is fun to run, not before anyone can try it.

What we are not changing

A few promises stay put:

• Founder Livery is still the waitlist reward when we launch. Use the same email you signed up with.
• Jetstream Empire stays a strategy sim. No arcade flying, no clicker loop.
• Money still moves with a ledger line. If a route loses money, you should be able to see why.

We are not describing a different game. We are asking whether the first public version should meet you where you already are: the website.

What happens next

We are still deciding. If we go web-first, this site and the devlog are where we will say so, with a way to play that does not require a phone in your pocket.

If you want in, join the waitlist. If you already did, you do not need to do anything else. When there is a public airline to run, we will write it here first.